A Preston County community
Kingwood’s timeline begins with the laying out of its town site in 1797 and follows its development as Preston County’s county seat. The entries connect county government, roads, courts, schools, newspapers, libraries, banking, and civic life.
This overview is drawn from the timeline entries and the source trails on their individual event pages.Community timeline
Circa 1754
Brothers Samuel, Israel, and Gabriel Eckerlin—German-speaking religious dissenters formerly associated with Pennsylvania’s Ephrata Cloister—established a settlement at Dunkard Bottom on the Cheat River near present-day Camp…
Open event and sourcesFall 1757
During the French and Indian War, a Native war party allied with French forces attacked the Eckerlin settlement at Dunkard Bottom and captured Israel and Gabriel Eckerlin. They were delivered to the French, taken from North…
Open event and sourcesFall 1797 (Morton's estimate)
From an early March 1798 lot sale and local conditions, Morton concludes that Kingwood was surveyed no later than fall 1797.
Open event and sourcesSeptember 25, 1800
William Guy Brown, a future United States representative from Preston County, was born in Kingwood while the community was still part of Monongalia County, Virginia.
Open event and sourcesJanuary 23, 1811
An Act of Assembly dated January 23, 1811, established the previously laid-out settlement as the town of Kingwood and appointed its first trustees.
Open event and sourcesJanuary 19, 1818
The Virginia General Assembly created Preston County from the eastern portion of Monongalia County. The county was named for James Patton Preston, then governor of Virginia, and Kingwood became the county seat.
Open event and sources1818
After the county was created, Morton says the first court met at William Price's house in Kingwood, while John S. Roberts's store became the temporary Old Red Courthouse.
Open event and sources1824
Morton says a stone courthouse and jail replaced the temporary county buildings on the present courthouse square in 1824.
Open event and sourcesJanuary 12, 1826
Morton cites an Act of Assembly dated January 12, 1826, extending Kingwood to include an addition laid out by William Price, William Sigler, and Charles Payne.
Open event and sources1832
Morton's reconstruction of Kingwood in 1832 counts 29 households and describes a courthouse-centered village of tradespeople, merchants, tavern keepers, and county officers.
Open event and sourcesMarch 13, 1837
The Virginia General Assembly passed an act which incorporated the Brandonville, Kingwood and Evansville Turnpike Company to construct a road from the Pennsylvania state line in Preston County, to Brandonville and Kingwood, to…
Open event and sourcesApril 6, 1838
The Virginia General Assembly passed an act authorizing the Board of Public Works to survey a road from a point at or near the German Settlement in Preston County, to Kingwood, to a point on the Morgantown and Beverly road…
Open event and sourcesApril 7, 1838
The Virginia General Assembly passed an act providing for the construction of a road from Brandonville, to Kingwood, to intersect the Northwestern Turnpike near Evansville, all in Preston County, under the superintendence of…
Open event and sources1840
Morton identifies the Philomathean Society, formed in 1840, as Kingwood's first apparent organization devoted to intellectual improvement.
Open event and sourcesJanuary 2, 1841
The Virginia General Assembly passed an act which incorporated the Preston Academy at Kingwood, Preston County, directed by the following trustees: Elisha M. Hagans, Izrael Baldwin, Thomas Brown, Solomon P. Herndon, William…
Open event and sources1841
Morton dates the building of Preston Academy to 1841, replacing the town's earlier practice of holding school in various houses.
Open event and sourcesFebruary 25, 1842
The Virginia General Assembly adopted a joint resolution directing the Board of Public Works to survey a road from Morgantown, to Kingwood in Preston County, to intersect the Northwestern Turnpike at or near the German…
Open event and sources1842
Morton reports that Kingwood's Methodists built a brick church in 1842, an early purpose-built church within the town.
Open event and sourcesJanuary 15, 1848
The Virginia General Assembly passed an act which incorporated the Cheat River Tollbridge Company to construct a toll bridge across the Cheat River where it crossed the Brandonville, Kingwood, and Evansville Road. Subscription…
Open event and sourcesMarch 13, 1848
The Virginia General Assembly passed an act which incorporated the Cheat River Navigation Company to improve navigation on the Cheat River. Subscription books were opened at Ice's Ferry in Monongalia County and at Kingwood in…
Open event and sourcesMarch 25, 1848
The Virginia General Assembly passed an act which incorporated the Kingwood and West Union Turnpike Company to construct a turnpike road from at or near the town of West Union on the Northwestern Turnpike Road to Kingwood in…
Open event and sources1849–1852
Baltimore & Ohio Railroad crews began boring the original Kingwood Tunnel near present-day Tunnelton late in 1849 and completed the 4,137-foot bore late in 1852. Excavation advanced from both portals and six additional…
Open event and sourcesMarch 24, 1851
The Virginia General Assembly passed an act authorizing the extension of the Kingwood and West Union Turnpike from Kingwood in Preston County to Morgantown.
