Chapter I

Geographical And Physical Features Of Fayette County

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LOCATION

    Fayette County is located just south of the central portion of West Virginia, being included between the parallels of 37° 49' and 38° 17' North Latitude and between the meridians of 81° 23' and 80° 45' West Longitude from Greenwich.  It lies entirely within the watershed of the Great Kanawha river, whose drainage empties into the Ohio.

    It is bounded on the north by Kanawha, Clay and Nicholas counties; on the east by Nicholas and Greenbrier; on the south by Summers and Raleigh; and on the west by Raleigh and Kanawha.

FORMATION

    Fayette County was formed by an Act of the General Assembly of Virginia, February 38, 1831, from Kanawha, Nicholas, Greenbrier and Logan counties.  The county was named in honor of General LaFayette, the distinguished Frenchman of Revolutionary fame, who revisited the United States in 1824, spending more than a year traveling through the country as a guest of the nation, visiting every one of the twenty-four states, and all of the principal cities and towns.

    The first county seat of Fayette was located at New Haven, in the Mountain Cove District.  It was later removed to Vandalia, which was named for Abraham Vandal, and at whose house court was held until the completion of the public building.  The name of the site was changed to Fayetteville in 1837, since which time it has been the seat of justice.

CHANGE IN SIZE AND BOUNDARY

    By an Act of the General Assembly, January 23,1850, a part of Fayette county was cut off to form the county of Raleigh,

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and later by an Act of the West Virginia Legislature, February 27, 1871, a small portion was taken to form part of Summers county.

     An Act to change the lines between the counties of Greenbrier and Fayette was passed by the General Assembly, April 4, 1831.

By an Act of the General Assembly, passed February 23, 1833, a part of Fayette county was added to Greenbrier, described as follows: "Beginning at the Greenbrier line near Meadow dale; thence a straight line to the top of Wolf-pen ridge; thence a straight line to Meadow river, Greenbrier county to include John Sheaves and James Rodgers."

AREA

 The original area of Fayette was greatly reduced by cutting off what is now Raleigh and part of Summers county.  Its present area, as determined with planimeter by R. C. Tucker from the accurate topographic sheets of the U. S. Geological Survey, is as follows:

RELIEF

    The surface of Fayette county varies from 597.7 feet above sea-level at pool level of Dam No. 2 of the U. S. Government series Montgomery, to about 3,375 feet above the same datum at the crests of Walnut, Ford, and Miles knobs along the southeast border of the Sewell Mountain district, thus making an maximum range in elevation of about 2.275 feet.  This feature causes considerable differences in climate conditions, in that winters are somewhat longer and more severe on the high plateaus and mountains than along the river valleys.

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CLIMATE 

The climate of Fayette county is comparatively mild and healthful since the county does not have the rigorous winters of the North nor the intense heat that is expressed during the summer months of the in the South.  The temperature rarely falls much below zero, although reaching this point often during midwinter.  The snowfall is practically the same as for other mountain counties in the eastern portion of the State, the snow remaining on the ground only for comparatively short periods.  Long-continued blizzards are unknown.  The temperature throughout the summer months – June, July and August – is comparatively low, averaging about 70° F. and rarely exceeding 100° F.  Periods of hot weather are of short duration, the nights usually being cool, especially in the plateau region.

The mean annual precipitation of 50 to 60 inches is fairly well distributed throughout the year, the heaviest rainfall occurring from January to June, when it is needed by the growing crops, and lightest in the late summer and fall during the harvest season.  Thus the climatic conditions are good for general farming, fruit growing and stock raising.

PRODUCTS

The principal animal products of Fayette county are horses, mules, cattle, sheep, hogs, and dairy products.

The principal vegetable products are lumber, corn, oats, wheat, hay, potatoes, buckwheat, garden vegetables, apples, and peaches.  Roots of wild plants in the much forested area of the county, such as ginseng, golden seal, blacksnake root, wild ginger, blood root, spikenard, and may-apple are a considerable source of revenue.

The principal mineral products at present are coal and coke, as thus far no paying oil or gas pool has yet been developed.  As described on a subsequent page, ferro-chromium is manufactured at Glen Ferris but chrome ore is imported from South Africa.

Truck farming on the high plateaus of the southeast half of the county could be carried on with great profit, since the intensive coal mine development in the region offers a fine market for all garden vegetables that could be produced.

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POPULATION

    The following table, taken from the U. S. Census returns, shows the population of Fayette county by districts for the last four decades.

POPULATION OF INCORPORATED TOWNS 

    The following table shows the population of incorporated towns for the last three decades.  The absence of population figures for 1900 indicates that the place was incorporated some time after the census of 1900.  Places which were incorporated but, through surrender of charter or other cause, have no corporate existence in 1920 are not printed in this table.

