I spotted the Plaid Eagle in Lewisburg, WV.............. that is the Plaid Eagle Antiques store of course!
Karen McClung is the owner of Plaid Eagle, Antiques and Collectibles. Karen says she was born loving antiques! “I am now an antique myself, or better ‘a collectible’. My parents were not rich. I would say they were middle class poor, raising two girls during WWII, and having grown up in the Great Depression. They quickly learned to refinish furniture, take several broken frames to make one good one and mother learned to sew and quilt.”
When Karen’s Grandmother Coleman died in Hinton, WV, she left behind six daughters and six sons. Her aunts quickly divided up the house. Karen’s daddy was given the job of taking what was left to the curb for the trash man. Karen says that she salvaged several items from that trash pile. One being a cedar chest which she still has. “I think this was the true beginning of my antique shop! It took a marriage, two sons, a college degree and many years of teaching to get where I am today, but here I am at Plaid Eagle Antiques in Lewisburg, WV,” says Karen.
Karen first started the antique business with a partner and opened Peddlar's Alley Antiques in Lewisburg. Peddlar's Alley Antiques had four rooms upstairs and when all the steps finally got to her, Karen moved two doors down the street to 117 East Washington Street and now has everything "all on one floor."
Karen says that's not the best part though. “The best part are the people I meet. They are wonderful. I have two kinds of customers: ones who say hello and that is all they have to say; the second kind are the ones that are happy I spoke to them! I give them time to browse and on their way out I'll ask where they are from or what brings them to Lewisburg, etc., etc. I have learned a lot from my customers and I've enjoyed every minute of it.”
What's the neatest part of Plaid Eagle Antiques? “The mounted Golden Eagle my father bought at auction in Marlinton, WV, from Mr. Blackhurst, (author of "Rider's Of The Flood"), early in the '50s. We draped a McClung Tartan Plaid scarf around the base, thus the name: Plaid Eagle Antiques.”
NOTE: Karen says, "This is a legal Eagle, I can not sale it, but I can give/donate to an educational facility or burn it according to the Department of Natural Resources."
Karen said that another neat part about this business is finding unusual items to sell like the cannon balls from Blue Sulphur Springs where Lee camped during the Civil War. Or the unusual spinning wheel that no one has id. It is different.
The Plaid Eagle has vintage clothes from lady's hats and furs to military uniforms to children's christening gowns. And the vintage toys are great. Karen could go on and talk about all the books on history, medicine, family histories, sports, Zane Gray and on and on, but she needs to go look for some more really unique items.
The Plaid Eagle, is an exciting shop to explore!
The shop has a little of everything and a lot of other things! You will find books, children’s items, frames and pictures, kitchen items, old tools, lures, medical items, vintage clothes and hats, silver jewelry, glass, crocks, quilts and linens, primitives and furniture just to name a few. They also do appraisals and estate sales.
If you stop by the Plaid Eagle, be sure and talk to Karen as she will be glad to show you more interesting items like the horse plow gauge for the depth the plow goes. “That,” Karen says, “took me a while to figure out!”
Plaid Eagle Antiques & Collectibles
117 E. Washington Street
Lewisburg, WV 24901
304-645-0000
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