Although the state highway garage was never a part of Montwell Commons, there are connections between the two. It was located directly across US Rt. 219 from the Fort Savannah Inn and, like the Old Red Mill, was also destroyed by fire. The moonshine still displayed in the Fort Savannah museum came from the County Jail which was also destroyed when the adjoining highway garage fire spread. This page is included in the Montwell website as a way to document this piece of Lewisburg's history.
Jerry Clemons was a member of the Fairlea Volunteer Fire Department and was one of the firemen who fought the fire that destroyed the Old Red Mill on November 8, 1961. Nine years later, on November 23, 1961, Jerry was again fighting a fire in Lewisburg when the Highway Garage and the old county jail were destroyed. This is his account of the fire:
“I was a member of the Fairlea Volunteer Fire Department and I attended meetings and went to the fire department. The call came in that there was a fire up in Lewisburg so we went up there and when I first got up there the state maintenance garage was what was on fire. That was behind the jail and across the road from the Ft. Savannah. So we got our truck all set up and got some hoses and started fighting that fire in that state garage. And what I understood was that they were cleaning some parts using gasoline or kerosene and it caught on fire. And they had a fire and it spread rather quick, they had a cleaning station and it caught on fire and it grew pretty fast. It was a frame building and the fire really took off so we started spraying on that fire trying to keep it under control. And I was holding one of the hoses, that was my job. And it wasn't long until what happened next – the jail caught on fire which was directly behind the maintenance building up on the side of the hill And it caught on fire. It had a lot of stone work, half stone and half frame. Anyway, it caught on fire and it was a really, really hot fire and it was really cold, cold that night. And I remember holding the hose and spraying on both buildings, mainly we were trying to keep the jail from catching on fire, but it did. So we were fighting both fires and they burned very fast. It was a hot fire.
"So the other thing I remember and is sort of funny. One of the firefighters had a pint of whiskey and while we were cold and fighting this fire they were passing this pint of whiskey up and down the fire line for people to warm up a little bit. It wasn't moonshine, a pint of whiskey or bourbon, nobody got drunk or anything, people just took a drink and passed it on. We were so cold it was a welcome sight to see.”
The Greenbrier Independent newspaper published a story about the fire. It provides additional details of the fire and can be read here.
In 1970, the”old jail” building was owned by the County Court and was being used by the Welfare Department. The building was insured, the insurance companies paid the County for its loss, the insurance companies sued the Department of Highways for negligence, and were awarded $44,000. The report of the WV Court of Claims provides a clear description of how the fire started and how the two employees attempted to extinguish the blaze. It can be read here.
In 2016, the Greenbrier County Historical Society posted an interesting article on Facebook. It includes a brief history of the jail and photos of the building before and after the fire.