20 entries connected to this source. Citations retain the recorded dates, pages, and research qualifications.
Open this source in the timeline →20 entries · Oldest to newest
1818 · Kingwood
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.
Research status: Captured · not verified
West Virginia History OnView, “Price’s Tavern, Kingwood, Preston County, W. Va.” (identifier 015876)
Visit source ↗ (wvhistoryonview.org)1851–1852 · Rowlesburg
The Baltimore & Ohio Railroad constructed the original Tray Run Viaduct on the Cheat River Grade near Rowlesburg in 1851–1852. Designed by Albert Fink, the 445-foot structure combined a massive stone base with a cast-iron trestle. Its pioneering design became an important step in the development of iron railroad bridges and later metal-frame construction.
Research status: Verified to source
View on Cheat River Grade at the Tray Run Iron and Stone Viaduct, 1857 illustration
View photograph ↗ (wvhistoryonview.org)June 1866 · Austen
Wiley dates the opening of the Austen coal mines to June 1866. He says they operated until December 1876, reopened in April 1877, and had seventy-three coke ovens by the time of his writing.
Research status: Captured · not verified
Tipple and Ovens at Austen Coal of Coke Company, Austen, W. Va., circa 1908
View photograph ↗ (wvhistoryonview.org)1869–1870 · Kingwood
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 of the present courthouse.
Research status: Verified
Courthouse and Soldiers Monument at Kingwood, Preston County, W. Va., ca. 1908
View photograph ↗ (wvhistoryonview.org)1870 · Kingwood
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.
Research status: Verified
West Virginia Argus Members, Kingwood, Preston County, W. Va., 1890
View photograph ↗ (wvhistoryonview.org)1898 — exact opening date to verify · Masontown
Frank L. Street opened Street's Store in Masontown in 1898 after local farmers encouraged and helped him get started. The fourth-generation family business began as a feed store and later expanded into lumber and general merchandise.
Research status: Verified to source
S. L. Street’s Building, circa 1905–1925
View photograph ↗ (wvhistoryonview.org)By March 4, 1909 · Manheim
By March 4, 1909, Alpha had purchased the Buckhorn Portland Cement Company’s plant at Manheim. That day’s Preston County Journal reported the completed transfer and plans for $250,000 in repairs before operations resumed. It described a daily capacity of 1,500 barrels and a payroll of 200 men, with further expansion contemplated. The purchase began a new chapter for the works following Buckhorn’s shutdown and receivership. Later National Register documentation connects Alpha with Manheim’s development as a company town providing employee housing, electricity, and water.
Research status: Verified to source
Alpha Cement Plant, Manheim, Preston County, W. Va. — G. E. Gibson, Kingwood
View photograph ↗ (wvhistoryonview.org)June 9, 1909 · Masontown
James J. Brown dates Oak Park’s opening near Masontown to June 9, 1909, although the exact opening date remains under review. Brown describes its entrance as facing the railroad tracks and says the amusement park generated excursion traffic for the M&K, including trains arriving from as far away as Pittsburgh. A July 22, 1909 newspaper notice advertised a Knights of Pythias basket picnic at Oak Park for August 26. The notice described cooperation with M&K Railroad officials, connections with B&O trains, and a special $1 round-trip fare from M&K Junction.
Research status: Captured · not verified
Oak Park beside the M&K Railroad (date unknown)
View photograph ↗ (wvhistoryonview.org)Circa 1910 · Rowlesburg / Cheat River
Around 1910, a riveted Warren truss bridge carried the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad across the Cheat River at Rowlesburg. HAER describes it as the third bridge at this site, following the Fink bridge of 1851 and the Bollman bridge of 1870. Its surviving documentation includes four photographs and a short written history, preserving a record of this early twentieth-century railroad structure.
Research status: Verified to source
Related Rowlesburg bridge photograph — WV History OnView 043853
Visit source ↗ (wvhistoryonview.org)1913 · Terra Alta / Hopemont
Three cottages were constructed at the State Tuberculosis Sanitarium near Terra Alta in 1913, providing space for 60 patients. The construction developed the institution authorized in 1911; it did not mark the sanitarium’s initial establishment.
