A closer look at Preston County
Photographs, maps, documents, and videos from the stories. Look closely, follow the source, and discover the history behind each view.
44 items · 20 to explore here · 24 at outside archives. Multi-page documents and photo sets count as one item.
Maps · 1792
Library of Congress, The Diaries of George Washington, Volume IV, printed page 34.
Reading Howell’s 1792 map is primarily a map of Pennsylvania, but along its lower edge it reaches into the country Washington crossed in 1784. There, readers can find Morgan Town, the Cheat River, Big Sandy and Little Sandy, and the early roads through the region.
Maps · 1932
David Rumsey Map Collection, David Rumsey Map Center, Stanford University Libraries. The George Washington Atlas, edited by Lawrence Martin; United States George Washington Bicentennial Commission, 1932. Map 0465.035.
Published in 1932, this map depicts Washington’s Ohio River journey in 1770 and his journey across what became West Virginia in 1784. Look for Ice’s Ferry, James Spurgeon’s, and the camp near the Youghiogheny Glades along the red route near the Pennsylvania–Maryland border.
Photographs · Event: July 20, 1921; WVU photograph catalog date: August 16, 1921
West Virginia and Regional History Center, West Virginia University · West Virginia History OnView, identifier 053394.
This news photograph documents the aftermath of the confrontation at Bruceton Mills. The WVU catalog identifies Kadel and Herbert News Service, New York, as its creator. WVU catalogs the photograph as August 16, 1921; contemporary newspaper reporting places the confrontation on July 20, 1921. The significance of the later date is unknown.
Photographs · Undated photograph
James Brown collection
The supplied identification connects this scene to Roosevelt’s arrival for graduation at Arthurdale. The photograph’s date has not been independently confirmed.
Photographs · Undated photograph
James Brown Collection
This photograph illustrates the railroad setting at Masontown. Its date is unknown; it is not a view of the railroad’s 1902 arrival.
Photographs · Undated photographs
James Brown collection
These photographs show the company store and a building identified in the collection as the M&K station, with the mine and coke-oven area beyond. Both are undated and are not identified as views of the railroad’s September 1903 arrival.
Photographs · Undated photographs
James Brown collection
Five undated views show the entrance sign, large slide, concession stand, Twin Rocks, and swimming area. None is identified as a photograph of opening day.
Photographs · Circa 1968
Historic American Engineering Record · HAER WV-7-3
Workers water the beehive coke ovens at Bretz, with steam rising above the ovens and railroad cars alongside. This later operating view illustrates the plant decades after full production began in 1907; it does not depict the opening year. The LOC catalog dates the survey as “Documentation compiled after 1968.”
Documents · 1884
U.S. Post Office Department · National Archives and Records Administration
Open either image for the full-size original. The first page names Albert Engle as proposed postmaster and Cuzzart as the proposed office; the second is its accompanying location diagram.
Maps · 1884
U.S. Post Office Department · National Archives and Records Administration
Open either image for the full-size original. The first page names Albert Engle as proposed postmaster and Cuzzart as the proposed office; the second is its accompanying location diagram.
Documents · 1980
Handwritten by Lulu Ringer
Ringer’s two-page account preserves the community’s own memory of the schoolhouse, Pleasant Valley Church, the post office and store, local work, severe weather, and the arrival of electricity. It is valuable local testimony, while individual earlier claims remain open to documentary research.
Documents · January 5, 1886
U.S. Post Office Department · National Archives and Records Administration
Open the image for the full-size ledger page. The Cuzzart appointment is on ledger page 181/facing page.
Photographs · Undated photographs
Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Records, Archives Center, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution
These views are undated; 1851 is the bridge construction date, not the date of either photograph. Smithsonian identifies Item 716 as the Fink bridge. Item 714 is cataloged more broadly as a Cheat River bridge near Rowlesburg and does not identify its truss type.
Photographs · Circa 1870
Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Records, Archives Center, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution
Smithsonian’s catalog describes twin single-track, double-span Bollman bridges and water spouts at the 21st section, 253 miles from Baltimore at Rowlesburg.
Videos · Publication date not recorded
Produced by West Virginia Public Broadcasting · Published by West Virginia Public Broadcasting
Explore Arthurdale through this West Virginia Public Broadcasting video, alongside the community’s dated history and source records below.
Videos · November 1985 broadcast
Original broadcaster: NBC News · Tom Brokaw
Approximately 90 seconds of NBC News coverage with Tom Brokaw, featuring Rowlesburg residents after the flood.
