West Virginia

Name: Pleasants County
Brand: Ellen Dittman Pope
SKU: 9780738568164
Price: 18.74 USD
Availability: InStock

The remote valleys of West Virginia resound with the echoes of history. The Mountain State was birthed by the cataclysm of a Civil War, a disunion presaged by John Brown’s raid at Harpers Ferry. The earliest twangs of country music sound from hills and hollers that eavesdropped on ten-thousand years of unrecorded speech. Read the transcript of West Virginia history, from the inauguration of Mother’s Day in Grafton to the aftershocks of the Silver Bridge disaster in our catalogue of West Virginia history books. [View all West Virginia books]

88 products

Sort

Pleasants County

$24.99 $18.74 Save 25%

Harpers Ferry

$24.99 $18.74 Save 25%

Wheeling in Vintage Postcards

$24.99 $18.74 Save 25%

Summers County

$24.99 $18.74 Save 25%

Richwood

$24.99 $18.74 Save 25%

Lewis County

$24.99 $18.74 Save 25%

Bluefield in Vintage Postcards

$24.99 $18.74 Save 25%

Legendary Locals of Wheeling

$24.99 $18.74 Save 25%

Beckley

$24.99 $18.74 Save 25%

West Liberty State College

$24.99 $18.74 Save 25%

Blennerhassett Island

$24.99 $18.74 Save 25%

Doddridge and Ritchie Counties

$24.99 $18.74 Save 25%

Tucker County

$24.99 $18.74 Save 25%

Parkersburg in Vintage Postcards

$24.99 $18.74 Save 25%

Ritchie County in Vintage Postcards

$24.99 $18.74 Save 25%

Hancock County

$24.99 $18.74 Save 25%

Guyandotte

$24.99 $18.74 Save 25%

Shepherdstown

$24.99 $18.74 Save 25%

Previous 1 2 3

Pleasants County

9780738568164

$24.99 $18.74 Save 25%

Formed from portions of Wood, Tyler, and Ritchie Counties, Pleasants County was founded in 1851 and was named after Gov. James Pleasants Jr. of Virginia. Residents of Pleasants County fondly recall many of the buildings that no longer exist today, such as the button factory, blacksmith shop, marble factory, and the Quaker State Oil Refinery, all of which are preserved in the photographs that are showcased throughout Images of America: Pleasants County. Taking a step back in time, these photographs illustrate how the town and county looked more than 100 years ago, exploring a variety of the county's activities and historic scenes and offering a colorful insight into the past as well as the present.

Harpers Ferry

9780738542911

$24.99 $18.74 Save 25%

Harpers Ferry, located at the confluence of the beautiful Shenandoah and Potomac Rivers, offers visitors a breathtaking view described by Thomas Jefferson as a "scene worth a voyage across the Atlantic." From George Washington's 1796 establishment of the federal armory, through John Brown's 1859 raid to foment slave rebellion and Civil War battles, and to one of the first successful colleges for African Americans, Harpers Ferry has played a significant role in America's history. Hundreds of vintage postcards, many of which are very scarce today, depict this history, the various scenic views and buildings in town, and the daily lives of townspeople over the last century.

Wheeling in Vintage Postcards

9780738515328

$24.99 $18.74 Save 25%

The history of Wheeling and Ohio County is both eclectic and engaging. Beginning in the colonial era when the legendary Betty Zane saved Fort Henry from an Indian attack by hiding gunpowder in her skirt, Wheeling eventually emerged as an important link between Eastern cities and the rest of the United States. The Wheeling Suspension Bridge, the Old National Road, and the B&O Railroad all passed through the bustling Ohio County. Over the years, Wheeling has been labeled everything from "Victorian Wheeling" to "Sintown USA," and these monikers represent the diverse qualities of a town molded and shaped by the steel, coal, tobacco, and transportation industries. Whether residents and visitors frequented the impressive Victorian mansions or Wheeling's infamous brothel district, they always had something to write home about. The incomparable collection showcased in this book spans five decades and was begun and continued by the Carney family.

