ELKINS – For more than 100 years, the stone wall surrounding the lower campus of Davis & Elkins College and former Davis Elkins estate has been admired by many passersby. Its history and ties to an Elkins family are now displayed on a plaque near the College entrance.
Elkins natives Jerry and Bobbi Trimboli recently had the plaque installed to commemorate the work of the Trimboli Brothers, a former Elkins masonry business dating back to the early 1900s. Jerry Trimboli’s great-grandfather, Vincent Trimboli, built the wall for Sen. Henry Gassaway Davis with stone from the Vincent Trimboli Stone Quarry that was located along U.S. 33 east.
“I elected to put up this plaque to let students and visitors know the history of the wall they pass by every day,” Jerry Trimboli said.
Trimboli Brothers also built the first sidewalk in Elkins extending from the current City Hall to the Railyard and the original swimming pool at D&E and were instrumental in building the original Davis Memorial Hospital.
The plaque reads, “Vincent Trimboli came to America in the early 1900s and then came to Elkins and worked for Senator Henry Gassaway Davis building a stone wall which stands today along with other stone and cement projects on the estate which is now Davis and Elkins College. Senator Davis would ride by on his horse and admire the good work Trimboli was doing. The Trimboli Brothers built many buildings plus the first sidewalk in Elkins.”
In a ceremony to dedicate the plaque, Davis & Elkins College President Chris A. Wood recognized the efforts of past generations who helped construct the town and its many historic landmarks.
“So many people are instrumental in the history of the community and the College,” Wood said. “This is a fitting tribute to those who helped build Elkins and Davis & Elkins College.”