POPULATION OF FAYETTE COUNTY BY DECADES

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PER CENT INCREASE AND DENSITY POPULATION

    The foregoing figures show that the growth in population in the county as a whole is fairly normal, the percentage of increase from 1890 to 1900 being 55.7, from 1900 to 1910 being 62.3, and from 1910 to 1920 being 16.3.  The increase for the entire state of West Virginia for the 10 years ending in 1910 is 27.4, and for the United States, 21; while for the entire state for the 10 years ending 1920 is 19.9, and for the entire United States, 14.9.

    The density of population for Fayette in 1910 was 77.8 persons to the square mile, while that for the State in the same year was 50.8, and for the continental United States, 30.4.  The density of population in the county in 1920 was 90.5 persons to the square mile, while that for the state was 60.9 and for the United States, 35.5.

    The population should be classified as rural, since there is no town within the county that attains 2,500 or more inhabitants.  The rapid rate of increase in population is largely due to the development of more than one hundred commercial coal mines within the county.

VALUATION OF PROPERTY IN FAYETTE COUNTY, 1925

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MAGISTERIAL DISTRICTS

Just before the Civil War, Fayette county was divided into four districts.  They were known as District No. 1, District No.2, District No. 3, and District No. 4.

In 1870 there were only four districts in the county.  They were then known as Fayetteville, Falls of Kanawha, Mountain Cove, and Sewell Mountain.

    The county court, on March 5, 1870, divided the county into seven townships, to-wit: Sewell Mountain, Mountain Cove, Gauley, Falls, Kanawha, Fayetteville, and Paint Creek.  On May 16th, of the same year, however, the order creating these seven townships was repealed and an order was passed dividing the county into five districts as follows: Kanawha, Falls, Fayetteville, Sewell Mountain, and Mountain Cove.

In 1887 Quinnimont district was formed out of Sewell Mountain district, and in 1896 Nuttall district was formed from Mountain Cove.  Fayetteville district has never been divided.

TYPOGRAPHIC FEATURES

    The topography of Fayette is very similar to that of the central belt of counties in the southern half of the state, in that the surface features of the northwest half of the county shows a regular succession of high sharp ridges, separated by deeply indented and V-shaped valleys.  In the southern half, erosion has not progressed nearly so far.  Here occurs a high, partially dissected plateau, ranging in elevation from 1,850 feet above sea-level in the Fayetteville region to 3,150 feet, two miles southwest of Rainelle.  Evidence is not lacking for the ancient Cretaceous peneplain.  The base leveled condition, which had an elevation of about 1,00 feet above sea-level at the Ohio river and 1,400 feet at Charleston, is represented by the crests of the highest ridges and hills along the Kanawha-Fayette county line, which have an elevation of about 2,000 feet, rising southeastward to about 2,500 feet at Summerlee and Herberton, and 3,050 feet at Maywood and Goddard Knob on the eastern border.

In the eastern half of the county there appears to be marked indications or remnants of the Tertiary peneplain.  These base-

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leveled surfaces have approximately the same elevation above sea-level along the northeast-southwest lines as shown below at the points named:

The elevation of this peneplain appears to have been 500 to 600 feet below the Cretaceous peneplain mentioned above.

Deep gorges have been cut by the Kanawha, New, and Gauley rivers.  The bed of the Kanawha has an elevation slightly less than 600 feet above sea-level at the Fayette-Kanawha county line.

    Sewell Mountain and Walnut Ridge along the southeast border of Sewell Mountain district are the highest mountain ranges, the crests of Myles, Ford and Walnut Knobs attaining an elevation of 3,375 feet above sea-level.  Other mountain ridges that have attained sufficient elevation to warrant mention are Gauley Mountain and Dogwood Ridge in Mountain Cove District; Paint Mountain along the southwest border of Kanawha and Fayetteville districts; Packs and Garden Ground in Fayetteville district; Mann, War Ridge, Patterson Fork, and Turnip Hole in Quinnimont district.  With the exception of Mann Mountain, direct structural influence apparently played a small part in their formation, their present summits being largely upheld by more resistant layers of the rock strata.  The last mentioned is largely an anticlinal fold, since its axis corresponds closely with that of the Mann Mountain.

Although Fayette county lies near the eastern side of the division of the Appalachian Province, having uniform and almost horizontal geologic strata, it is, nevertheless, rendered somewhat irregular by erosion.  Visitors to the county who attempt to view it from the rough and narrow gorge of New river alone are apt to be far from correct in their impressions.

