Harry F. Byrd

Sinnett Triplett first known white man to occupy present Clay County

The first gristmill in Gilmer County was built in Glenville

Wilson Cary Nicholas purchased Green Bottom and established an overseer slave plantation

The Greenbrier College for Women was founded as the Lewisburg Academy by Dr. John McElhenney

Industrial development, especially salt and iron, was stimulated by the War of 1812

The Ices Ferry Ironworks supplied iron for shot used in the Battle of New Orleans and shipped nails and plates for Admiral Perry's Lake Erie squadron

The first Western Virginia rolling mill was in operation at Ices Ferry Ironworks

Legislature appointed John George Jackson a brigadier general in the Virginia militia during the war

John George Jackson emerged as one of the foremost businessmen of the upper Monongahela Valley

Joseph Johnson became captain of the Harrison Riflemen

Aaron Stockton settled at Kanawha Falls

The Kanawha Valley salt industry boomed

John Marshall led a 20 man survey party mapping the route across West Virginia between the James and Ohio Rivers

Hawks Nest was named Marshall's Pillars

Justice Joseph Story delivered the decision to reverse Virginia Court of Appeals in the David Hunter case after John Marshall recused himself from the case

Robert Gorrell laid out town lots at present Middlebourne

John Marshall boated the New River to asses its navigation potential

Organ Cave was mined for saltpeter to manufacture gunpowder

Spencer was first settled by the Samuel Tanner and Jonathan Wolfe families

Anne Royall moved to Charleston after death of Wm. Royall

Henry Ruffner attended Washington College (now Washington and Lee University)

John George Jackson began his salt works on the West Fork

Salt production quadrupled on 52 furnaces to reach one million bushels

Robert Simmons fought in the War of 1812

The "Big Cave" on Cave Mountain was a source of saltpeter for the production of gunpowder

Samuel Tanner and Jonathan Wolfe moved into a cave near present Spencer Middle School

Western Virginia militias took parts in the Northwest Campaign

Babcock Lumber & Boom Company bought Thompson Lumber Company

Walter Barnes began teaching English at Greenville State Normal School (Greenville State College)

Fairmont, Clarksburg, and Piedmont played baseball in the Class D Western Pennsylvania League

The great Winding Gulf coalfield opened

Elkins Coal & Coke Company put beehive coke ovens into full production

Brinkley Bridge was built

McMillan Hospital created by Dr. William A. McMillan

The Chilton family acquired an interest in the newspaper and changed the name to the Charleston Gazette

The Chilton family acquired an interest in the newspaper and changed the name to the Charleston Gazette

Greenbrier Railway Company purchased by C&O

Oliver Chitwood became professor of history at WVU

Empire Bank building was finished in Clarksburg

Michael Benedum moved business headquarters and home to Pittsburgh

Stuart shaft mine explosion killed 85 men

Alston Dayton issued sweeping temporary injunction against the UMW in Hitchman Coal & Coke v. John Mitchell

John Easton came to Williamstown

Edgewood Country Club membership under Angus W. MacDonald constructed clubhouse and tennis courts

State property levy was eliminated

West Virginia lumber production peaked with 1.5 billion board feet sawed

Stella Fuller returned to Huntington

Howard Gore's father died and he took control of the farm

Rimfire Hamrick was employed by the Webster Springs Hotel as guide and handyman

City of Chester was incorporated

A meeting of the West Virginia Fish and Game Protective Association occurred at Clarksburg

John Nugent was appointed immigration commissioner

Lily Jackson inherited the family estate after her father, John Jay Jr. died

Fanny Johnson and husband, Vincent Costello moved to Wheeling

UMWA President John Mitchell came to Charleston to launch a major union offensive

Blanche Lazzell studied at the Art Students League in New York

Coal mining began around Walkersville

Mayor Scott Justice renamed the city of Logan Courthouse (formerly Aracoma) as Logan

Ezra Cline was born

Lawrence J. Corbly's title was changed from principal to president of Marshall College (now University)

The old Tyler County High School building was built

Three other mine disasters occurred including the Monongah Mine Disaster

The first Corn Club in West Virginia was established in Monroe County

Margaret Montague published The Sowing of Alderson Cree

The B&O line extending to the Morgantown & Kingwood line was completed

The Niagara Movement attempted to meet again at Storer College but officials wouldn't allow

Pineville was renamed and incorporated, and became county seat of Wyoming County

The William Ritter Lumber Company was indicted by a federal grand jury on charge of peonage

Reported 6,159 schools in 396 districts in West Virginia

The Lewisburg & Ronceverte brought rail service to Lewisburg

The Banner Glass Company relocated from Indiana to South Charleston

The Robey Theater opened in Spencer

The original stone structure was replace by a viaduct

Morris Harvey died

There was an explosion at the Pleasant Valley Coal Company mine killing 12 men

The Virginian Railway was established

H. Rus Warne had two exhibits at the Jamestown Exposition in Norfolk, Virginia

The Wheeling Custom House (West Virginia Independence Hall) ceased being a federal building.

