Business and Industry

Wellsburg has been a center of business and industry in the Town of Ashland since its early settlement. Manufacturing operations included a tannery built by David and C.S. Decker in 1859; a planing factory started by R.C. Lockwood that manufactured materials for bridges; a gristmill opened by Calvin and James West and Miles Roberts in 1865; and a creamery built by James Carpenter in 1879. By 1900, the village of about 1,000 residents had four dry good stores, three groceries, a drug store, a meat market, a barber shop, a millinery shop, a livery and harness shop, two blacksmith shops, two wagon shops, and four hotels.