FEATURED JOBS
Comments (1)The Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia is a narrow track of land that stretches east from the heart of the state to with-in an hours drive of the Nation’s Capital and about 90 minutes to Baltimore.
The major towns which incorporate the Eastern Panhandle are Martinsburg, Shepherdstown, Charlestown, Berkley Springs, Harpers Ferry, Romney and Keyser.
Most of our famous land marks date back to the Civil War and beyond. Shepherdstown, West Virginian, is only five minutes from Antietam Battlefield, site of the bloodiest battle of the Civil War. Harpers Ferry is known for John Brown’s Raid. John Brown was the famous abolitionist of the Civil War.
Romney is thought to be the oldest town in West Virginia. Romney is also known for its abundant apple orchards and is the home of the West Virginia Deaf and Blind School. In Keyser, which lies in Mineral County, you can view the beautiful Saddle Mountain which is the birth place of Abraham Lincoln’s mother, Nancy Hanks.
Berkley Springs which is a short distance from Martinsburg, is famous for its mineral baths. In the early 19th century, Martinsburg became populated due to the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. Martinsburg today, the county seat of Berkley County, is growing very rapidly from the influx of people moving there from Baltimore and Washington due to the lower tax structure of Berkley County.
The famous historical C&O Canal runs through much of the Eastern Panhandle ending in Cumberland, Md.
Most of the Jewish population that settled in the Eastern Panhandle in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s came from Western Maryland and Baltimore. Most were immigrants looking to open a small business because of the thriving railroad industry.
One such immigrant was Abraham Kaplan who came to America from Lithuania around 1889. He first went to Hagerstown, Maryland and started as a peddler. He then went to Harpers Ferry and became involved in business, civic and political life of that town.
Around 1900, Mr. Kaplan constructed a beautiful department store housing everything from groceries to clothing to household furnishings on its three floors. In 1908 he constructed a large home in Harpers Ferry for his new bride. The house was the earliest built in rusticated concrete block made by the Miracle Block Machine Co.
Other Jewish businesses located in Harpers Ferry were Phillip Frankel & Company, a “ready-to-wear” men’s clothing store, that was located in Harpers Ferry from 1858 to 1860. A former business partner, Bernhard D. Hirsh, continued the business until about 1865.
During the latter part of the 19th century, Victor Kaplon, a brother of Abraham Kaplon of Harpers Ferry, operated a clothing store in town. Abraham Kaplon and his family were the only Jewish residents who lived in Harpers Ferry long-term.
Mr. Kaplon continued in the mercantile business in Harpers Ferry until 1936, at which time he sold his inventory and rented his building to Polan Katz & Co, a manufacture of umbrellas from Baltimore, Md.
Abraham Kaplon brought his entire family to the United States from Europe, establishing his father in business in Keyser, WV, and a sister in Romney, West Viginia. Mr. Kaplon served as mayor of Harpers Ferry and also as a supervisor of streets & roads.
Abraham Kaplon died in Washington, D.C. in 1955. Their beautiful home in Harpers Ferry is now owned by an artistic couple and is being restored. It has been featured on the annual tour of Historic Homes in the Eastern Panhandle.
Keyser is located in the Potomac Highland’s Region of the Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia about 20 miles from Cumberland, Md. The Jewish population of the town was never more than a few Jewish families thus they did not have a local synagogue or any Jewish organizations in town.
Despite this, there were three well known Jewish families—the Kaplons, the Shear’s and the Shapiro’s—who became involved over many years in the civic and mercantile life of the town.
It appears that the first Jew to settle in Keyser was Hyman Kaplon, who came to the town around 1897. He came from Harpers Ferry, West Virginia where his son, Abraham Kaplon, had settled and was in business.
In Keyser, Hyman Kaplon opened Kaplon’s Men’s Shop. The business was operated by the Kaplon family until the death of Hyman’s son, Moses Kaplon in 1954. Moses Kaplon was so well loved by the people of Keyser that an editorial written in the local newspaper upon his death lamented the fact that Keyser, and even the world, had lost an outstanding citizen. On the day of his funeral all the stores and the banks in Keyser were closed out of respect.
