Westminster Presbyterian Church Centennial Books

Colleges and churches are often examples of the most beautiful architecture in a community. Lots of areas have no colleges nearby. We have two. How thankful we can be for the benefit and blessing of Bluefield State University and Bluefield University. May I interrupt our story with a bit of Bluefield Trivia? Before Bluefield College was established in 1922, College Avenue would not have been College Avenue. In this neighborhood, there were three streets named for our first three United States Presidents – Washington, Adams, and Jefferson. Originally, College Avenue was named Adams Street. After the college was established, it became College Avenue. Now that BC is now BU, it is unlikely that the street will be upgraded to University Boulevard. Back to our story. For a number of decades, the city of Bluefield was truly was experiencing a Golden Age.

Millions of lives of Ugandans were touched and changed by the love of God because WPC was mission - minded, Spirit - filled and Spirit - led around the gospel ministry partnership with the ministry of Web Carroll.

You can ’ t drive through downtown Bluefield today without realizing that -- at one time, this place had tall buildings and stores -- everywhere. Many cities have a downtown area where there is one main street for business. Downtown Bluefield has seven streets in its commercial area. Today, sadly, most of that is just a shell and a memory, but at least we did have an era when it truly was a Golden Age – thanks to coal and the railroad. There ’ s lots of communities that have never had such a thing.

Geoffrey Mayimba

For example, Bluefield has a skyscraper. Constructed in 1923, Bluefield ’ s West Virginian Hotel is still the tallest building in the state south of Charleston. Designed by Alex Mahood, this Renaissance Revival 12 story structure was built as a symbol of the wealth and power of the southern West Virginia coalfields. It cost over one million dollars, and that ’ s a hundred years ago. One of those investors behind this project was Lee Anne Green ’ s great grandfather, William Jacob Cole. And this wasn ’ t known as the Bluefield Hotel. It was the West Virginian Hotel.

I moved to Bluefield not knowing anyone in town, but knowing Westminster had a heart for world missions, like my prior churches. And a welcoming spirit that greeted me from my first visit.

Beautiful large homes were built in downtown Bluefield. Sadly most of them are gone now, or just a shell of them remain, or just the stone wall and steps that lead to an empty lot. Let ’ s put this in perspective and reflect what else was going on in this

Mike Judge

neighborhood. There ’ s not just one new church that is being built here in South Bluefield, but three churches -- all located right here on these nearby corners, and not a new church affiliation, but another Baptist and another Methodist and another Presbyterian Church – now to enhance the ministry of those downtown churches. Imagine the construction that was going on in 1923 – three large brick churches, all within a stone ’ s throw of each other, being built in this neighborhood right here. You almost have to wonder when they were looking for the lots to build our church, did they originally want a location on College Avenue too, or did they intentionally prefer the street behind College Avenue?

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