Shepherdstown

Joseph Ruffner was born

French explorers were in the Wheeling area

Germans incorporated the city of Mecklenburg (Shepherdstown)

Col. George Clendenin purchased 1,030 acres from Judge Cuthbert Bullitt at the Mouth of Elk, present Charleston

Francis Asbury broke with the English Methodists established the Methodist Episcopal Church in America

Beverly became the first county seat of Randolph County

Construction began on the first courthouse in Clarksburg

George Clendenin purchased land from Judge Cuthbert Bullitt in Kanawha

James Caldwell patented 20,000 acres in Doddridge County

Virginia legislature chartered Randolph Academy in Clarksburg

The Kinnan family moved to Randolph County

St. Paul's in Aurora was established

Boaz Fleming led a part from Milford, Delaware, to present Fairmont

James Rumsey successfully demonstrated a steamboat on the Potomac River in Shepherdstown

James Swan moved to France

John Augustine Washington died

Rebecca Tomlinson Martin Williams and Isaac Williams permanently settled in Williamstown

A visitor to Wheeling described Moses Shepherd's new building

Harman and Margaret Blennerhassett settled on Blennerhassett Island

The Shrewsburys settled in the landt present Belle

An industrial site was built at Harpers Ferry

Samuel Hanway established the Fock Forge on Deckers Creek near Morgantown

The Davis furnace was in operation in Monongalia County

Joseph Tomlinson laid out lots named Elizabethtown

John Myers married Catherin Everhart

Coal was discovered on the Pocatalico River

Robert Gorrell founded Middlebourne

Virginia legislature repealed laws consenting to the admission of Berkeley and Jefferson counties to West Virginia

Storer College in Harpers Ferry, begun by the Freewill Baptist Church, to educate black teachers

Ratification of 13th Amendment by West Virginia

John Appleton moved to Kanawha County

13 Banks had become national banks

The Baptist General Association of West Virginia (West Virginia Baptist Convention) formed

Rosser's Raid occurred on Beverly

Belle Boyd wrote Belle Boyd in Camp and Prison in London

Waitman T. Willey senate term as first West Virginia senator ended

Provision included in Constitution of 1851 calling for the General Assembly to reapportion representation in both houses

John Dickinson came to Kanawha County

Anne Dudley arrived in West Virginia to teach freed blacks

Fairmont State University was formed as West Virginia's first private normal school

Aretas Fleming married Carrie M. Watson

Joseph Diss Debar appointed an agent in southern Germany

Nathan Goff married Laura E. Despard

Grafton National Cemetery was established for Civil War dead

The Easton Roller Mill replaced overshot water wheel

Reckart's Mill was built in Preston county

Visitor stated about Harpers Ferry, "all about the town are rubbish, filth, and stench."

Chester Hubbard began serving in the U.S. House of Representatives

John Jacob returned to Romney

George Latham served as congressman for the Second District of West Virginia

Joseph Lightburn returned to duty after being wounded in Sherman's advance on Atlanta

The Logan Wildcats were active in the Shenandoah Valley campaign

The city of Boone Court House changed its name to Madison

Booker T. Washington arrived in Malden with his family to work in the salt industry and local coal mines

Two additional dams were built on the Monongahela River

The army recruiting and training center at Camp Carlisle ceased

The Campbell's Creek Coal Company began shipping coal down the Kanawha River from Port Amherst

Samuel Price was appointed circuit judge in Lewisburg but declined to take office

A narrow-gauge railroad was built to Ritchie Mines

Ritchie Mines was bought

The Wheeling interurban system began operation

The National Banking Act was amended to allow state banks to become national banks

Jim Vance was suspected in the murder of Harmon McCoy

The formal organizing of Webster County took place

The state superintendent called a state convention of teachers to meet in Fairmont, founding the West Virginia Education Association

Peter Cline Buffington was elected Huntington's first mayor

Edward Jefferson Willis founded the Winchester Female Institute in Winchester

B&O lines reached Columbus, Lake Erie and Pittsburgh

Commencement Hall added as a wing to Old Main at Bethany

Democrats gained control of West Virginia's government

The Jefferson County seat moved back to Charles Town after temporarily being relocated to Shepherdstown

Waitman Willey's service in the U.S. Senate ended

Voters approved both a constitutional amendment eliminating the loyalty requirement for voting and a call for a new constitutional convention

Joseph Diss Debar ended his work of recruiting labor and landowners from abroad

Hyre D. Clark of Buckhannon was the first graduate of Fairmont State

John P. Hale became mayor of Charleston

Morris Harvey married Rosaltha Dickinson

The Independent was moved from Winfield to Huntington by O.G. Chase

Frank Hereford began the first of three terms in the U.S. House of Representatives

Chesapeake & Ohio Railroad purchased the land on which Hinton was built

The Flick Amendment was passed which ended political restriction on ex-Confederates in West Virginia

