The timeline of block 7, lot 21 of Newcastle’s downtown continues the News Letter Journal’s History on Main series with local historian Leonard Cash.
To begin, Cash shared Weston County Courthouse records dating back to 1890. The first record, filed on June 12, 1890, recorded that M.K. Wiker and Nina D. Wiker, husband and wife, sold to E.W. Blakey. In October 1890, the Newcastle News reported on the Jumbo Saloon. The saloon was housed in a wooden structure built by M.K. Wiker at the corner of Warren Avenue and Summit Street, then owned by Ed Blakey and under the management of John Howell.
The Newcastle News reported that the building cost approximately $5,000 to build. It also reported that a man by the name of Ed Stack, who Cash said was also the first sheriff of Weston County, bought interest in the bar at some point, but he sold his share to E.W. Blakey around this time. The Sanborn Maps were consistent with the News record because its initial recording listed lot 21 as a saloon in 1891.