Open event and sourcesMarch 31, 1851
The Virginia General Assembly passed an act which incorporated the Leading Creek and Buffalo Creek Turnpike Company to construct a road from a point on the Beverly and Fairmont Turnpike Road near Leading Creek Bridge, to…
Open event and sourcesNovember 30, 1852
The Virginia General Assembly passed an act which incorporated the Morgantown and Independence Railroad Company to construct a railroad from the Pennsylvania state line at or near the mouth of Cheat River, to Morgantown, to…
Open event and sourcesFebruary 23, 1853
The Virginia General Assembly passed an act establishing a branch of the Bank of Virginia, the Farmers Bank of Virginia, the Bank of the Valley, the Exchange Bank of Virginia, the Northwestern Bank of Virginia, or the…
Open event and sourcesMarch 14, 1853
the Virginia General Assembly passed an act authorizing an election to determine whether the Preston County seat should remain in Kingwood or be moved to the east end of the wire suspension bridge across Cheat River.
Open event and sourcesMarch 22, 1853
The Virginia General Assembly passed an act incorporating the town of Kingwood, Preston County.
Open event and sources1856–1857
Morton describes a 1856 effort to move the county seat to Albright or Burchinal Town; James C. McGrew then organized construction of a new Kingwood courthouse, with building underway the following spring.
Open event and sourcesMarch 29, 1858
The Virginia General Assembly passed an act which incorporated the Preston Bank of Virginia in Kingwood, Preston County by the following: James C. McGrew, William G. Brown, Gustavus Cresap, Abner Ravenscraft, John A. Dille,…
Open event and sourcesFebruary 23, 1860
The Virginia General Assembly passed an act amending the incorporation of the Preston Bank of Virginia at Kingwood, Preston County, so as to change its name to the Bank of Preston. Subscription books were opened in Kingwood…
Open event and sourcesNovember 12, 1860
Citizens of Kingwood, Preston County, adopted resolutions opposing secession.
Open event and sourcesApril 20, 1861
Three days after voting against Virginia’s ordinance of secession, Preston County delegate James C. McGrew joined a small private meeting of western delegates in Richmond. The group discussed leaving the convention, returning…
Open event and sourcesMay 4, 1861
A county convention at Kingwood adopted resolutions favoring separation from seceding Virginia, affirming loyalty to the Union, and choosing delegates for the May 13 Wheeling meeting.
Open event and sourcesApril 28, 1863 (sequence-based date)
In Morton's day-by-day sequence, Confederate troops cut cables on the Albright suspension bridge, entered Kingwood, and continued through Reedsville toward Morgantown.
Open event and sourcesNovember 14, 1865
Morton calls the Bank of Kingwood Preston's pioneer bank and says it was organized in 1865 with $100,000 paid-up capital, William G. Brown as president, and James C. McGrew as cashier. Wiley gives the opening date as November…
Open event and sourcesJanuary 8, 1866
West Virginia governor William G. Conley was born near Kingwood, Preston County.
Open event and sourcesJanuary 18, 1866
The Kingwood Gas Coal and Iron Company, Preston County, was incorporated in West Virginia by the following: William S. Rayner, James L. Sutton of Baltimore; Peter W. Sheafer, William Kendrick, Peter D. Luther of Pottsville,…
Open event and sourcesMay 19, 1866
The Preston County Journal was published in Kingwood. Wiley dates its first issue to May 19, 1866, names Levi Mauser as founder, and describes it as the county's first Republican and sixth newspaper.
Open event and sourcesMarch 4, 1869
James Clark McGrew of Kingwood began the first of two terms in the U.S. House of Representatives. A merchant and banker who had opposed Virginia’s secession in 1861, McGrew represented West Virginia’s Second Congressional…
Open event and sourcesMarch 7, 1869
Fire destroyed the Preston County courthouse in Kingwood in the early morning of March 7, 1869. Nearly all courthouse records accumulated since the county's formation in 1818 were lost; the County Clerk reports that a few…
Open event and sourcesJuly–October 1869
Following the courthouse fire, Elihu Gregg's arson case was heard at Preston Academy in Kingwood. Indicted on July 12, he was found guilty on July 19 and sentenced to hang. William G. Brown Sr. led the prosecution while…
Open event and sources1869–1870
After the March 1869 courthouse fire, McCafferty, Smalley & Menear constructed a new two-story brick courthouse in Kingwood for $11,000. Completed in 1870, it served the county until it was torn down in 1933 for construction…
Open event and sourcesMarch 2, 1870
The West Virginia Legislature extended the corporate limits of Kingwood, Preston County.
