| Back to e-WV The West Virginia Encyclopedia

Raleigh County

Raleigh County was established on January 23, 1850, by an act of the Virginia General Assembly, with Beckley as its county seat. The county’s founder, Alfred Beckley (1802–88), a West Point graduate, named the county after Sir Walter Raleigh, and the town after his father, John James Beckley, first clerk of the U.S. House of Representatives and first Librarian of Congress.

Mapped Points

• Beckley

  Beckley, the county seat of Raleigh County, developed from a small agricultural settlement into a commercial hub for the surrounding West Virginia coalfields and now has an economy based primarily on retail, service, and tourism. It is home to University of Charleston-Beckley (formerly Mountain State University). It is also home to the Exhibition Coal Mine and New River Community and Technical College.

• Tams

  ‘‘Major’’ W. P. Tams Jr., the last of the old-time coal barons, established the company town of Tams as his headquarters.

• Little Beaver State Park

  Little Beaver State Park’s main attraction is the 18-acre lake, with its dock, rowboats, and paddle boats. A sandy beach bounded by white pines offers one of the loveliest swimming areas in the state.
  

  

• Grandview Park

  Grandview Park is a part of the New River Gorge National River, managed by the National Park Service. Two historical plays, Honey in the Rock and Hatfield and McCoys, have been presented each summer for many years at Grandview.
  

  

• Sandstone Falls

  Sandstone Falls is the largest waterfall within the New River Gorge.

• Tamarack

  Tamarack, an arts and crafts center that opened in 1996, sells items fashioned by more than 2,000 West Virginians.

• Appalachian Bible College

  Appalachian Bible College, a nondenominational, independent Christian college, was established in 1950.
  

  

• New River Gorge National River

  One of only three national rivers, the New River Gorge National River was established by Congress on November 10, 1978. The park was created for the purpose of conserving and interpreting outstanding natural, scenic, and historic values and objects.
  

  

• Winterplace Ski Resort

  Winterplace Ski Resort is located at the summit of Flat Top Mountain, the southernmost range of the Allegheny Mountains, and has an annual snowfall average of about 65 inches.

• Irish Mountain

  Irish Mountain, located above the New River in Raleigh County at elevation 2,691 feet, was named for the Irish immigrants who settled, farmed, and populated it.

• West Virginia Turnpike

  The West Virginia Turnpike, the state’s only toll road, runs from Charleston to Princeton.

• Flat Top Lake

  Flat Top Lake, like other lakes in West Virginia, is an artificial lake, formed by damming Glade Creek on Flat Top Mountain in southern Raleigh County. It was first developed in the early 1950s as a fishing reservoir.