Charles W. Hulfish

Charles W. Hulfish (March 6, 1870-June 22, 1952) was president and treasurer of the wholesale grocery firm of Charles King and Son, Inc., and active in the business, civic and religious life of the community for more than a half century.

C. W. Hulfish was first elected to the city council in 1910, representing the First Ward. He served on the Water and Sewers Committee, along with councilman John S. Patton in the summer of 1911 when the condition of the water supply continued to grow more serious daily. Hulfish and Patton presented several reports to the City Council recommending the Charlottesville Ice Co., a large consumer of water, that if the situation did not improve, the privilege of using city water in its abattoir and ice factor would be withdrawn on August 14, 1911. Hulfish resigned from the City Council in September 1911.

May 1911 set the record for the longest heat wave and the most days at or above 90° for the month of May in parts of Virginia. A surface analysis from May 18th, 1911 shows a large ridge of high pressure centered over the Atlantic near the Carolinas which stayed in place for several days. In Staunton and Harrisonburg, the local heatwave, started on May 17th and continued through May 24th, holds the current record high for both.

Charles Worth Hulfish was born on March 6, 1870 in Haymarket, Prince William County. In 1895, he married Charlie Belle King who’s father, Charles King (1838-1910) was founder of Charles King & Son – at one time, one the largest wholesale grocery houses in Northern Virginia. In 1895 he came to Charlottesville, where he established a branch of the Alexandria firm of Charles King and Son, wholesale grocers.

Soon after coming to Charlottesville he was one of the leaders in a campaign to raise funds for a Young Men’s Christian Association building and for many years he served as director of the organization. He was a past president of the Chamber of Commerce and a charter member and former president of the local Kiwanis Club. For many years he served as treasurer and senior warden of Christ Episcopal Church. He was a Mason, member of the Widow’s Son’s Lodge No. 60.

His hobby was fox hunting. At one time he served as president of the Virginia Foxhunting Association, and many of his hounds won trophies at trials throughout the State.

Charles W. Hulfish died on June 22, 1952 (aged 82) in Charlottesville, burial was at Riverview Cemetery.