Summers County

9780738515557

$24.99 $18.74 Save 25%

It was the pull of the steam engine that brought residents to Summers County after the Civil War. With Hinton as a bustling hub of the Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad, Summers County found itself along the path of goods and travelers going to and from Richmond and the Midwest. Surrounded by breathtaking scenery and good mountain air, residents prospered in the county, building beautiful homes and lively communities. Lumber and riverboat traffic also added to the scene, although it was around the C&O that the area's culture truly thrived. Legends such as John Henry, the Steel Drivin' Man who out-drilled a steam drill while digging the Great Bend Tunnel, came to symbolize the grit-and-steel consciousness of this West Virginia county.

Life was good, but work was hard. When diesel engines became the norm in the 1950s, Summers County's fabric began to change. Today tourism and recreation are the greatest industries in the area, but residents have not forgotten their past. Each year the county taps into its railroading heritage with festivals and celebrations, and efforts are being made to preserve some of Hinton's unique architecture.

Richwood

9780738515182

$24.99 $18.74 Save 25%

In its early years, Richwood was the site of several large mills that processed logs harvested from some of the last virgin forestland in the United States. Among these were a band saw mill, paper manufacturing plant, tannery, handle factory, and the largest wooden clothespin factory in the world. Images of America: Richwood explores the history of this fascinating community in its heyday through the eyes of local photographer Finley Taylor, who captured images spanning from just before World War I through the years just after World War II.

Lewis County

9780738585857

$24.99 $18.74 Save 25%

Since the first documented arrival of white men in its borders in 1769, Lewis County has morphed from a howling wilderness known simply as West Augusta, Virginia, to a major player in a hub of interstate highway transportation and a recreational area with a number of tourist destinations. Formed from Harrison County in 1816, Lewis County and its 17,003 citizens represent the best of central West Virginia. The Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum, Jackson's Mill, Stonecoal Lake, and Stonewall Jackson Lake define the county by their unique place in history. The county's native sons and daughters have been industrialists, U.S. senators, Civil War generals, and nationally recognized athletes. They have been the fabric that makes America the great country it is today: the ordinary, everyday citizen who lives life to its fullest potential while enduring whatever struggle fate sets before them.

Bluefield in Vintage Postcards

9780738516875

$24.99 $18.74 Save 25%

Nestled at the foot of East River Mountain in the southern tip of West Virginia, Bluefield calls itself "Nature's Air-Conditioned City" and is a place of great cultural, industrial, and natural wealth. The early to mid-1900s were a booming time for the city, thanks to coal mining and the Norfolk and Western Railway. For the many people who lived in or traveled through the region during that era, postcards provided a simple and convenient way to send both personal correspondence and business communications. Today, Bluefield continues to change and evolve but maintains a strong sense of history, with many of its buildings and homes listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Legendary Locals of Wheeling

9781467100625

$24.99 $18.74 Save 25%

From its founding as a frontier outpost through its role as the birthplace of a new state during the Civil War and its evolution into a manufacturing center, Wheeling has been home to a fascinating array of personalities. The old legends feature Betty Zane's bold dash to save Fort Henry and Samuel McColloch's daring leap on horseback from Wheeling Hill. Businessmen like Henry Schmulbach and Michael Owens contributed to Wheeling's industrial rise, while Augustus Pollack and Walter Reuther earned fame as friends of labor. And even as notorious men like "Big Bill" Lias capitalized on Wheeling's wide-open ways, community leaders like James "Doc" White worked quietly for racial justice. On local ball fields built in the shadows of steel mills, Wheeling's gritty sports heroes, like Chuck Howley and Rose Gacioch, demonstrated their athletic prowess. Notoriety in the arts was earned through the music of Doc and Chickie Williams and opera star Eleanor Steber as well as the works of writers like Keith Maillard and Marc Harshman, the current West Virginia Poet Laureate.

