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The West Virginia Encyclopedia
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The West Virginia Encyclopedia
Castle Rock in Pineville is a perpendicular formation over 130 feet in height, carved from Pineville Sandstone of the New River Series by the Guyandotte River, which flows by the rock’s base, and Rockcastle Creek. The stratified layers of stone suggested to the early explorers the walls of an ancient castle. One of the earliest reports of the formation, in 1780, used the name ‘‘Castle Rock.’’ It has attracted rock climbers, and at one time had a ladder to provide access to the small bit of level surface about two-thirds of the way to the top. Today stairs provide a way to this terrace. The community around the rock, which began in 1840, was first known as the Castlerock settlement and later became Pineville, the county seat of Wyoming County. The term ‘‘Rock Castle’’ was also used for the early post office.
Written by Raymond Thomas Hill
Pineville, Where Wyoming Trails Cross. Charleston: West Virginia Writers' Program, 1940.
Hennen, Ray V. & Robert W. Gawthorp. West Virginia Geological & Economic Survey. Wyoming and McDowell Counties. Wheeling News Litho. Co., 1915.