Open event and sources1870
The Preston County Herald began publication in Kingwood in 1870. It was renamed the West Virginia Argus in 1877 and operated from the Bishop Building until 1945.
Open event and sourcesFebruary 28, 1871
The Iron Valley and Pennsylvania Line Railroad was incorporated in West Virginia by the following: Andrew Stuart, Sebastian Rush, Levi Fike of Pennsylvania; D. R. Martin, W. W. Wharton of New York; John Heradar, George Manst,…
Open event and sourcesFebruary 28, 1871
After the courthouse fire destroyed public records, the West Virginia Legislature passed an act establishing a process to supply and re-establish Preston County's lost records.
Open event and sourcesOctober 19, 1873
Wiley records the organization of Kingwood's auxiliary of the Woman's Foreign Missionary Society with twenty-three women.
Open event and sourcesJanuary 15, 1882
Wiley records the organization of the Kingwood Literary and Library Association, names its first officers, and says its collection began with about forty volumes.
Open event and sourcesNovember 2, 1882
The Kingwood and Cranberry Telegraph Company was incorporated in West Virginia by the following: William G. Brown, Jr., Robert W. Monroe, Smith Crane, J. Ami Martin, William M. O. Dawson, John M. Crane, Neil J. Fortney of…
Open event and sourcesSeptember 29, 1886
The Bank of Kingwood was incorporated in West Virginia by the following: Smith Crane, John M. Crane, Frances Herrmans, Charles McBishop, William G. Brown, James H. Carroll, James W. Parks, Julia E. Byrne, M. Ella Morris,…
Open event and sourcesJanuary 2, 1887
Morton gives January 2, 1887, as the arrival of the first narrow-gauge train of the Tunnelton, Kingwood and Fairchance line in Kingwood.
Open event and sourcesMarch 9, 1889
The West Virginia and Pennsylvania Railway Company was incorporated in West Virginia by the following: George W. L. Marshall of Philadelphia; William M. O. Dawson, Niel J. Fortney, B. M. Squires, and P. J. Crogan, all of…
Open event and sourcesApril 17, 1890
The H. G. Davis Coal Company was incorporated in West Virginia by the following: H. G. Davis, Harry G. Buxton, Robert F. Bopst of Piedmont, Mineral County; T. B. Davis of Keyser, Mineral County; R. M. G. Brown of Kingwood,…
Open event and sourcesFall 1899
James J. Brown reports that track laying for the Morgantown & Kingwood Railroad began in fall 1899. By the end of 1900, twelve miles of standard-gauge, single-track railroad had been completed from Morgantown to Cascade.
Open event and sourcesMarch 1906
Brown reports that the railroad from Bretz to Kingwood was completed by March 1906. The M&K was then making two daily trips between Morgantown and Kingwood.
Open event and sourcesMay 1909
West Virginia acquired approximately 195 acres along the Cheat River in Portland District for use as a permanent military training ground. The installation was named Camp Dawson in honor of Preston County newspaperman and…
Open event and sourcesAugust 26, 1910
Morton dates the start of work on the new double-track Kingwood Tunnel to August 26, 1910; the project cost about $1.5 million.
Open event and sources1910
Morton reports that a hard-fought 1910 campaign and popular vote to relocate the county seat to Terra Alta ended with Kingwood retaining it by a narrow margin.
Open event and sourcesMay 28, 1912
Morton records completion of the 4,211-foot, double-track Kingwood Tunnel on May 28, 1912.
