The Golden Rule Building and Belington Bakery

By Alan Byer

The Golden Rule Building in downtown Belington, Barbour County has withstood the test of time—123 years as this is written—and has survived floods, changes in function and ownership and, most recently, standing unused for some 20 years.  Today, thanks to nonprofit Woodlands Development and Lending and three indomitable partners, this beautifully constructed and restored building serves a variety of new tenants and is once again becoming a gathering place for Belington and the surrounding communities. Woodlands Development and Lending Creative Director Katie Wolpert joined forces with baker Andrea Russell and soup-artist Jeanne Pruett in 2024 to build the Belington Bakery and adjoining café space back into a community gathering place based around a vibrant and responsive business. Katie Wolpert and I exchanged emails for weeks; I’d ask questions, and she’d provide very eloquent answers.  Come with us as we explore the intertwined stories behind The Golden Rule Building and Belington Bakery.

Alan Byer: How did Belington Bakery come to be?  

Katie Wolpert: “The story of how Belington Bakery came to be has two starting points.  We would not be here without the Golden Rule Building, and that story begins over 120 years ago when it was built by the Shinn family in 1902. Through the twists and turns of time, the building has served many needs within the Barbour County community. 

“After the Goldenseal article about Wanda Shinn and the Golden Rule Department Store was published in 1992, the store persisted until it closed for good in 1999. The Golden Rule sat unused, shelves full of dusty wares, boarded up storefront, broken windows exposing the back of the building to the elements until Woodlands Development and Lending, working closely with the Belington community, purchased the property and queued up a major restoration effort. [To learn more about Woodlands Development and Lending, visit the organization’s Web page at woodlandswv.org.]

“The $2.5M restoration turned the building into a mixed-use space with ten apartments on the top two floors, a first-floor commercial space, back porch deck, small greenspace and, of course, the water-powered freight elevator. Mrs. Shinn passed away shortly before the restoration work was completed, but she was aware that her treasured space was being saved.  Completed in December 2020, the heart of the pandemic era, the apartments filled immediately but the commercial area remained stubbornly empty.

  “I dream that we can use projects like these as vectors to inject the real story of West Virginia into that national narrative that is dominated by negativity, bottom-of-the lists, and short-sighted assessments. I want our communities to have the chance to tell their own stories, take control of their narratives, and push back on the labels and descriptions that have been placed on the region by outsiders.”

“An intense, multi-year effort to fill the commercial space finally started bearing fruit when the Barbour County Family Support Center moved into the front half of the building in 2023, bringing critical services and resources to southern Barbour County along with a number of jobs. The struggle continued, however, to find a long-term tenant for the kitchen/café space in the rear.

“Working within a building as unique as the Golden Rule meant the kitchen space was quite unconventional, with no traditional storefront or distinct separation from other tenants. The space needed a business with not only a bit of risk tolerance, but also a willingness to work in the building as a community partner, rather than as just a business owner.

“I started the Belington Bakery as a community engagement project, to bring folks in the doors that had been closed and dark for so many years, to see the shining wood floors, the immense wooden support beams, the beautiful rehab work, and the cozy kitchen.  My intent was to make contact with interested entrepreneurs who might take over the space and start a business. However, the bagel and pastry premise caught on surprisingly quickly and I shifted focus to looking for partners to help support this project. Over the next few months, two amazing business partners, Jeanne Pruett and Andrea Russell, came out of the woodwork and their energy, combined with the unbelievable community response, gave the bakery a momentum that was beyond anything I would have predicted.

“I had been baking on a small scale for many years out of a home kitchen. With experience making sourdough loaves to sell at farmers markets and wholesale bagels for the newly conceived TipTop Coffee in Davis, WV, I had a sense of the local taste –and lack of availability — for fresh bakery products.

“My long-latent dream of starting a small commercial bakery was rekindled by the newly available space at the Golden Rule. I had considered other properties and opportunities over the past twenty years but the fit and timing never worked out. This time, it came together quickly and, with perhaps not quite enough planning, I found myself elbow deep in dough, with a trusty high school helper who had convinced me this was bigger than a one-person project, and a line out the door on day one.

“As winter turned into spring, momentum continued to gather for this bakery project. My new business partners made it possible to expand our offerings and hours, and we were excited each week to see our neighbors, friends, and visitors who happened to be passing through Belington and were curious about the building, train yard, or bakery signage out front.

“With more people and new faces coming into the Golden Rule building each weekend, we found ourselves immersed in conversations about the community, upcoming events, and opportunities for collaboration. A half marathon race, a square dance, a weekly bible study, art classes, and book-club meetings were suddenly regular events in this space that had been sitting vacant for over 20 years. Dates; family reunions; and bridal, graduation, and birthday parties pop up in the shared space, and most exciting of all, the spontaneous interactions of shared conversations, laughter, and ideas with others standing in line or at the next table over, or even in the parking lot.

“Currently the café seating area is serving as a lively community space so permanent business displays will probably be kept to a minimum. Dances, events, classes, private events and meetings are happening there regularly so protecting inventory and securing items would be challenging with more displays. Preserving the functional flexibility of the space is a current priority. However, pop-up events that include other businesses are very interesting to us. We have a lively group of artists and crafts people who are regular customers, and are looking into an arts bazaar day or facilitating a studio tour day around the county. Currently, simply teaming up with other festivals and events in town has led to vendor marketplaces, evenings with Santa, photo sessions, and other one-off opportunities.”

