RESEARCH
BUSINESSES 3
Luther McVicker operated his garage for over six decades in Darrtown. More info about Luther is available at the McVicker family page. The undated photo at the right shows Luther in front of two gasoline pumps that stood near the entrance to Luther's garage.
Luther's ledger
Business records reveal names of people who lived in Darrtown and vicinity
Thanks to two Darrtown men (Luther McVicker and Rick Martin), we now have a list of names from Darrtown's past. Luther McVicker maintained a ledger, as a record of his garage business, and Rick Martin, life-long Darrtown resident and frequent visitor to Luther's Garage, had the foresight to preserve Luther's ledger, after Luther closed shop. The ledger appears in the next two images.
ABOVE, L-R: Luther's ledger closed and open.
Images of three "directory-style" pages from Luther's ledger appear right and below.
These three images show the names of individuals who had expense accounts with Luther.
At the risk of using a cliche, Luther's ledger is a "veritable who's who" of individuals that lived in or nearby Darrtown during the middle of the 20th century. Luther's records began in the early 1920's.
Luther retired from his garage business in 1983.
The image at the right serves as an example of the individual account pages found in Luther's ledger.
This image (page 84) shows the account of Mr. Wm. Weiss and it is typical of the other individual account pages in the ledger.
LEFT:
This is a scanned image of a McVicker's Garage receipt, signed by Luther McVicker and dated May 8, 1941.
The receipt shows that Mr. Raymond Wiley paid a total of $0.87 for auto supplies.
Notice the three digit phone number (272), which appears in the upper-left corner of the receipt.
The original receipt is the property of Ronald Wiley, son of Ray Wiley.
The auto seen in the photo at the left is was Luther's car. Rick Martin remembers it as a 1928 Chevrolet which Luther was known to drive at a ver-r-r-y slow pace, on his trips between the garage and the McVicker residence on Scott Road.
A Summer's Day at Luther's
The 1982 photo shows some Darrtown area residents visiting at Luther McVicker's garage.
From left to right: Hugh Decker, Joe McDade, Cecil Pierson, Bob Jasbring, and Warren Hansel.
This photo was taken, and contributed, by Larry Simison, son-in-law of Luther McVicker.
A frequent - and friendly - resting place at Luther's Garage
- jokingly known as a "Liar's Bench
LEFT:
This image was taken from an undated and very faded news article that seemingly appeared in the Oxford Press...since, the author of the article is believed to be Oxford Press staff writer, Pete Chappars
Chappars' name does not appear anywhere on the news clipping; however, the article begins with the words: "I had sat on..." and refers to the author being the "second from the left."
And, the person sitting second from the left is wearing Pete Chappars' signature beret.
A reprint of the article appears below.
"Liars bench shaded throne
for rehash of Darrtown tales
I had sat on the service station bench in Darrtown before, but I had not remembered the libelous words Liars Bench on it. I'm second from left, between Joe McDade, left; Luther McVicker, and Frank Huelsman.
If you'll notice, Luther alone has his hands squarely on his knees, both feet on the ground, no hat. And, you may notice, too, a teenager in the background, or part of a teenager. The ears belong to Bones, he's Mr. McDade's locally famous pony, 16 years young.
Behind the camera is Larry Simison, Mr. McVicker's son-in-law."
Paid in full
A receipt from
McVicker's
Garage
√
On same site, in the same building ... where Luther McVicker and others had plied their trade, a new mechanic moved in.
Casey Stang, a life-long resident of Milford Township and a graduate of Talawanda High School, opened Stang's Auto and Repair in 2014.
Service at the local shop includes new tires (mounting and balancing), oil change, and brakes. In addition to auto repair, tractors and lawn mowers are also serviced.
The Stang family has been connected to Darrtown, since the 1950s. See more info at the Stang family page.
BUSINESSES 3. McVicker's Garage and Stang's Auto and Extra Mile Automotive
BUSINESSES 4. Shuck's Store, Dick Martin's Pallet Cleaning; and a 1992 newspaper article
BUSINESSES 5. The Darrtown Telephone Co.; Bufler's Jewelry; Teckman's Trucking; Cartwright-Uhl Trucking; the Fisherman's Press, and the Dit-Dot Painting Co.
BUSINESSES 2. The Hitching Post (plus, links to Darrtown/Milford township tavern history).
Once again, at the same site, in the same building ... where Luther McVicker and others had plied their trade, a new mechanic moved in. Seth Clark brought his Extra Mile Automotive Repairs business to the historic garage site in Darrtown.
Upon graduating from Twin Valley High School and the Miami Valley Career Tech Center, Seth gained work experience at several area car dealerships. Realizing that customers would appreciate the convenience of a mobile automotive service, Seth launced Extra Mile Automotive Repairs, on October 1, 2023.
Six months later, Seth and his mobile automotive business had a physical shop location ... on Main Street, in Darrtown.
"We are thrilled to announce that we have expanded our business to a physical shop location, in addition to our mobile repair services. We are grateful for the support of our customers and appreciate the trust they have placed in us, especially through their word-of-mouth recommendations. So much of our growth this past year is because of our amazing customers! Since we are still offering mobile repairs and remain committed to providing exceptional customer service , we encourage our clients to contact us through Facebook Messenger or phone at +1 (513) 795-5845 for assistance. Our shop is located at 4278 Hamilton Richmond Rd, Oxford, OH, and we look forward to serving you there or on the go, depending on your needs."
Here is the message that Seth posted on Facebook.
BUSINESSES 1. Reeb's store; Bufler's grocery, another Bufler store; Stevens' grocery, Francis' gas station, Wyckoff's grocery; Dees grocery and gas station; Glardon's grocery; and Don's Carry-Out.