Black teachers formed a separate Northern Teachers' Association

I. C. White advocated for legislation establishing the U.S. Bureau of Mines

A state director of purchases was appointed

Ruby Bradley became a nurse

The Brooks Bird Club first published The Redstart quarterly journal

Louis W. Chappell published John Henry: A Folk-Lore Study

Chessie Kitten created by Lionel Probert

The Civil Works Administration was established with the New Deal agency

FDR creates the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) first of the New Deal agencies

Deer restocking program was initiated by state and sportsmen's groups

Maj. Francis Wheeler Turner set up temporary camps to rescue children from poor farms and proposed replacing county farms with regional state-operated farms

Development of West Virginia's Appalachian Corridor highways began

Appalachian Regional Commission established by Congress

President Johnson's War on Poverty began

Charleston joins Morgantown and Huntington as alternating site of state high school basketball tournament

George Hodel became president of Beckley Newspapers

Bens Run Earthworks officially recorded by the Archeology Section of the West Virginia Geological and Economic Survey

W. E. Blackhurst published Of Men and A Mighty Mountain

E. J. Scrafford became interim president of Bluefield State College (now University)

Weldon Boone wrote A History of Botany in West Virginia

Maurice Brooks published The Appalachians

Governor Smith signed bill to end death penalty in West Virginia

Franklin Cleckley earned a J.D. from Indiana University

Arden Cogar exhibited his wood chopping at New York World's Fair

Diamond Department Store built a $1 million addition to its Charleston building

Pete Everest became brigadier general

African-American State Farm and Homemakers Council voted to join the West Virginia Homemakers Council

Gertrude Humphrey left WVU Extension work

One-volume edition of Flora of West Virginia was published

Ruth Ann Musick published The Telltale Lilac Bush

Ruel Foster wrote Jesse Stuart

Per capita personal income in West Virginia was 76% of national average

The Greater Kanawha Valley Foundation made its first discretionary grant, to Morris Harvey College (now University of Charleston)

State Route 150, the Highland Scenic Highway, began construction

The Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) was established

Hope Natural Gas Company and New York State Natural Gas Corporation merged to form Consolidated Gas Supply Corporation

Hopemont Sanitarium became a personal care center

Blasingame Report recommending improved library service was completed

The West Virginia Library Commission launched an ambitious library construction project

A joint committee was created to study and survey matters of government, finance, and claims against the state and make recommendations to the full legislature

The Logan Banner was sold to a Tennessee publishing company

Marco mascot first began showing up at Marshall University events

Dan Maroney was elected a vice president in the Amalgamated Transit Union

Paul Marshall stopped working at Libbey-Owens-Ford in Kanawha City

Morgantown Glassware Guild was purchased by Fostoria Glass

Mount Storm Lake was built to supply water for steam generation at coal-fired power plant

Mylan Pharmaceuticals moved to Morgantown

The last coke-making operation in the New River Gorge closed at Sewell

Delf Norona became the first recipient of the Sigfus Olafson Award for his outstanding contributions to the West Virginia archeology

E. Lewis Case became president of Ohio Valley College (now Ohio Valley University)

Ohio Valley College (now University) was accredited by the state of West Virginia

Congress created the 100,000 acre Spruce Knob-Seneca Rocks National Recreation Area.

Jack Rollins moved to Cincinnati

The Soupy Sales Show first debuted nationally

Burl Sawyers resigned as state roads commissioner under indictment

Charles Town Race Track installed lighting

Smoke Hole became part of the Spruce Knob-Seneca Rocks National Recreation Area

Red Sovine wrote "Giddyup Go"

Miles Stanley was selected as personal assistant to AFL-CIO President George Meany

Fred Torrey made a bust of John F. Kennedy

U.S. combat troops first deployed in the Vietnam War

The War on Poverty was scaled back due to the escalation of the Vietnam War

Don West came to West Virginia and established the Appalachian South Folklife Center

Charles Schiff became conductor of the Charleston Symphony Orchestra