Name: Lincoln County
Brand: Ralph D. Triplett
SKU: 9780738598253
Price: 24.99 USD
Availability: InStock

Lincoln County

9780738598253

$24.99

Lincoln County was named for Pres. Abraham Lincoln, and the county seat, Hamlin, was likely named for his vice president, Hannibal Hamlin. Created out of Boone, Cabell, Kanawha, and Putnam Counties in 1867, Lincoln County is characterized by the geographic oddity of three north-flowing rivers: Guyandotte, Mud, and Coal. The county developed around its rivers and their tributaries, strategically using them to operate mills and transport goods. Timbering was its first major industry, and readers will see images of the log rafts and push boats that operated along these streams. Arrival of the railroad in the early 20th century opened another transportation artery. There was also a major oil boom around this time. Fossil fuels have remained important to the county's economy, particularly natural gas and coal. Lincoln County highlights what life was like in area communities such as West Hamlin, Branchland, Harts, Hamlin, Griffithsville, and Alum Creek.

On This Day in West Virginia Civil War History

9781467117913

$21.99

West Virginia is the only state formed by seceding from a Confederate state. And its connections to the Civil War run deep. One day at a time, award-winning historian Michael Graham presents intriguing, event-driven anecdotes and history related to the state. On July 11, 1861, a Union force attacked 1,300 Confederate troops camped at Rich Mountain in a renowned battle. Confederate guerrillas raided Hacker's Creek on June 12, 1864. Find little-known facts about the Battles of Droop Mountain, Carnifex Ferry, Harpers Ferry, Shepherdstown and a whole host of others. Read a story one day or month at a time. Celebrate an entire year of Civil War history in the Mountain State.

On This Day in West Virginia Civil War History

Early Native Americans in West Virginia

9781467118514

$23.99

Follow Archaeologist Darla Spencer as she discovers the history and habits of 16 Native American sites in West Virginia.

Once thought of as Indian hunting grounds with no permanent inhabitants, West Virginia is teeming with evidence of a thriving early native population. Today's farmers can hardly plow their fields without uncovering ancient artifacts, evidence of at least ten thousand years of occupation. Members of the Fort Ancient culture resided along the rich bottomlands of southern West Virginia during the Late Prehistoric and Protohistoric periods. Lost to time and rediscovered in the 1880s, Fort Ancient sites dot the West Virginia landscape. This volume explores sixteen of these sites, including Buffalo, Logan and Orchard. Archaeologist Darla Spencer excavates the fascinating lives of some of the Mountain State's earliest inhabitants in search of who these people were, what languages they spoke and who their descendants may be.

Italians in West Virginia

9780738587509

$24.99

Images of America: Italians in West Virginia offers a new understanding of how immigrant laborers and their communities shaped the state's regional history. Shortly after its secession from Virginia, West Virginia appointed an immigration officer to handle the wave of antebellum immigrant laborers entering the state to work in agriculture, forestry, railway construction, and the coal industries. In 1910, there were 13,286 Italians in West Virginia; in 1920, there were 14,167. This volume has over 200 photographs that have been collected from West Virginia archival collections and Italian families, illustrating aspects of the immigrant experience. The photographs highlight the regional origins of the Italians, their work, communities, leisure, ethnicity, family life, and religion.

Huntington

9780738566672

$24.99

Named in 1870 after railroad tycoon Collis P. Huntington, the city of Huntington is nestled on the southern bank of the majestic Ohio River and the rolling hills of northwestern West Virginia.

Moundsville

9780738517353

$24.99

From 250 to 150 B.C., the Adena people constructed a burial mound by moving 60,000 tons of earth. The resulting formation, the largest conical burial mound in the country, is located in the middle of the namesake town of Moundsville, West Virginia. Although the Grave Creek Mound, as it is now called, attracts spectators from miles around and is the showpiece of the locals, it is not the only noteworthy feature of the town. Fokker Aircraft Factory, the Fostoria Glass Company, United States Stamping Company, and the Marx Toy Company were all located in Moundsville and nearby Glen Dale, and many of the employees were town residents. The area is also home to the old West Virginia Penitentiary, which is now a national historical landmark, and the Daily Echo, a country newspaper that has been the voice of the community for more than 100 years. The county seat of Marshall County, Moundsville is a Southern town immersed in history and full of people dedicated to its preservation.