Jedediah Hotchkiss explored the extended Chesapeake & Ohio Railroad

Huntington was founded by Collis P. Huntington

John J. Allen died

James Madison Jackson died

John Jay Jackson Sr. served as a member of the commission to ascertain West Virginia's share of the Virginia debt

The Great Fire in Chicago burned up Mother Jones' dressmaking business and her possessions

The KKK virtually disappeared in West Virginia after voting privileges were restored to former Confederates

Daniel Lamb unsuccessfully ran for the U.S. Senate

The Flick Amendment was passed restoring voting rights for ex-Confederates

Mannington was chartered as a town by the legislature

The federal government conducted a survey of the river

Happy Retreat was added to the National Register of Historic Places

The Energy Crisis occurred

The original Fiestaware was discontinued

Chuck Howley retired from the Dallas Cowboys football team at the end of the season

West Virginia Library Commission expanded its construction project to include the Instant Libraries building program

The Buffalo Creek Memorial Library was the first Instant Library

The Supreme Court of Appeals held that the system of funding justice of the peace courts from fines was unconstitutional in State ex rel. Reece v. Giles, J.P.

An additional 2,500 acres were acquired for Kanawha State Forest

Maryat Lee founded EcoTheater in Hinton

A program was established between the Library Commission and Marshall University to train library personnel in small and remote libraries

The Lilly Brothers toured Japan

Chuck Kinder wrote Snakehunter

Governor Moore names A. James Manchin head of the Rehabilitation Environmental Action Program (REAP)

Dan Maroney served as international president of the Amalgamated Transit Union

The Palace of Gold began construction in the Hare Krishna community

M. Blane Michael operated a solo law practice in Petersburg

Mildred Mitchell-Bateman became the vice president of the American Psychiatric Association

The Mountain Artisans Quilting Book was published by Macmillan Publishing

Molly O'Day and Lynn Davis started a gospel record program at WEMM-FM Huntington

Allegheny Wood Products was formed

Congress created Conrail through the Regional Rail Reorganization Act

Joe Powell directed the AFL-CIO Committee on Political Education.

The Prato Rio house was added to the National Register of Historic Places

Dallas Bailey became president of Salem International University

Mary Lee Settle wrote Prisons

Harold M. McNeill became president of West Virginia State College (now University)

John D. Rockefeller IV became president of West Virginia Wesleyan College

Jeff Holland Cook became conductor of the Wheeling Symphony

WVU at Parkersburg Jackson County Center opened

Clyde Ware directed the West Virginia-set film, When the Line Goes Through

The Charleston Rotary club elected its first two women members

Cynthia Rylant earned the Newbery Honor Book for A Fine White Dust

The Ohio Valley Refining Company closed in St. Marys

Former Governor Hulett Smith's wife, Mary Alice, died.

Edward Stifel II constructed a new three-story lodge

The business and operation tax (B&O) was eliminated for most business activities

Corporate net income tax rose to 9.75%

A lost of $279 million from the Consolidated Investment Fund

Charleston joined the Class a South Atlantic League

Hazo W Carter, Jr. became president of West Virginia State College

Chestnut Ridge Hospital was built

Harry Hamm authored the report "Wheeling 2000"

Denise Giardina wrote Storming Heaven

Tim Armstead graduated from the UNiversity of Charleston

John Davis Chandler portrayed "Bleak" in the film Adventures in Babysitting

S. L. Jones died

A second structure was added to West Virginia Graduate College at its new location in South Charleston

The West Virginia Graduate College became Marshall University College of Graduate Studies

Kenneth E. Smith became the third generation to run the McClain Printing Company when George Smith retired

Attorney General Darrell McGraw was involved in a suit against the tobacco industry that settled the state to $41.5 billion over 25 years

An additional 626 acres was added to Moncove Lake State Park to provide more hunting lands

The Sporting News named Randy Moss college football's top receiver

The Robert C. Byrd Learning Resource Center was built at the College of West Virginia (now Mountain State University)

Walter Dean Myers received the Boston Globe Horn Book Honor Book Award for Harlem

The National Conservation Training Center was completed

Phyllis Reynolds Naylor's book Shiloh was adopted for film

Phyllis Reynolds Naylor was awarded the Appalachian Medallion by the University of Charleston

Joe Powell retired as president of the West Virginia Labor Federation.

The Pride of West Virginia received the Sudler Trophy as the nation's No. 1 college marching band

The Shavers Fork Coalition was formed

Marshall moved from Division 1 AA to Division 1 A

Meriluco was placed on the National Register of Historic Places

The first female trooper resigned from the State Police

Stone & Thomas closed the Charleston store

Anna Marsh caught a 50.37-inch 49.75 lb muskellunge in Stonecoal Lake, setting state record for weight

Toyota built an engine plant at Buffalo

Robert C. Byrd was awarded the West Virginia Distinguished Service Medal

The West Virginia National Guard was activated in support of the peacekeeping mission to Bosnia

Major renovations took place at Yeager Airport