AB: When I first visited The Golden Rule Building and Belington Bakery, my attention was immediately drawn to the West Virginia Central Railroad (operated by Durbin & Greenbrier Valley Railroad [DGVR]) yard and shop behind the building. I enjoyed seeing and experiencing the railroad activity from The Golden Rule Building’s back windows and porch.

  KW: “Being neighbors with the Durbin & Greenbrier Valley Railroad folks has been helpful to the Bakery and the Golden Rule building in several ways, and makes it easier to discuss events and partnerships going forward. Change happens slowly with them because they have to plan their schedule so far in advance, but we hope to be able to announce new train activity in Belington soon. Whether you can board the train at the Golden Rule or not, we love having the railyard in our back yard. Everyone from babies to grandparents, ourselves included, love watching the work they do out back. They contribute enormously to the feeling of authenticity floating around the building and the Bakery. We like that it isn’t the tourist-facing side of the train but the guys doing the dirty work, the folks keeping it running. They are back there doing anything from putting a shiny new coat of paint on their old engine, to using a crane to lift a car off its chassis; something interesting always seems to be going on out there. Folks often stop in or find their way to Belington solely to watch the action at the railyard and, actually, I credit them for one of our bakery partners finding us in the first place.

  “Jeanne was in town with her husband to look at some specialized equipment the rail guys were using out back. While in the vicinity, they noticed folks coming into and out of the Golden Rule. Following their curiosity, they poked their heads in to see what was going on. A couple of weeks later, Jeanne was an active member of the Belington Bakery project and is now a part-owner and soup magician.”

  AB: When you visit the Bakery, you notice the furniture and many other items left from the store that closed in 1999. The shelves must have contained some real history when the building renovation began, is a museum or some other display in the works? 

KW: “You are correct that many items were left on the shelves at the Golden Rule when it shut down, all of which were still in there gathering dust when the restoration began. Sorting through them was a major part of the rehab project, and we provided multiple chances for the public to come in to look at and purchase many of those treasures. While the Golden Rule Department Store shuttered in 1999, much of the merchandise left on their shelves was significantly older. We have preserved some of the best remaining pieces, and are working on mounting shelves made of reclaimed wood from the project to display many of the items on the main floor. We’ve recognized the potential for a rotating display space in the basement, but we do not currently have the capacity needed to develop such an exhibit.”

  AB: To many, the most important single feature of The Golden Rule Building is the circa late-1800s-early-1900s water-powered elevator in the approximate center of the commons area. Do you still use the elevator for its original purpose, to lift heavy, bulky items?

KW: “Woodlands returned the elevator to operation during the building’s renovation, but we are still working on restoring some of the finer features that really made the whole contraption utilitarian. While insurance restrictions on the building preclude us from transporting humans on the elevator we still see many possibilities – perhaps having a lighted New Year’s Eve ball drop or a holiday display rise up during a magical nighttime event? The space is there to bring as many of the community’s dreams to life as possible.”

The Water Powered Elevator of Golden Rule

When the Golden Rule building was constructed in 1902, Warner Elevator Manufacturing Company of Cincinnati Ohio furnished what was then cutting-edge elevator technology, an elevator powered by water pressure in a municipal water supply (one historian has surmised that, at least at first, water to power the elevator was pumped directly from the Tygart Valley River). According to an article in the October 2014 issue of Elevator World Magazine, that elevator included features and parts from Warner’s 1888 and 1893 designs, making it an even more unique hybrid construction.  

Originally, the elevator traveled from the basement to the third floor, with the top part of the mechanism housed in a small structure on the building’s roof.  However, Woodlands Development and Lending planned to convert the second and third floors into ten apartments.  That meant VanNostrand Architects had to close off the shaft for those floors and relocate the top part of the mechanism to the first-floor commons area.  That would allow the elevator to continue to travel between the basement and the first floor.

VanNostrand Architects commissioned a film by Coat of Arms, a company owned and operated by Clara Lehmann and her husband Jonathan Lacocque, in Helvetia, West Virginia, to document the elevator’s renovation and return to operation.  To view that movie, search on “Water Powered Elevator” online and then follow the link to the movie’s URL on YouTube.  To learn more about Elevator World Magazine, please visit their Website at: elevatorworld.com; for more about Coat of Arms, go to their Website at: coatofarms.tv.

  AB: My wife Ginny and I have visited Belington Bakery many times, often after church on Sundays, and we’ve noticed a number of different employees cooking, serving, and working the register.  How many jobs has Belington Bakery created? 

KW: “At this time, we have the three co-owners, Katie Wolpert, Andrea Russell, and Jeanne Pruett; Tasha Hollen is a full-time employee; and eight other individuals regularly work part-time hours and play critical roles in keeping the Bakery stocked and open to serve the public.”

AB: You have invested much time, effort, and sweat equity in The Golden Rule Building and Belington Bagel Bakery. You obviously have a vision for the project’s ultimate goal.  What is your dream outcome?

KW: “My dream for the Golden Rule project is for it to succeed and persist in a way that provides stability for the residents and commercial tenants, and opportunities for growth and connection in Belington and Barbour County.  Perhaps most of all I dream that it will be case-study that proves that small town West Virginia is still a place where businesses can thrive and creative endeavors can take off and grow, and that small communities have the resources and skills they need to invest in themselves and meet their own needs – from housing, to services and amenities.

  “I dream that we can use projects like these as vectors to inject the real story of West Virginia into that national narrative that is dominated by negativity, bottom-of-the lists, and short-sighted assessments. I want our communities to have the chance to tell their own stories, take control of their narratives, and push back on the labels and descriptions that have been placed on the region by outsiders.”