Fairmont

9780738598406

$24.99

Situated where the West Fork and the Tygart Valley Rivers converged to form the Monongahela River, Fairmont was an attractive location for early settlers. In 1820, Fairmont, then named Middletown, was officially established as a town by the Virginia Assembly and was renamed Fairmont in 1843. The 1800s witnessed significant advancement in community formation, commerce, transportation, and education. Coal and natural gas extraction as well as the transportation sector would fuel an increasing demand for skilled and unskilled laborers. This resulted in an influx of European workers who would further enrich the culture of Fairmont. The 1900s saw the emergence of a variety of glass manufacturing companies, a packaging plant, flour mills, and an electrical service company. Fairmont became the most diversified and plentiful city in the region.

Marshall University

9780738541907

$24.99

In 1837, the people of Guyandotte, then a village on the Virginia frontier, resolved to open a school for their sons and daughters. Tradition says local lawyer John Laidley convinced his neighbors to name the school for his friend, Chief Justice John Marshall. The one-room log cabin that housed those first students soon gave way to a two-story brick building that, with various additions over the years, became the school's Old Main. For decades, the cherished landmark has stood like a proud sentinel, watching Marshall grow and evolve into a major university with an enrollment over 16,000. This remarkable volume, with more than 200 historic photographs from the Marshall archives, chronicles the dramatic Marshall saga.

Marshall County

9781467128049

$24.99

Marshall County lies at the historic, cultural, and economic crossroads of West Virginia, bounded by the Ohio River to the west, Mason-Dixon Line to the south, Pennsylvania to the east, and the city of Wheeling to the north. Its rich history began over two millennia ago when the Adena people constructed the world-famous Grave Creek Mound in Moundsville. After European settlers arrived, farms gave way to railroads and factories, and Marshall County became a regional hub for manufacturing as well as the site of the notorious West Virginia Penitentiary. Today, the area is enjoying a renaissance as people rediscover Marshall County's unique history, beautiful landscapes, and hospitable traditions.

Forestry Sciences Lab in Mercer County

9781467106085

$24.99

John F. Kennedy was profoundly moved by the tragedy of generational poverty after touring southernmost West Virginia during his presidential campaign. Six months after his election in 1961, President Kennedy established the President's Appalachian Regional Commission with the governors of all eight Appalachian Mountain states. On October 12, 1961, the Mercer County Commission joined forces with the president and the US Forest Service to donate a portion of the former Mercer County Poor Farm to develop the nation's first Forestry Sciences Laboratory. President Kennedy selected well-known forester Frank Longwood as director, and Longwood assembled a group of forest scientists who were dedicated to the task of restoring and marketing the Appalachian hardwood forest. With the same dedication that rocket scientists applied to fulfill Kennedy's dream of sending an American to the moon and back, timber scientists restored and marketed the great Appalachian hardwood forest. The US Forest Service left the site in 2016 but worked with the Mercer County Commission, the US General Services Administration, and the National Park Service's Historic Surplus Properties program to establish a site dedicated to history and public service.

Upshur County

9780738513522

$24.99

Formed in 1851 from portions of Randolph, Lewis, and Barbour Counties, Upshur County, West Virginia lies in the north central part of the state on the Allegheny Plateau. Rolling foothills and waterways such as the Buckhannon River paint a picturesque landscape, while warm-hearted residents provide testimony to the benefits of living in such amicable surroundings. Upshur County revisits this area during its earlier days, when time seemed to move much slower and wagon squeaks and horses' neighs were common sounds in the towns and along the roads. It also brings the reader into present-day Upshur County, highlighting the industrialization that has taken place in more recent times. This volume celebrates Upshur's long and rich heritage by lingering on the stories and images of historical sites, which include the offspring of the sycamore tree in whose hollowed trunk Samuel and John Pringle lived for three years in the 1700s and the old courthouse that was damaged by fire three times in its first six months of existence. Readers will no doubt recognize many of the traditions captured in these pages, including scenes of street parades and the famous Strawberry Festival.