Open event and sources1922
Kingwood High School was constructed in 1922 in the Neo-Colonial Revival style. Morgantown architect Francis J. Simmons designed the building, which later housed Central Preston Senior High School and Central Preston Middle…
Open event and sourcesOctober 1928
Colonel Theodore Roosevelt Jr., eldest son of President Theodore Roosevelt and a decorated World War I veteran, reportedly addressed an audience in the Kingwood High School auditorium during a West Virginia Republican campaign…
Open event and sourcesAugust 25, 1934
Preston County dedicated its present Art Deco courthouse in Kingwood after an all-day program on August 25, 1934. The sandstone building cost $113,500.90, and former Kingwood attorney John Barton Payne delivered the dedication…
Open event and sourcesJuly 15, 1935
A Civilian Conservation Corps camp began on Preston County Country Club property at Caddell, near present-day Camp Dawson. First known as Camp Fairfax and later as Camp Preston, it was fully operating by September. Its planned…
Open event and sources1935–1940
During the Great Depression, the Works Progress Administration constructed concrete sidewalks along several Kingwood streets. Work began on Beverly Street in 1935, continued on Price Street and Brown Avenue in 1937, and…
Open event and sourcesOctober 13–15, 1938
From October 13 through 15, 1938, Kingwood hosted the first Preston County Buckwheat Festival, an end-of-harvest homecoming organized by the Kingwood Volunteer Fire Department with local civic groups. Activities on the…
Open event and sources1953
Passenger service on the former Morgantown & Kingwood Railroad ended in 1953. The route remained in use for freight, carrying coal, limestone, and other industrial traffic under Baltimore & Ohio operation.
Open event and sources1968
Kingwood Public Library moved to its present building at 205 West Main Street. Formed by local women’s organizations in 1941, the library had previously been housed at two former county-jail sites.
Open event and sourcesJanuary 5, 1972
The Baltimore & Ohio Railroad applied for authority to abandon approximately 9.49 miles of its Morgantown and Kingwood Branch between Reedsville and Kingwood. Removal of this middle section divided the former M&K into western…
Open event and sources1977
Preston County reorganized several community high schools under three regional identities in 1977. Kingwood High School became Central Preston High School; Terra Alta and Aurora high schools consolidated as East Preston Senior…
Open event and sourcesDecember 6, 1986
WKMM - FM radio went on the air, the first FM radio station in Kingwood, Preston County. It was owned by the Buckwheat Broadcasting, Inc.
Open event and sourcesApril 9, 1991
A fast-moving line of severe thunderstorms struck Preston County with destructive straight-line winds. Kingwood recorded a 69-mph gust, more than 100 pine trees fell near Kingwood, and two people were injured near Rowlesburg…
Open event and sourcesThreads through time
Follow the creation of Preston County, its early courts, successive courthouses, the 1869 fire, and the twentieth-century county-seat debate.
See how turnpikes, road surveys, railroad construction, and changing transportation links connected Kingwood with the rest of the county.
Trace literary societies, newspapers, schools, libraries, banking, public works, and the institutions that shaped community life.
People counted within the town boundary at each census. These are town totals; surrounding magisterial districts are separate areas.
| Census year | Population |
|---|---|
| 1910 | 800 |
| 1920 | 1,417 |
| 1930 | 1,709 |
| 1940 | 1,676 |
| 1950 | 2,186 |
| 1960 | 2,530 |
| 1970 | 2,550 |
A changing town boundary. The 1960 census notes that Kingwood annexed part of Kingwood district between 1950 and 1960. The increase over that decade therefore does not necessarily describe growth within an unchanged area.
U.S. Census, 1930, Population, Volume I, West Virginia, Table 4, printed page 1170 (PDF page 118). View the census table ↗
1940 counts: 1940 Census, Population, Volume I, West Virginia, Table 4, printed page 1150 (PDF page 133), also checked against the 1940 column in the 1950 report. View the 1940 census table
1950 counts: 1950 Census, Number of Inhabitants, West Virginia, Table 7, printed pages 48-12–48-13 (PDF pages 12–13), checked against Table 6, page 48-11. View the 1950 town totals
1960 counts: 1960 Census, Number of Inhabitants, West Virginia, Table 8, printed pages 50-14–50-15 (PDF pages 14–15), checked against the 1960 column in the 1970 report. View the 1960 town totals
1970 counts: 1970 Census, Number of Inhabitants, West Virginia, Table 6, printed pages 50-11–50-12 (PDF pages 11–12), checked against Table 10, page 50-18. View the 1970 town totals
Boundary note: 1960 Table 7, page 50-13, footnote 17.
Town boundaries can change between censuses, so changes in these counts do not necessarily represent growth within a fixed area.
Explore Preston County’s population history →6 indexed National Archives images documenting postal locations and surroundings, with descriptions and research notes.
Explore all 6 postal recordsRecord dates are not necessarily office opening or closing dates. Applications and proposed moves retain their original qualifications.
National Archives · M1126, roll 651 · NARA pages 548, 549, 550, 551, 552, 553. View the original collection.