THE PARK AVE PILLARS
The old pillars at Park Ave and Washington Street West were probably removed in 1954
The
old pillars at Park Ave were actually once the gates to the Glenwood
Estate, which is still there today. They were built by William
Preston for James Laidley, father of the late George S. Laidley, for
many years city superintendent of schools.
William Preston was
born in Sileby England in 1794, and died near the mouth of
Tyler creek, in Kanawha County, Feb. 5, 1855.
One of his first
jobs was to build the Littlepage Mansion in 1845. It was built for a
man who had come out from the easternpart of Virginia. His name was
Thornton and he was a son of one of the three Thornton brothers who
married the three Gregory sisters, who were first cousins of
George Washington. (Thornton would not live in the house
and before it was finished, he sold it to Littlepage)
Laldley
had' William Preston build the stone pillars, at Park Avenue and
West Washington street, and between them he hung the gate which opened
into his driveway. When the city changed the old driveway
and straightened it into Park Avenue, the stone pillarswere moved by H.
B. Agsten a few feet from where they stood originally. They were three
feet square, some 12 feet tall and were surmounted by stone stars, cut
out of solid foot-square stones. While the stars would seem to
have been put on for mere ornaments, the fact that a similar
stone though smaller, was placed over the main entrance to the
Littlepage mansion.. and so it appears that Preston had adopted this
sort of star as an emblem of his own to mark his
workmanship. Glenwood was
built in 1890 and the stone pillars were probably built about
the same time. Preston's family still lives in the Kanawha Valley. |
Photo courtesy of Nancy Williams, who has a book out that you will like:
See it here
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