Potomac River

First known flood at Harpers Ferry drove Robert Harper from his cabin

Settlements in the Allegheny Mountains began

Records reveal schoolmasters employed in Romney and Greenbrier settlements

Frederick was divided into two counties

Governor Dinwiddie sent George Washington to upper Ohio to warn French out of Ohio Valley

Robert Files and David Tygart families first settled Beverly

Christopher Gist took residence in western Pennsylvania

Christopher Gist guided George Washington on his trip to warn the French away from English claimed land

Kyashuta accompanied George Washington on his mission to warn the French to withdraw from their forts in the Ohio Valley

Ulrich Conrad Sr. from Switzerland settled in Franklin

Andrew Culbertson settled near present Hinton

John Taylor was born

Francis Asbury named the first superintendent of American Methodists

Virginia ceded its claim to the Northwest Territory to the U.S.

George Washington visited the Cheat River

People settled in Monongalia County and Pennsylvania after the Revolutionary War

Clarksburg became the county seat of the new Harrison County

Fort Harmar was established in Marietta, Ohio, as a frontier fort

George Washington exploratory trip into the Ohio Valley encouraged the James River Company

The Rehoboth Methodist Church was established in Monroe County

William Haymond surveyed streets and lots in Morgantown

George Washington visited Zackquill Morgan to discuss possible locations of roads

Yohogania County was dissolved when the Virginia-Pennsylvania border dispute was settled

Senecas began allying themselves with the Shawnee

The Mason-Dixon line survey was completed

Governor Benjamin Harrison granted land to Washington in present Dunbar and St. Albans, and also in present Marshall County

Rehoboth Church was built in Monroe County, first church west of Alleghenies

Mad Anne Bailey married John Bailey

American troops ended John Amberson's attempts to establish a government for local settlers on present Buffington Island

Clarksburg was chartered

Virginia Assembly abolished the Fairfax proprietary

Capt James Neal settled at Parkersburg

Nonhelema, "Grenadier Squaw," petitioned Congress for a grant of land near her Ohio home

The James River Company was formed by Virginia for a water route over the Allegheny Mountains

Virginia authorized construction of the Old State Road, now U.S. 60

The Jefferson Rock was named for Thomas Jefferson

The word moonshine first entered the English language due to brandy smuggling on coasts of Kent and Sussex

Alexander Parker bought land from Thornton in present Parkersburg

Levi Shinn established a local gristmill in present Shinnston

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 tested the steamboat at Shepherdstown

James Swan moved to France

John Augustine Washington died

Rebecca Tomlinson Martin Williams and Isaac Williams permanently settled in Williamstown

First recorded permanent settler, Phillip Starcher of present Calhoun County

Virginia established a "Literary Fund" for support of education

The General Assembly recognized the new village of Guyandotte

The Virginia Court of Appeals upheld David Hunter's claim to 739 acres of the former Fairfax lands

The Bye-Stander was established in Clarksburg

Newport was rechartered and named Parkersburg after Captain Parker.

John Webster bought the property of John Bunnell and built the Old Stone House, in present Pennsboro, Ritchie County

Thomas Buffington was instrumental in founding the town of Guyandotte

Berkeley County had a water-powered textile industry

Methodists organized their first church in Upshur County

The Old Stone House at Belle was built by Samuel Shrewsbury

The William Clark House was built

Asa Gray collected plants from Harpers Ferry to Tucker County en route to North Carolina

First coke made in West Virginia in Monongalia County

Martin Delany founded, edited and published the Mystery

John Echols became a lawyer

John Echols moved to Union

Thomas English wrote ballad "Ben Bolt"

Original name of Middletown was changed to Fairmont

Thomas Harris graduated with degree in medicine at Louisville

John McCausland moved to Henderson when his parents died

Alexander H. Creel established a river port village near present St. Marys, in Pleasants County

David Ruffner died

Robert Simmons married Susan King

Staunton Turnpike was completed to Beverly

The congregation of the African Zion Baptist Church formally organized for the black community of Malden.

Lemuel Chenoweth designed and built Philippi's covered bridge.