Beckley

9780738592053

$24.99 $18.74 Save 25%

A fork in the road was all Alfred Beckley found in 1836 when he arrived in a wilderness that was to be chartered as Beckley in 1850. Aptly named, Beckley means Becca's wood or clearing. Farming and timbering were the primary occupations in Raleigh County until 1900, when coal became a major industry, bringing immigrants from Europe and the Deep South. Prosperity continued for half a century until the coal mines were worked out. Many miners moved to the Midwest, where steel mills and factories were booming. Beckley struggled through the 1950s and 1960s. Then came the interstates, which created tremendous growth in health care, banking, housing, education, shopping, restaurants, tourism, culture, and recreation. However, downtown became a vacant reminder of its nostalgic past as shopping centers took over. The 21st century has brought a new face to Beckley, as it is rapidly becoming a government center.

West Liberty State College

9780738506975

$24.99 $18.74 Save 25%

Located in a charming community in West Virginia's northern panhandle is West Liberty State College, the oldest institution of higher learning in the Mountain State. The school was chartered by the State of Virginia as an academy in 1837 and has seen its share of changes since that time. Arguably the foremost change arrived in 1863 when West Virginia became the 35th state in the Union, thereby making the college older than the state. The school took its name from the community in which it resides, which, at the time of the American Revolution, was the frontier settlement farthest west of the Appalachian Mountains and therefore appropriately
named West Liberty. Since that time, West Liberty State College has been organized and reorganized as a normal school, a state teacher's college, and, finally, a state college. It has maintained its stated mission to launch our graduates into community, work, and academic environments ready to
be viable contributors with skills and knowledge needed to meet future opportunities and challenges. West Liberty State College celebrates the history and traditions of the school, spotlighting academic, social, and athletic events over the past 163 years.

Blennerhassett Island

9780738518497

$24.99 $18.74 Save 25%

Images of America: Blennerhassett Island reveals for the first time the pictorial past of the Ohio River's most famous island. Located one-and-a-half miles west of Parkersburg, West Virginia, it sprang into national fame two centuries ago as the headquarters of Aaron Burr's 1806-1807 conspiracy to create an empire in the Southwest. The island also was renowned as the site of the American West's most beautiful home: the legendary Blennerhassett Mansion, completed in 1800 only to be destroyed by fire 11 years later. This
volume's more than 200 fascinating pictures--most never published before--will take the reader on an exciting adventure through time, beginning with the island's glamorous Burr/Blennerhassett years; through its 19th century steamboat era; and into the 20th century, when it became the playground of the Mid-Ohio Valley. The final images portray the 1980 creation of Blennerhassett Island as a popular West Virginia state park with the reconstructed
Blennerhassett Mansion as its centerpiece.

Doddridge and Ritchie Counties

9780738513638

$24.99 $18.74 Save 25%

Nestled in the northwestern portion of West Virginia, Doddridge and Ritchie Counties encompass rich, vibrant communities of friendly residents, picturesque vistas, and valuable natural resources. Rural communities like West Union, Leopold, Harrisville, and Macfarlan possess an agreeable small-town personality and a charm often muddled in today's big cities. Named for the journalist Thomas Ritchie, Ritchie County is well known for its derricks and tunnels and was once described by its namesake as a "little gem." Doddridge, which was formed from parts of several counties including Ritchie, was named in honor of Philip Doddridge, a famous statesman.

Doddridge and Ritchie Counties revisits these West Virginia counties during their formative years, acknowledging past citizens and celebrating a way of life prior to the rapid onset of technology. Time seemed to move much slower then, and people were not always in a hurry. Images of clay main streets, rustic farm houses, and horses whose hooves readily click against rocks entice readers to take a closer look, to see for themselves the people and the events that have molded these two Mountain State counties into communities where residents feel safe and blessed and visitors find unprecedented tranquility.

Tucker County

9780738518008

$24.99 $18.74 Save 25%

This volume tells the story of Tucker County's history through the visual records of its communities, families, and industries. Carved out of Randolph County, Virginia, in 1856, Tucker County's early history played out in the farming communities of the Cheat River Valley. Beginning
in 1884, the shrill whistle of industrialist Henry Gassaway Davis's railroad, the West Virginia Central and Pittsburg, woke the area to dramatic changes. New towns like Davis, Thomas, and Parsons grew up and prospered in response to the developing nation's demand for lumber and coal. The collection features the visual evidence of how the political, economic, and natural landscape of Tucker County changed from 1880 to 1960.

