© JERRY F. COUCH

The following article was transcribed from the March 1, 1929 edition of the Richmond Times-Dispatch. The photos are from the Clinch Valley Times archives and the St. Paul Heritage Collection.

FOR MANY DIFFERENT INDUSTRIES, ST. PAUL IS IDEALLY SITUATED

Southwest Virginia Coal Field and Vast Tracts of Timber Are Nearby

By S. F. Ellington, Secretary St. Paul Business Men’s Club

Located at the junction of the Norfolk & Western Railway with the Clinchfield line, St. Paul is ideally situated for diversified industries, having at the north and west the Southwest Virginia coal fields and vast tracts of timber, and on the east and south, a splendid farming and blue grass section.

The following industries are at present located in St. Paul:

The Clinch River Extract Company, a subsidiary of the National Leather Company of Boston, which manufactures tanning acids from chestnut wood. The daily consumption of wood at this plant is approximately sixty cords and the capacity of the output 125 barrels. Forty people are employed.

CLINCH RIVER EXTRACT COMPANY

St. Paul Baking Company, Inc., M. C. Matthews, president. Capital $5,000. Bakers of bread, cakes, and pies. Annual sales of $35, 000. Deliveries made both by express and by trucking to six counties. They employ eight people.

ST. PAUL BAKING COMPANY

St. Paul Bottling Works, Inc. M. C. Matthews, president. Capital, $10,000. Bottlers of Coca-Cola and other carbonated beverages. Deliveries made by truck and express. Annual sales, $35,000. Employ six people.

ST. PAUL BOTTLING WORKS, INC.

Clinchfield Lumber & Supply Company, C. L. Fletcher, president. Capital $60,000. Deal in all kinds of lumber and building material. Annual sales $89,000. Employ ten people.

ST. PAUL LUMBER & SUPPLY CO.

St. Paul Supply Company, Inc. E. D. Mason, president. Capital $100,000. Handle all kinds of hardware and farming implements. Annual sales $80,000. Employ six people.

Dickenson McNeer Company, Inc. R. W. Dickenson, president. Capital, $100,000. Wholesale grocers. Annual sales $400,000. Employ ten people.

DICKENSON-McNEER COMPANY, INC.

St. Paul branch of Coeburn Motor Company, J. D. Clay, Coeburn, president. Capital, $200,000. Annual sales at St. Paul Branch, $300,000. Employ eight people. Another store is operated at Coeburn, Va.

PHOTO NOT AVAILABLE

Clinch Valley Produce Company, Ben C. Fortner, owner and manager. Wholesale produce of all kinds. Annual sales, $100,000. Employ ten people.

CLINCH VALLEY PRODUCE COMPANY

St. Paul is well supplied with retail stores of all kinds. Living conditions are good. The town has within its limits four churches, one accredited high school, with an enrollment of 500; macadam streets, concrete sidewalks, a beautiful lake for summer bathing and winter skating, and also has one of the most natural and unique golf courses to be found in the state.

SKATING ON THE ST. PAUL LAKE – 1920’S That’s Domer Molinary in the white sweater. The other young folks are unidentified. Today “The Lake” is referred to as “Lake Estonoa.” Actually, the spelling should be “Estanoa,” confirmed by old documents in the St. Paul Heritage Collection. The houses in the background were located on long-gone Tazewell Street. They were demolished to expand the school.

It is interesting to note that Mr. Ellington’s article did not make mention of the Coeburn Grocery Company. This business was a branch of the company’s main office in Coeburn, VA. Both it and Dickenson-McNeer were among St. Paul’s earliest large-scale businesses, coming to town when the CC&O Railway was built. Here’s a picture postcard view of the building as it looked when it was new. Unfortunately, the Great Depression took a toll on this business and in the 1930’s, the company closed its St. Paul branch. The building became a sewing factory in 1938.

In later years, the Coeburn Grocery Company building was purchased by the Town of St. Paul and leased to the sewing factory on modest terms with the proviso that a contractually agreed upon monthy payroll be maintained. In later years, the town also purchased the former St. Paul Supp;y Company building to provide additional space for the sewing factory.

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