Marion County

9780738506944

$24.99

A picturesque community in North Central West Virginia, Marion County is well-known for its winding waterways and rolling hills. Rapidly becoming a center for technological advancement, the county once depended on coal mining and oil drilling as its main industries. The near-depletion of these resources forced residents to seek new opportunities,
and their tenacity and willingness to forge ahead have helped maintain a community of which they and their children can be proud. This volume of vintage photographs and informative text sends readers back in time to the community''s defining days, the era in which Boaz Fleming lived with a dream of creating a new county and the period when coal, oil, and gas brought people into the area with hopes of fortune in their hearts. As the home to the first Father''s Day celebration and three West Virginia governors, including '"the father of West Virginia'" Francis Pierpont, this community lies at the forefront of the
Mountain State''s proud heritage. Long-time residents will no doubt recognize many of the street scenes and parades, while newcomers will delight in seeing their beloved community as it looked in days gone by.

Princeton

9780738542515

$24.99

Throughout its existence, Princeton has been a community at a unique three-way intersection connecting the heart of the Allegheny Mountain range with the fertile Valley of the Virginias to the east and the Cumberland Gap to the west. In 1837, the Virginia General Assembly formed Mercer County, named in memory of Revolutionary War general Hugh Mercer; at the same time, the county's seat was named in honor of the Battle of Princeton, New Jersey, the 1777 battle in which General Mercer died. Twenty-five years after the county's formation, retreating Confederate soldiers burned the homes of the town of Princeton to the ground. The coming of the Virginian Railroad in the first decade of the 20th century and the construction of the West Virginia Turnpike 40 years later transformed Princeton from a remote rural outpost into a vibrant center of commerce and ultimately led to the evolution of Princeton into a true crossroads for the region.

A Woman of Courage on the West Virginia Frontier: Phebe Tucker Cunningham

9781609499228

$21.99

Author Robert Thompson recounts the harrowing story of Phebe Tucker Cunningham, from her marriage at Prickett's Fort to her return to the shores of the Monongahela.

Life on the West Virginia frontier was a daily struggle for survival, and for Phebe Tucker Cunningham, that meant the loss of her four children at the hands of the Wyandot tribe and being held captive for three years until legendary renegades Simon Girty and Alexander McKee arranged her freedom. Thompson describes in vivid detail early colonial life in the Alleghenies and the ways of the Wyandot, providing historical context for this unforgettable saga.

A Woman of Courage on the West Virginia Frontier: Phebe Tucker Cunningham

Shepherdstown in the Civil War:

9781626199255

$21.99

Because they were situated near the Mason-Dixon line, Shepherdstown residents witnessed the realities of the Civil War firsthand. Marching armies, sounds of battle and fear of war had arrived on their doorsteps by the summer of 1862. The Maryland Campaign of September 1862 brought thousands of wounded Confederates into the town's homes, churches and warehouses. The story of Shepherdstown's transformation into "one vast hospital" recounts nightmarish scenes of Confederate soldiers under the caring hands of an army of surgeons and civilians. Author Kevin R. Pawlak retraces the horrific accounts of Shepherdstown as a Civil War hospital town.

Yeager Airport and Charleston Aviation

9781467125413

$24.99

The intriguing history of aviation in Charleston, West Virginia, deserves to fly out of anonymity. Wertz Field opened in Institute in 1930, allowing for the introduction of the first commercial passenger service in 1933. In 1942, the construction of a rubber plant next to the field blocked flight approaches, resulting in its closure. Recognizing the urgent need for air service to the community, industrious West Virginians literally moved mountains to build Kanawha Airport on flat land created by leveling three mountains north of the state's capital, Charleston. Opening in November 1947, Kanawha Airport offered the community convenient air service and became home to the West Virginia Air National Guard. This book covers the history of aviation in the Charleston area, from the first airplane flight in 1912 to the current Yeager Airport, which links the region to the world economy.