Buckhannon was chartered

Archibald Campbell graduated from Bethany College

James Watson organized the Montana Mining Company

Martin Delany published The Condition, Elevation, Emigration, And Destiny of the Colored People of the United States

William Edwards opened his first coal mines on Paint Creek

Thomas Moore Jackson was born

Jacob Jackson was admitted to the bar

Anna Maria Reeves married Granville E. Jarvis

George Smith Patton graduated the Virginia Military Institute

La Belle Ironworks was founded

Robert E. Lee became superintendent of West Point

Weston's first bank opened its doors

Thomas Lake Harris and James L. Scott jointly led the Mountain Cove Spiritualist community

The Wheeling Intelligencer was established

The Ritchie Mines was discovered by Frederick Lemon

Shinnston was chartered as a town by the General Assembly

David Strother contributed 20 illustrations to John Pendleton Kennedy's Swallow Barn: A Sojourn in the Old Dominion

George Summers was elected circuit judge of Kanawha County

Grafton emerged as a city

A major flood hit Virginius Island

James O Watson joined with Francis H. Pierpont to open a mine in Fairmont

Wheeling had a library

The Wheeling Intelligencer began

The Shenandoah River flooded

Celebration staged in Parkersburg after ratification of the 15th Amendment

Railroad magnate Collis P. Huntington located the western terminus of Chesapeake & Ohio Railroad in present Huntington

Cheat River declared a public highway

Claymont Court mansion (Jefferson County) was advertised for sale by Bushrod Corbin Washington's grandson

Henry Gassaway Davis helped lead the Democrats in for their control over the state

Marmaduke Dent received B.A from WVU

Joseph Diss Debar produced The West Virginia Hand-Book and Immigrant's Guide

Alexander Donaghho came to Parkersburg

Fayetteville population jumped to 6,647

Thaddeus Mortimer Fowler began his map-making trips

Camp Straton United Confederate Veterans began controlling Logan County polices

German immigration increased during the Franco-Prussian War

John Hale started the first steam ferry at Charleston

John Hale was a leader in having the state capital moved to Charleston

Literary Hall was built in Romney

The West Virginia Schools for the Deaf and Blind was established in Romney

John Henry began working as a steel driver during the construction of the Big Bend (Great Bend) Tunnel

The state was reported to have 2,270 schools

Investment in manufacturing began increasing

Immigrants from Switzerland settled in the area of Holly River

George Imboden moved to Fayette County

Jacob Jackson became Wood County's prosecuting attorney

A proposed waterway between Tidewater Virginia and Rocky Mountains was proposed to Congress by Waitman T. Willey

The capital was moved from Wheeling to Charleston

Henry Clay Dickinson became president of Kanawha Valley Bank

James Kay arrived in Charleston

John Kenna was admitted to the bar

Crosscut saws replaced the ax as the preferred tool for felling trees

Marshall College added a new brick addition at the west end of the existing building

John Nuttall bought coal lands on New River

The Flick Amendment was introduced

Petersburg became the county seat of Grant County

Henry Ragland moved to Wayne County.

Alexander Reynolds began serving in Egypt

Literary Hall was built by the Literary Society in Romney

Cecil Clay of Philadelphia began timber purchases in Greenbrier Valley

William Stevenson was defeated for second term as governor

There were 178 tanneries in West Virginia

The Daily Sentinel became the Taylor County newspaper

The town of Volcano was founded

Wayne County population was at 7,852

WesBanco was founded as German Bank

Legislature voted for additional buildings at Weston State Hospital

The Shenandoah River flooded

Harpers Ferry flooded

Postmaster Gen. William L. Wilson established first rural free delivery service in America, in the Eastern Panhandle

Postmaster Gen. William L. Wilson established the first rural free delivery service in America, in the Eastern Panhandle

Harpers Ferry flooded

A devastating flood hit New Martinsville

Ohio River crested at 55.20 feet, more than 15 feet above flood stage

Potomac River at Harpers Ferry crested at a record 36.50 feet, 15 feet above flood level, destroying last Bollman spans

Following a winter thaw, the Ohio River crested at a record 20 feet above flood stage at Wheeling

The Shenandoah River at Millville crested 19 feet above flood stage, the worst flood on the river

The Shenandoah River flooded