Progress often comes at a cost. When old structures are pulled or burned down to make way for new, valuable pieces of history can be lost forever.
Bear Wood Co., which was formed in Hurricane in 2014, marries progress and history by salvaging old lumber from sites throughout the region and using it to create new furniture, decor and accessories.
Workers respond to calls notifying them of barns, schools, homes, decks and other structures of any age slated for demolition. Carefully, with only crowbars and chainsaws rather than heavy machinery, the buildings are dismantled and turned into future furniture, instead of going to a landfill.
“If you are aware of a structure in your hometown that’s going to be demolished,” reads the website, “let us know about it. Maybe we can preserve a little local history and save taxpayers a nickel from fees taken at the landfill.”
In addition to the original woodshop and gallery in Hurricane, Bear Wood opened a gallery in Charleston and then Morgantown in 2021.
I visited the High Street location for the first time only recently. I had seen a post on social media about a table made of reclaimed wood that “had been in two different states and three different counties without moving an inch.” Salvaged from a barn in Lincoln County that was constructed before the Civil War, it stood witness to the creation of West Virginia as we know it today.
I suspected the resultant table was out of my budget, but I still wanted to take a peek. Unfortunately for me, it must have been within someone’s budget, because the table was no longer on the sales floor. However, I still enjoyed looking at what else the gallery had on display.
There were West Virginia-themed products for almost every size of pocketbook, from small magnets and coasters to bourbon barrel lids emblazoned with officially licensed WVU or Marshall logos, to Bear Wood’s signature state cutout wall art.
No matter which U.S. state each of these unique items has been cut into, every single one is a piece of West Virginia. The makers even write the lumber’s source on the back of the piece, so the buyer is aware of the history they bring into their homes.
The Bear Wood Co. store in Morgantown is at 333 High St. The woodshop and gallery are at 2733 Main St., Hurricane.
EVA MAYS is a freelance business writer for The Dominion Post. She writes a column on businesses, churches and other entities in the city. To suggestion a topic, email her at Newsroom@DominionPost.com.