Research status: Verified to source
Gore Hospital at the State Tuberculosis Sanitarium, Hopemont, June 1927
View photograph ↗ (wvhistoryonview.org)July 20, 1921 · Bruceton Mills
Citizens anticipating an attempted bank robbery confronted four men approaching Bruceton Mills after a reported robbery at John A. Benson’s home in Brandonville. According to the newspaper account, John Moore fired at Dr. Defoe, who returned fire, fatally wounding Moore and wounding William Madden. The other two men surrendered.
Research status: Verified
West Virginia History OnView, identifier 053394 (photograph).
Visit source ↗ (wvhistoryonview.org)1922 · Kingwood
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 School.
Research status: Verified
Central Preston Sr. High School, Preston County, W. Va., ca. 1975–1985
View photograph ↗ (wvhistoryonview.org)May 31, 1926 · Cheat River / Monongalia County
The Lake Lynn hydroelectric plant began operating on the Cheat River in Monongalia County, downstream from Preston County. Its dam created the reservoir now known as Cheat Lake and formed part of a power system serving northern West Virginia and southwestern Pennsylvania. The project also has a documented Preston connection through the construction albums of civil engineer and Preston County resident Harry Snedden Laird, preserved at West Virginia University.
Research status: Verified to source
Construction of the Cheat Lake dam, November 3, 1912
View photograph ↗ (wvhistoryonview.org)August 25, 1934 · Kingwood
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 address.
Research status: Verified
Preston County Courthouse, Kingwood, W. Va., 1967
View photograph ↗ (wvhistoryonview.org)July 15, 1935 · Caddell / Camp Dawson / Kingwood area
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 work included roads on Caddell Mountain, forest cleanup, and a telegraph line; the camp became the predecessor of Camp Rhododendron.
Research status: Verified to source
Civilian Conservation Corps Boys in Camp Preston, Kingwood, W. Va. — West Virginia History OnView 031779 (date unknown)
View photograph ↗ (wvhistoryonview.org)1935–1940 · Kingwood
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 reached High Street in 1940. Surviving examples are reminders of the federal work-relief program’s lasting influence on the town’s streetscape.
Research status: Verified to source
High Street, Kingwood, W. Va. — West Virginia History OnView 043812 (date unknown)
View photograph ↗ (wvhistoryonview.org)May 18, 1936 · Coopers Rock State Forest / Preston–Monongalia border
Following the state’s purchase of the forest land in March, 45 Civilian Conservation Corps men established a tent camp at the old Keefover Homestead while another 90 men traveled daily from Camp Preston. By June they had opened a rough but passable route from West Virginia Route 73. Camp Rhododendron crews went on to build roads, trails, picnic shelters, staff buildings, stonework, and the overlook and walkway during the CCC era.
Research status: Verified to source
Civilian Conservation Corps Camp Rhododendron members — West Virginia History OnView 031660 (date unknown)
View photograph ↗ (wvhistoryonview.org)1937 · Arthurdale
The last 40 houses, a group of stone-veneered homes begun during the summer of 1936, were finished in 1937. Their completion brought Arthurdale's three-phase homestead construction program to the 165 houses originally planned.
Research status: Verified to source
One of Forty Native Stone Houses Built in Home Project, Arthurdale, W. Va., ca. May 24, 1938
View photograph ↗ (wvhistoryonview.org)May 27, 1938 · Arthurdale
President Franklin D. Roosevelt visited Arthurdale and delivered the high school's commencement address on May 27, 1938. The occasion is remembered as the only high-school commencement address of his presidency, placing the small Preston County community on a national stage.
Research status: Verified to source
West Virginia History OnView 005249
No direct online link recorded for this citation.October 13–15, 1938 · Kingwood
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 courthouse’s east lawn included crop exhibits, horse trading, a farmers’ auction, community contests, and the crowning of the festival’s first king and queen.
Research status: Verified to source
King and queen of the first Buckwheat Festival, 1938
View photograph ↗ (wvhistoryonview.org)