Alderson West Virginia: History Highlights and Tantalizing Tidbits

Alderson West Virginia:
History Highlights and Tantalizing Tidbits,
Vol. 1-7

UPDATED 12/3/24

Alderson Main Street has announced the arrival of its latest “History Highlights and Tantalizing
Tidbits” book of Alderson history.

Meticulously researched and written by Belinda Anderson and featuring never-before published original material documenting the presence of a lion cub in Alderson, this book will delight young and old.

Anderson worked with staff at the Smithsonian Institution Archives to obtain copies of original correspondence about French and a document confirming his birth date as Oct. 3, 1890, in Alderson.

Volume XI is a combination of documented facts about French (that really was his name) and a re-telling of some of the lore that has grown up around his legend. Anderson includes a simple story suitable for reading to children, which she had written earlier for a history play station in
Alderson.

Aptly called “French, the Friendly Lion,” the book also features art by some of the young people who created mural-sized lion paintings under the guidance of Cheryl Mansley during the inaugural Lion Days event in March, 2024.

The book is available at the Alderson Artisans Gallery for $10 per copy. Given the unique nature of this book, there are two packages available for an additional cost. One includes two candy lion’s paws from Kevbot Chocolates and the second includes a small pillow with an appliqued
lion and a pocket on the back in which the book can be inserted created by Deb Sorenson. All of these choices would make wonderful Christmas gifts for the little ones or adults who love all things Alderson.

Alderson Main Street President Don Sutherland said, “Once again, Belinda has outdone herself.
We are so excited about this book. It works so well with the new event we started in March of
2024—Lion Days—and plan to continue in years to come.”

Volume XI is available in person at the Alderson Artisans Gallery, 101 Railroad Avenue or online at https://www.aldersongallery.com/shop.html or by ordering through Alderson Main Street. The order form is on the AMS Facebook page.

All eleven volumes are also available individually or as a set that may be extra welcome this holiday season. What a great Christmas gift for family and friends who may not be able to follow country roads home to West Virginia this year. Anderson recaps the volumes as follows:

Volume I--Read about the railroad wreck that littered so much tobacco, flour, and bacon that local storekeepers sold none of those commodities for a month.

Volume II--An Alderson inventor who was awarded a patent for a still in 1897--but it’s not the kind you are probably imagining.

Volume III--Read about the stories of heroism that saved lives during Alderson’s thousand-year flood.

Volume IV--Alderson was founded because of forbidden love.

Volume V--America’s first female ambassador and her husband, a captain of the Danish King’s Guard, lived in Alderson in a home that is now listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Volume VI--Learn about the hardware store that sold everything from turkeys to sheetrock. Read the memo with the store’s request to “ship us…7 Widows.”

Volume VII—Read about the lion and the traveling salesman, the Alderson native who became a Jazz Age sensation and the family that turned a three-story brick warehouse into a home.

Volume VIII—This special edition commemorates six decades of West Virginia’s Largest Fourth of July Celebration.

Volume IX - Read about Tick Tock's clock, the story of how the pedestrian bridge came to be decorated with lights every Christmas and the movie made by a major studio from a book written by a former Alderson student.

Volume X - Learn why Elder John Alderson spent his first months in the Alderson area at Jarrett’s Fort; what behavior would draw the ire of the early Baptist Church; the earliest fort in our area; the earliest fort in our area; "The Christmas Anna Angel"; and other interesting chapters from Alderson's past.

Volume XI - Read the true origins of Alderson's legendary lion, French, as well as a re-telling of some of the lore that has grown up around his legend.

Whether you live in Alderson or far away, these volumes of history, meticulously researched and prepared by Anderson, are a trip down memory lane that will celebrate the holiday season.

Learn more about the series via this video from WOAY TV 4.

SERIES OVERVIEW

Why does Alderson have a leash law for lions? Who is Bricktop? What famous people have stayed at the Alderson Federal Prison Camp? Were there ever any train wrecks in Alderson? These questions and many more are answered in a series of booklets on the history of Alderson.

The series was commissioned by Alderson Main Street and written by Belinda Anderson. She did extensive research to find interesting stories about Alderson. The series holds numerous fun facts and pictures.

Alderson Main Street President Betty Thomas says that the series "has generated a lot of excitement. It presents some of Alderson's history in small bites and in a very entertaining way."

Anderson has discovered so much information and so many great stories that Alderson Main Street has continued to publish a new volume each year.