Photographs · Undated photographs
James Brown Collection
Building identified in the collection as the M&K railroad station at Albright. Date unknown. Photo courtesy of the James Brown Collection.
Photographs · Undated photographs
James Brown Collection
Rowlesburg town scene, with the depot identified at left in the collection. The railroad identity has not been independently verified. Date unknown. Photo courtesy of the James Brown Collection.
Photographs · Undated photographs
James Brown Collection
Building identified in the collection as the former Cascade schoolhouse, described by the collection as no longer standing. Date unknown. Photo courtesy of the James Brown Collection.
Photographs · Undated photographs
James Brown Collection
Two undated photographs identified in the James Brown Collection as the Cascade coke ovens and surrounding landscape.
These visuals are linked from PCTT. Open their original records to see the images and catalog details.
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Library of Congress
The gallery documents the tunnel but does not depict its 1849–1852 construction.
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West Virginia History OnView · WVU Libraries
Open the archive record to examine this visual and its catalog details.
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Library of Congress
Brady-Handy Photograph Collection, Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division. No known restrictions on publication. This is a portrait of McGrew, not a photograph of the April 20, 1861 meeting. Brady-Handy Photograph Collection, Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division. No known restrictions on publication. This is a portrait of McGrew, not a photograph of his first day in Congress.
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West Virginia History OnView · WVU Libraries
Open the archive record to examine this visual and its catalog details.
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West Virginia History OnView · WVU Libraries
Open the archive record to examine this visual and its catalog details.
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West Virginia History OnView · WVU Libraries
The photograph dates to 1890, after the newspaper adopted the West Virginia Argus name in 1877.
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news.lib.wvu.edu
This portrait was published circa 1897, about twelve years after Jones began practicing medicine in Wheeling.
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West Virginia History OnView · WVU Libraries
Open the archive record to examine this visual and its catalog details.
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West Virginia History OnView · WVU Libraries
This 1927 photograph shows the later Gore Hospital building; it does not depict the three cottages constructed in 1913.
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Library of Congress
Library of Congress
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West Virginia History OnView · WVU Libraries
This later photograph shows the building during its subsequent use as Central Preston Senior High School.
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West Virginia History OnView · WVU Libraries
Open the archive record to examine this visual and its catalog details.
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West Virginia History OnView · WVU Libraries
The photograph dates to 1967, more than three decades after the courthouse was dedicated.
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West Virginia History OnView · WVU Libraries
The photograph is dated circa May 24, 1938, about a year after the final houses were completed. It shows one of Arthurdale's 40 native-stone houses, not the construction work itself.
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West Virginia History OnView · WVU Libraries
This undated photograph illustrates Oak Park beside the railroad tracks; it is not identified as a photograph of the park’s 1909 opening day.
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tuckerculture.com
Photograph by John Warner, published in Tucker Culture’s “The Great Flood of 1985: Finding Strength in Community.” The linked essay includes the First Street scene in Parsons, upstream from Preston’s Cheat Valley communities. This is an actual Tucker County flood photograph; reproduction permission has not been established.
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West Virginia History OnView · WVU Libraries
This undated photograph shows unidentified Camp Preston members; it is not identified as a photograph of the camp’s July 15, 1935 opening.
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West Virginia History OnView · WVU Libraries
This undated photograph shows three Camp Rhododendron members beside the Company 3527 sign; it is not identified as a photograph from May 18, 1936.
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West Virginia History OnView · WVU Libraries
This undated postcard shows one of the streets later associated with Kingwood’s WPA sidewalk work; it is not identified as a photograph of the WPA project or its construction.
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Internet Archive
The Gospel Messenger identifies the building on this page as Maple Grove Child Rescue Home.
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Wikimedia Commons · See original record for photographer and license
Photograph by Bohemian Baltimore, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. This modern view documents the chapel but does not depict its 1957–1958 construction.
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Wikimedia Commons · See original record for photographer and license
Photograph by Antony-22, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0. Modern illustrative site photograph, not a photograph of the 1910 decision or 1910–1911 survey. The original photographer’s upload provides attribution and license information.
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West Virginia History OnView · WVU Libraries
Harry S. Laird albums, A&M 3827, image 040051, West Virginia and Regional History Center, WVU Libraries. Photographer unidentified. Actual early construction, not the 1926 opening. Linked for viewing; reproduction permission has not been established.
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West Virginia History OnView · WVU Libraries
WVU Libraries, West Virginia & Regional History Center, West Virginia History OnView, image 050521, collection A&M 0454. Catalog date: ca. 1890–1940; exact photograph date unknown. Open the photograph to view the original image and catalog record.