Let me tell you a story, or at least what I know of a story, of a place called Charlie Nell’s. Charlie Nell was an Italian immigrant (according to Ancestry.com) that in the 1940 census was listed as a filling station operator in Abbs Valley, just outside of Bluefield, Virginia. He was 53 at the time and married to Cosby Nell and had two adult daughters. I also found mention of him in an article written for the Bluefield Daily Telegraph. Now I don’t know Charlie Nell and had never heard of him until a few years ago when my Dad decided to rebuild Charlie Nell’s Place in one of his buildings on his property.
My Dad grew up in Abbs Valley (as well as a few other coal communities in the area) and that is where we went to visit my grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins on weekends when I was little. I don’t ever remember Charlie Nell’s Place, but I do remember Creasy’s and driving through Pocahontas, where we would cross over state lines between Virginia and West Viriginia multiple times on the way to visit.
Well, several years ago my cousin and her husband purchased property in Abbs Valley that still had the building where the original Nell’s Place stood. Evidently, at some point Charlie Nell ran a general store on one side and a bar and grill on the other.
That led my Dad, with the help of my brother Steve, to go and rip out the old fixtures and counters and bring them back to his property here. I think he took almost everything he could take except the actual walls and foundation.
He had the store shelves, the counter tops, you name it. I think even my Aunt Dot helped with the salvage. What is so neat is that over the last several years he has meticulously recreated Charlie Nell’s. He framed out an area in his building for the two rooms, re-assembled the store shelves and counters and then has had the fun of stocking them with vintage product to make it look like the real thing.
My Dad has always been interested in old advertising, so this is the perfect outlet for his many collections. Plus, he enjoys finding new pieces to help fill up the shelves and counters.
They really are almost full now, but every time we go, we find something new added.
I mentioned earlier that this was a two room deal, with one being the general store and the other being a bar and grill area.
Here you see Keith getting ready to cook at the original grill. Yes, the original countertop grill. My Dad cleaned it up and it works like a gem. Keith is one of the official cooks at our get togethers and makes great hamburgers and hot dogs.
And here is the original bar, with the original bar stools. These were bolted into the floor and they had to go into the basement to undo them from the floor underneath.
I think if I remember correctly, the basement was full of spiders and possibly snakes. And I also think all of this happened on an extremely hot day, like maybe a day in August. It definitely was a TON of hard work.
Dad even saved the original booths. When we have get togethers, you can often find people at the bar or in the booths. Dad did a great job restoring Charlie Nell’s. But it’s ironic, we don’t call it Charlie Nell’s, we simply refer to it as Dad’s Beer Joint…the irony is they don’t serve beer!
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