Huntington

9781467122276

$24.99

A flea market discovery that became an art museum sensation, this collection of photographs by Levi Holley Stone presents the city of Huntington, West Virginia, as it has never seen before. Stone's lens reveals a city of contrasts: a blend of broad boulevards and crumbling alleys, a mix of monuments and mud. It is a place where cars share the road with horses, roughnecks loiter in pool halls, and theatergoers enjoy extravagant musicals direct from Broadway. Newcomers flocked to this commercial hub on the Ohio River, and Stone's images of steamboats, trains, and motorcars show how they traveled. He captured the river, too, when it was frozen enough to walk across and furious enough to drown the city more than once. Stone was born in Huntington in 1898, and he photographed his hometown obsessively. Even his closest friends never knew that the photographs they took for granted were sensitive works of art.

Legendary Locals of Huntington

9781467100335

$24.99

Founded in 1871 by Collis P. Huntington, the rail tycoon's namesake city thrived as a gateway to the coalfields of southern West Virginia. The city's earliest leaders included Mayor Rufus Switzer, who created one of the community's true jewels, Ritter Park, and John Hooe Russel, who opened the city's first bank and, when it was robbed, jumped on his horse and gave chase to the bandits. Over the years, Huntington has been home to such varied individuals as Carter Woodson, the father of Black History Month; Dr. Henry D. Hatfield, who was West Virginia governor but said he would rather be known as a "country doctor;" Dagmar, the blonde bombshell of 1950s television; basketball star Hal Greer; golfing great Bill Campbell; Stella Fuller, who spent her life ministering to Huntington's poor; and the spectacularly generous Joan Edwards, who gave away $65 million. Legendary Locals of Huntington captures their stories and many others in a striking panorama of a remarkable community.

The Linsly School

9780738515311

$24.99

Older than the state of West Virginia itself, The Linsly School was the first college preparatory school established west of the Alleghanies. The school was originally founded in 1814 as Wheeling Lancastrian Academy, and became an all-boys institution at the beginning of the Civil War. In 1876, Linsly began serving as a military institution. It is the Linsly doctrine that nothing of substantial or lasting value comes without hard work and sacrifice, and its existence today is testament to that philosophy. Adhering to its motto, "Forward and no retreat!," the school carried itself through almost two centuries of war, pestilence, and economic depressions to become an honored and beloved institution in which generations of students take tremendous pride.

Today's non-military, coeducational Linsly School continues to enrich students in grades five through twelve with values of honesty, sportsmanship, hard work, and discipline. Through rare and never-before-seen vintage photographs, The Linsly School chronicles the fascinating and inspiring story of the tribulations and successes of the school itself, and the people who worked, sacrificed, and dreamed to make it happen.

The Great Ohio River Flood of 1937

9780738568584

$24.99

Images of America: The Great Ohio River Flood of 1937 brings together 200 vintage images that offer readers a look at one of the darkest chapters in the region's history.

From the time settlers first pushed into the Ohio Valley, floods were an accepted fact of life. After each flood, people shoveled the mud from their doors and set about rebuilding their towns. In 1884, the Ohio River washed away 2,000 homes. In 1913, an even worse flood swept down the river. People labeled it the ""granddaddy"" of all floods. Little did they know there was worse yet to come. In 1937, raging flood waters inundated thousands of houses, businesses, factories, and farms in a half dozen states, drove one million people from their homes, claimed nearly 400 lives, and recorded $500 million in damages. Adding to the misery was the fact that the disaster came during the depths of the Depression, when many families were already struggling.

Morgantown

9780738588124

$24.99

Then & Now: Morgantown depicts the history of this city's transformation from an agricultural community to industrial workhorse.

