Framed and mounted on a wall at the West Virginia House of Delegates is a symbol of American — and family — history.
It’s a 48-star American flag, donated by Delegate David McCormick, a Republican from Monongalia County. For many years, the flag hung in the family’s Hall’s Grocery outside of Logan.
“It’s a special thing in my family,” McCormick said at the Statehouse last week.
The 48-star American flag was the official U.S. flag for 47 years, from July 4, 1912 — with the addition of New Mexico and Arizona as states — to July 3, 1959. That was the longest used flag in national history until July 4, 2007, when the 50-star flag became the version of the flag in the longest use.
Featuring six rows of eight stars, it was used through the Great Depression, both World Wars and the Korean War, serving under eight presidents. It was the flag flown during key historical moments like the raising of the flag on Iwo Jima.
It was replaced on July 4, 1959, by the 49-star flag, which represented Alaska. The 50-star flag established in 1960 and still used today represents the addition of Hawaii.
The flag now on display in the West Virginia Capitol can be seen in the room most prominently used by the House Committee on Government Organization, room 215 in the East Wing.
The flag was originally owned by Delegate McCormick’s maternal great grandfather, Lace Hall, who operated a wood floored grocery store on Mill Creek, Logan County — “a soda pop in the cooler by the register kind of place.”
Hall bought the 4-foot by 6-foot flag to honor his sons, Hobert and Sam, who both served in World War II. Hobert served in Europe, and Sam in the Pacific. Hobert and Sam are Delegate McCormick’s uncles.
Sam Hall eventually took over the store, where the flag remained on display in to the 1980s.
After that, McCormick said the flag wound up in the possession of his mother, Logan resident Janice Clark — “the flag was in my Mom’s attic in Logan, and we ran across it, we got it out, dusted it off.”
McCormick decided that the flag deserved new life. He got it framed, considered hanging it at his own home, determined it’s actually too big for that and then approached House leadership about donating it. Finally, McCormick filled out a small amount of paperwork to convey ownership to the state.
“So I donated it to the State of West Virginia. It is an artifact that belongs to the state now,” McCormick said. “When I’m gone from the House of Delegates, whenever that may be, the State of West Virginia will retain ownership of the flag, and it will be hung in the Culture and History Museum.”
McCormick serves on several committees that meet in the room where the flag is on display.
“It’s a great sense of pride,” he said. “It’s just a neat thing. It’s very unique, very unique.”