In 1956 the business was sold to and operated by Jacob Shear, who was a grandson of Hyman Kaplon. Jacob and his sister, Ada, also operated Shear’s Ladies Shop located on Main Street in Keyser, established in 1926 and Jacob Shear’s wife Jennie operated Jay’s Shoe Store, established in 1951.
Jacob Shear was known for his active involvement in the civic life of Keyser and was at one time president of the Keyser Businessman’s Association and president of the Keyser Recreation Board.
Another Jewish business in Keyser was Shapiro’s Ladies Shop, operated by my father and mother, Robert and Esther Shapiro. My father Robert Shapiro, an immigrant from Lithuania, came to Cumberland, Md. along with his brother, Joseph Shapiro, to work for their uncle Louis Kline, who owned a clothing store on Baltimore St in Cumberland, Md.
The Shapiro’s later moved to Keyser and went into business for themselves opening a clothing store on Armstrong St. in 1923. In 1946, Robert Shapiro built in Keyser one of the most modern Ladies Apparel Stores in West Virginia. It was built on two levels and the store had an all glass front. It was designed by architect Russ Minter, and built by Ray C Coffman of Keyser.
In 1958, Robert Shapiro built Shapiro’s Men’s Store, which adjoined the ladies store. Several years later the Shapiro’s opened a Children’s Store several doors down from there Ladies and Men’s Stores.
My son, Allen Shapiro, helped manage the stores and also served on the Mineral County Board of Education. He was also elected and served on the Keyser City Council, and he became mayor of Keyser in l982. He was one of the youngest mayors to ever serve in the state of West Virginia. After the death of my father in 1967, my sister Marion Hartman and I took ownership of the business until it closed in 1996.
Another member of the Shear family, David Shear along with his sister Ada, opened a business in Romney, West Virginia in the early 1900’s. The business was a small department store which sold ready-to-wear and shoes. The Shears used the slogan: The Shopping Center for better merchandise.
Mr. Shear was very active in civic and political affairs in Romney. He served as mayor of Romney for 4 terms in the 1950’s and received awards for his life long service in the local American Legion. He was also chief of the local fire department. After the death of David Shear in 1968, the store was closed.
During the last century, the town with the largest concentration of Jews in the Eastern Panhandle would have been Martinsburg. The Martinsburg Jewish Community grew modestly with most Jews working in the retail & wholesale sectors.
Many of the most famous apparel stores in Martinsburg were Jewish-owned businesses. Names such as “The Hub Store”, “George Katz & Son”, “M. Cohen & Son”, “Diamond’s Smart Fashions”,and “Louis Lipsic Men’s Store” are just a few of the well-known stores that could be found along Queen Street and other locations in downtown.
The Jewish Community of Martinsburg supported their own synagogue, Beth Jacob, and their own cemetery, Beth Jacob Cemetery.
Beth Jacob Congregation worshipped from 1912 to 1952 in a former church building that was purchased on Pennsylvania Avenue. In 1952 a former funeral home building at 126 Martin Street was purchased and remodeled to serve as a Synagogue and a Jewish Community Center.
Originally Beth Jacob Congregation was organized as an Orthodox congregation, but later it moved towards the Reform mode of worship and became a member of the Union of American Hebrew Congregations (now the Union for Reform Judaism). During the peak years of worship about 30 families belonged to the congregation.
During the last 20 years, the Jewish youth went off to college but most did not return to Martinsburg. The shopping malls opened and took the business. Downtown Martinsburg, where so many of the Jews had made their livings for several generations, had changed. Beth Jacob Congregation had downsized to only 12 members. The future of the Beth Jacob Congregation was uncertain. It was evident that Martinsburg’s Jewish congregation was doomed.
Then a wonderful mitzvah occurred, a check in the amount of $13,000 was left on the door of the synagogue. This meant they could meet the building expenses for a few more years.
In 2007 the building which housed Beth Jacob Synagogue was sold and the congregation was dissolved, thus bringing to a close “Organized Jewish Life” in the Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia.
Even though the Jewish population of the Eastern Panhandle has shown a dramatic decline over the last decade, I am optimistic that in the future, Jews will continue to come to this area and will continue to be instrumental in the economic and civic grow of the Eastern Panhandle.
David Shapiro writes from Cumberland, Md.