Morgantown has played a role in nearly every important period in American history. Words and images are combined in Then & Now: Morgantown to depict that legacy and the city's transformation from sleepy agricultural community to industrial workhorse to home of cutting-edge education, medicine, and research.

Roane County

9780738552750

$24.99

Established in March 1856, Roane County was named for
Virginia jurist Spencer Roane. The town of New California was selected as the county seat, and in 1858, the name was changed to Spencer to further honor the judge. The courthouse built in 1859 was destroyed by fire in 1887. A new county courthouse was completed in 1889, and the railroad arrived
in Spencer in 1892. New businesses and industry flourished as Spencer became the county hub. Summer normal schools were established throughout the county to prepare young teachers for state certification. In 1914, Spencer High School graduated
one pupil in its first class. The early recognition for education expanded with the construction of one- and two-room schools within each community. Timbering began as people moved westward and established new homes and farming lands. The development of the gas and oil industry soon followed, and Roane County became a major producer by the early 1900s.

Preston County

9780738543192

$24.99

Vintage images bring to life the pioneer era, the bustling development of the twentieth century, and the people who made it happen.

Preston County, West Virginia, is the only county in the United States with that name. It lies nestled into a corner of the state bounded on the north by Pennsylvania and the Mason-Dixon Line, and on the east by the state of Maryland. This scenic Appalachian region has a variance in elevation from a low of 870 feet to a high of 3,236 feet. With more tillable land than any other county in the state, Preston County is naturally a farming community, although mining, timber, recreation, and tourism are vital contributors to the county's economy. In this vibrant retrospective, local author Charles A. Thomas brings the county's past to life, covering the period from 1890 to the mid-1900s.t. We visit turn-of-the-century schools and mills, and see the trains and railroaders who made this area prosper in the late 1800s.

Huntington

9780738515991

$24.99

Huntington, West Virginia, is a city rich in cultural history. Rising from the ashes of the Civil War, this jewel city of the upper South became an important focus of the nation's industrial elite. With the Industrial Revolution, Huntington evolved into a major shipping port for the boundless reserves of coal, virgin timber, and natural gas found in the local mountains. The great railroad scion Collis P. Huntington, who had just completed the Transcontinental Railroad, became obsessed with creating a new city-one that bears his name today. Images of America: Huntington conveys the opulence of the Gilded Age (1870-1915) in the stunning architecture and the graceful, elegant lifestyles of the time. Many of the wealthy families of Huntington contributed to the development of education and the community by building universities and public schools, as well as hospitals, libraries, churches, museums, and government buildings. This photographic journal offers an engaging history of the early families and that made Huntington one of the architectural gems of America.

Oglebay Park

9780738517940

$24.99

In 1926, Earl Oglebay willed his summer estate, Waddington Farm, to the city of Wheeling with the hope that it would provide entertainment and education to the community. He and naturalist A.B. Brooks, both mavericks in ecology and agricultural training, established the unique environmental emphasis still evident in the park's nature center, trails, Discovery Lab, and zoo. The 1,650-acre municipal park nestled in the Wheeling hills also features Wilson Lodge, the premier hotel in the area, and 49 log cabins that pay tribute to the community's storied frontier past. The cabins and the Pine Room Pool were built in the 1930s by the Civilian Conservation Corps. Those brave young men, along with a famous golf course architect, Bob Biery, created the Oglebay Caddy Camp, which has been featured in several major golf magazines. Today, Oglebay Park hosts festivals, legendary jazz bands, and top-notch equestrian events. The park's Winter Festival of Lights is considered to be the nation's largest light show.