In order to gain a full comprehension of the surface formation it is necessary to ascend to higher ground.  Here, it will be observed, the surface stretches away with more or less regularity to the north and south of the meandering channel of New river.  In places, as about the head waters of Wolf creek and Laurel creek,

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the work of erosion has progressed but slowly and rolling surface is strongly suggestive of the plateau which once existed there on a somewhat higher plane.  Everywhere throughout the upland region numerous streams have cut their channels to varying depths.  The summits of thousands of irregular hills thus formed lie more or less uniformly at an elevation of about 2,000 feet and here and there stand mountain peaks which rise in bold relief to a height of more than 1,000 feet above the surrounding country.  Among the highest of these, in the eastern part of the county are Ford Knob, Bee Lick Knob, and Big Sewell Knob, all reaching an elevation of over 3,000 feet, the latter ascending to 3,500 feet.  The lowest land, 618 to 675 feet above tide, lies along the Gauley and Great Kanawha rivers.  The fertile bottoms and loamy coves of this lower section contrast sharply with the heavy clays found above the stratum of Sewell sandstone which outcrops at Hawks Nest and at other places along New river.

DRAINAGE

    The whole area of the county lies within the drainage basin of the Great Kanawha river which is formed by the confluence of the New and Gauley rivers at Gauley Bridge.  The southwestern section of the county is drained by Paint, Armstrong and Loop creeks, tributaries of the Great Kanawha river; and by Laurel, Wolf, Arbuckle and Dunloup creeks, tributaries of New river.  The northern and eastern section of the county is drained by Smithers creek, a tributary of the Great Kanawha; by the lower waters of Gauley and Meadow rivers, which for a distance of nearly 50 miles from the northern boundary line of the county; and by numerous small streams that flow northward into the Gauley and Meadow rivers, and southward into New river.  The principal tributaries of New river that drain the northern and eastern part of the county are Mill creek, Kenney's creek, Manns creek, and Laurel creek.

THE NEW RIVER GORGE

 New river, which has its source on the summits of the Blue Ridge in North Carolina, flows through Fayette county for a distance of about 50 miles.  It enters the county from the south through a deep narrow channel at about 1,200 feet in elevation.  From this point, to where it joins the waters of the Gauley and flows on as

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the Great Kanawha, the stream is beset by falls and almost continuous rapids descending to an elevation of 650 feet at Gauley Bridge.

The wild beauty of this cannon, known as the New River Gorge, with the clear water of the river flowing swiftly among scattered boulders at the base of it precipitous rocky walls, has appealed to thousands of people, and has afforded ample justification for the efforts at description made by many prominent writers.

Lewis's Hand Book of West Virginia, 1904, page 13, gives the following description:

    "Who, having once seen, will never forget the 'Hawk's Nest' in Fayette county - often called 'Marshall's Pillar - a frowning precipice said to be over twelve hundred feet high and overhanging New river.  Imagine yourself standing upon its projecting point, a perpendicular rock, 1292 feet from the valley below.  Before you, as you look to the east, New river is seen for the distance, perhaps, of several miles, winding or rather rushing, tumbling and foaming through the towering cliffs which environ it.  Sweeping by this lofty promontory on which you stand, it suddenly turns its

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course in a southwest direction, and presents in the whole distance several beautiful cascades which send to the listening ear the far off but lulling sound of their waters.  The cliffs, themselves, judging by the horizontal and corresponding strata of rock on either side, seem to have been originally united but torn asunder by some strong convulsion of nature, in order to give free passage to the narrow but angry torrent which rolls majestically at their feet.  The autumnal season gives to this imposing picture a magnificent and gorgeous drapery of which no man whose vision has been confined to lowland scenery can have the slightest conception."

    Martin's Gazetteer of Virginia and The District of Columbia, published in 1835, gives the following bit of description:

    "The cliffs of New river present for a distance of 20 miles a succession of sublime scenery rivaled in our country only by that of Niagara, between the falls and Queenstown."

    The immense waterpower of this river is adequate to supply light, heat, and facilities for travel to the present and the future population of the Great Kanawha Valley.  Within future years, doubtless, these waters as yet but little used, will appeal strongly to the commercial mind as they have in the past to the esthetic.

The foregoing text was taken directly, verbatim, from The History Of Fayette County, West Virginia as it was originally written.  This book was written by J. T. Peters and H. B. Carden.  It was published in 1926 by the Fayette County Historical Society, Inc., Fayetteville, West Virginia, and printed by Jarrett Printing Company, Charleston, West Virginia.  All rights reserved.

[Table Of Contents]
[ Dedication | Foreword ]
[ 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 ]
[ 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 ]
[ 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 ]