Parkersburg in Vintage Postcards

9780738518176

$24.99 $18.74 Save 25%

Historically, Parkersburg's rapid development can be attributed to its position at the junction of the Ohio and Little Kanawha Rivers. Steamboats and, later, rail transportation sealed the area's destiny as a successful community. In 1896, Parkersburg resident Gustavus Edward Smith produced images of Parkersburg on a newly developing novelty, the picture postcard. The first in West Virginia, these picture postcards were created two years before the cards were even legally recognized by the United States Postal Service. At the turn of the 20th century, as citizens were enjoying Parkersburg's business, political, and social atmosphere, the postcards industry was thriving on the public's demand for likenesses of interesting buildings,
streets, parks, events, and even disasters.

Ritchie County in Vintage Postcards

9780738517100

$24.99 $18.74 Save 25%

Ritchie County, West Virginia, named for famed Richmond journalist Thomas Ritchie, was originally founded in 1843 from portions of Harrison, Lewis, and Wood Counties. In the late 19th century, Ritchie County found itself directly on the Baltimore & Ohio Rail Line. Early postcards from this era capture the county ripe with natural resources and the grandeur of the quickly developing region. The production of oil and natural gas has been a chief source of development since the early 20th century and continues today. The area is also known for its agricultural and manufacturing developments including livestock, grain, glassware, and lumber products.

Hancock County

9780738543314

$24.99 $18.74 Save 25%

Hancock County, West Virginia, located in the Upper Ohio Valley, was first settled during the Revolutionary War. Over the next century, it transformed from a frontier forest into rolling fields, pastures, and orchards. In the 1830s, investors began building brickyards in New Cumberland, which would become the county seat. Hancock County was still primarily home to farmers and brickhands until the construction of potteries (including the world's largest pottery, Homer Laughlin China), which gave birth to the towns of Chester and Newell. The location of a steel mill near Hollidays Cove created the town of Weirton. The new industries tripled the county's population and provided employment to three and four generations of county residents. Recently tourism and recreation have become increasingly important to the local economy, evolving from the bygone days of Rock Springs Park to the ever-expanding Mountaineer Race Track and Gaming Resort of the present.

Guyandotte

9781467121361

$24.99 $18.74 Save 25%

Located at the confluence of the Ohio and Guyandotte Rivers, Guyandotte's first industries were logging and steamboat travel. In 1911, after the Civil War's Battle of Guyandotte resulted in most of the town being burned, Guyandotte's residents officially voted to become a part of the newer and larger city of Huntington. Today, Guyandotte is a historic neighborhood with several antebellum homes and landmarks that still stand proudly. Despite floods that ravaged the area in 1907, 1913, and 1937, the community hosts two major industries--Special Metals Corporation, maker of nickel alloys, and Grief Brothers Corporation, a producer of shipping containers. Along with images of the Guyandotte United Methodist Church congregation and the ever-popular Moore's Hardware, which dates from 1947, Guyandotte shares stories of the people and places that have shaped this historic Huntington neighborhood.

Shepherdstown

9780738541808

$24.99 $18.74 Save 25%

In the mid-1700s, a man named Thomas Shepherd divided 50 acres of his land into 8 streets and 96 lots, establishing the community of Mecklenburg. The town was named for the birthplace of Queen Charlotte, wife of England's King George III. On December 23, 1762, the Virginia General Assembly granted a charter for Mecklenburg. The residents dubbed the community "Shepherd's Town," in tribute to its founder. That title endured and was bestowed upon Shepherd College, which evolved into Shepherd University in 2004. Containing more than 200 vintage photographs of Shepherdstown, this volume gives the casual observer and serious scholar an idea of what the town, businesses, houses, and people looked like in earlier days.