Rainelle

9781467122009

$24.99

Most of the lumber camps that harvested 8.5 million acres of West Virginia's virgin forest had faded into history when John Raine built Rainelle in the Meadow River basin in 1909. By recruiting workers of high morale and character, many of them highly skilled, Rainelle became noted as "the best hardwood sawmill town in the country" and "a town built to carry on." Through vintage photographs, Rainelle shares stories of the four generations who built and operated a prosperous Meadow River Lumber Company for 60 years, using the entire tree "from bark to bird's nest," and their descendants who continue building the town decades after the mill's closing. Rainelle captures founders and lumber workers, preachers and physicians, war heroes and athletes, businesses and churches, schools and recreation, as well as that spice of West Virginia life, politics and government.

Haunted Potomac River Valley

9781467147781

$21.99

Before European colonists first dipped their toes in our "Nation's River," it succored generations of American Indians, who added their own stories and often stained its banks with their blood. Revolutionary War ghosts haunt its length, from Shepherdstown to Saint George's Island. Harpers Ferry is home to more than one nineteenth-century haunt, and ghosts of Civil War soldiers linger in the river's upper reaches. Former residents still reside in historic buildings in Sterling, Arlington and Alexandria. Point Lookout, at the mouth of the river, is the most haunted site in Maryland. While the Potomac has weathered horrors and tragedies, many residents did not. Author David W. Thompson tells their stories.

Wood County, West Virginia

9780738514789

$24.99

Nestled in the midst of the Mid-Ohio Valley along the Ohio River, Wood County exists as one of West Virginia's most populous areas. A unique history drives forward the county's diverse communities, and today's residents enjoy a varied palette of opportunities offered by both metropolitan centers and smaller, more rural hamlets. Wood County, West Virginia honors an integral chapter of The Mountain State's storied past, offering readers the opportunity to meet a variety of the county's personalities, including the wealthy-and later infamous-Irish immigrant Harman Blennerhassett, the industrial magnates who arrived with the harvesting of oil and natural gas, and even some everyday individuals. More than 200 vintage photographs also invite readers to experience the county's defining moments, such as the growth of the Volcano oil field after the War between the States, along with the county's tragedies, such as the 1909 collapse of Parkersburg's water tanks on Quincy Hill, which swept a newly married couple to their deaths. Capable of enjoying the prosperous times and of overcoming the difficult ones, Wood Countians have proven themselves time and again since its founding in 1799. This volume is a fitting tribute to the strength and will of all who have called Wood County home.

Barbour County

9780738505701

$24.99

Located in the heart of Appalachia, rural Barbour County is bound on the east by the Allegheny Mountains, and on the west by the rolling hills that lead to the Ohio River. The Tygart River and its tributaries flow to the north through Barbour County, and historic maps identify the county as "the Western Waters." Once a trackless forest used as hunting grounds by Native Americans, the county was permanently settled in the late 1700s and officially named in 1843 for Philip Pendleton Barbour, a philanthropist and member of the U.S. Supreme Court. Known also for its focus on health care, the county may best be known as the site of the first land battle of the Civil War in 1861 and for the double-barreled bridge that played a role in that event. Over the years, the hardy members of this region have carved their living out of the mountains--mining and timber have helped sustain the county's communities. Recorded for generations to come in documents and other visual memorabilia, the singular history of Barbour County abounds with individual stories of industry, courage, determination, and faith.

Welch

9780738543048

$24.99

After the Civil War, Capt. Isaiah Welch, a Doddridge County, West Virginia, native, took a job as a surveyor with Maj. Jed Hotchkiss of Staunton, Virginia. Hotchkiss had served as Gen. Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson's mapmaker and charted Jackson's famous Valley Campaign, and Welch had been an officer of the 13th Battalion, Virginia Light Artillery. The war left Virginia's agrarian economy in ruins, and men like Hotchkiss and Welch worked to develop a new, industrial South. Welch surveyed the Pocahontas Coalfield in 1873, and a city named in his honor emerged in the heart of that great coalfield. Chartered on July 12, 1894, Welch has played a pivotal role in America's industrial revolution as a support system and supply house to the timber industry and as a coal industry hub. Throughout more than a century, Welch has served as a gateway for the raw materials and manpower that fueled the nation's quest for growth and power. The city has been constantly beset by the challenges of maintaining a civilization in West Virginia's steepest and most remote mountains, but after decades of being tested by nature, Welch is now on the verge of yet another renaissance.

