JUST 49 – William A. Cardwell, plumbing contractor, came to Ironton forty-nine years ago today… “I must have liked the town,” said Bill, “as I stayed and my three sons were born here”…The town was booming in 1911…Charles W. Golden was mayor and C. E. Berridge was chief of police…The federal building at Fifth and Center was under construction.
“Folks talked about the 1884 flood when I repaired their frozen water pipes,” said the master plumber yesterday, “but I experienced one in 1913 that make the ’84 look like a mud puddle”…
Mr. Cardwell’s first shop of his own was established on Third Street, now the location of the Ohio Fuel Gas Co. building…Thomas Lewis, queens ware store, was first in that location and Mr. Cardwell established there when Mr. Lewis retired…From there he moved his business to a new building on Adams Street, now occupied by O. C. Winters, wholesale produce.
After 49 years as a pipefitter, William A. Cardwell is the only plumber in town today who goes about his job crawling under houses and wrapping joints in bathroom pipes all dressed up with creases pressed neatly in his trousers…Congratulations W. A. and next year when it’s fifty, we are going to tell just how many times you forgot and had to return to the shop for your tools when you were called out to fix a leaking pipe.
Written by Charles Collettt
Huntington Newspaper – May 11, 1960
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