Whitewater Rafting on West Virginia's New & Gauley Rivers

9781609492465

$21.99

It's not everyone who can look at the violent white caps of river rapids and think, "I want to master that.'? Whitewater rafters are not just anyone.

A certain confidence and devil-may-care attitude must be required to set off on West Virginia's New or Gauley Rivers, nothing to protect the riders from the rough waters aside from a helmet and life vest, but to successfully accomplish their mission would be to master some of the most popular and treacherous rapids in the country. Jay Young, a raft guide turned writer, leads readers through the local lore and history of the rivers, where the ordinary almost never occurs.

Whitewater Rafting on West Virginia's New & Gauley Rivers

Arthurdale

9780738544335

$24.99

In August 1933, Eleanor Roosevelt visited the impoverished coal communities of north central West Virginia. Suffering from the effects of the Great Depression, these coal families looked to the First Lady for help out of the devastating economic times. Her visit spurred the creation of Arthurdale, the nation's first New Deal Homestead Community. Arthurdale quickly became known as "Eleanor's Little Village" because of the First Lady's involvement with the project. She visited the community often to dine, dance, and converse with the homesteaders and to attend high school graduations. In addition to the creation of new housing, Arthurdale featured a community business center, state-of-the-art school buildings, a craft industry, an industrial factory, and home-based agricultural production. Although not a financial triumph for the federal government, the social success of the community is immeasurable.

McDowell County

9780738517995

$24.99

McDowell County was established by an act of the Virginia General Assembly in 1858, two years before the start of the American Civil War. In 1863, the county was one of the 55 that separated from the Old Dominion to form West Virginia, thus earning the nickname "the Free State." Long before this, though, McDowell County was known for its bountiful natural resources; a great geologist, Dr. Thomas Walker, touted these vast "coal lands" after his 1748-1750 exploration. Political leaders like Thomas Jefferson, who knew of the county's mineral wealth, steered Robert Morris, financier of the American Revolution, to obtain all of McDowell County in the land speculation boom of the mid-1790s. After Morris was sent to debtor's prison in 1799, however, his land holdings were acquired by Michael Bouvier, a cabinet maker. In the 1920s, the remains of Bouvier's holdings were purchased by Henry Ford, the automobile tycoon. Other famous personalities associated with McDowell County include J.P. Morgan and Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson.

Along the Kanawha River

9780738599458

$24.99

The Kanawha River is a prominent natural feature running through West Virginia's Putnam County. Beginning in the 19th century, small, permanent towns began to appear along the river's banks. The waterway served as a vital mode of transportation for these burgeoning communities. Buffalo has a rich agricultural history and a historic town center with several buildings in the National Register of Historic Places. Eleanor was one of three New Deal settlements established by Eleanor Roosevelt. Winfield, the county seat, was named after Gen. Winfield Scott. Nitro was seemingly built overnight as a US ammunition facility during World War I. While each town has its own identity, it shares a common link--the Kanawha River. Along the Kanawha River chronicles Civil War-era residents, floods in the early 1900s, and economic hard times in the 1930s. This pictorial history captures the diversity of these communities and the ways in which they flourished along the Kanawha River.

Southern West Virginia

9780738516653

$24.99

The history of West Virginia is the story of coal and the people whose lives are forever changed by it.

Coal was mined in Southern West Virginia even before the state's birth in 1863 but was mostly consumed within a few miles of where it was dug. When the railroads arrived on the scene, they not only provided a means of getting that coal to market, they also brought in trainloads of workers to the sparsely populated region. With the mines generally located in remote, out-of-the-way spots, operators were forced to build housing for those workers and their families, as well as company stores, schools, and churches- everything needed in a small community. Overnight, the nation's demand for coal turned sleepy, little places in Southern West Virginia into boomtowns and helped cities such as Charleston and Huntington grow and prosper as gateways to and from the coalfields.