Fayetteville West Virginia History
Preserving History
Small towns like Fayetteville encourage you take your time. Even if you’re on an adventure vacation, an experience Fayetteville is famous for, you come away refreshed, with your batteries charged. The parks and trails, shops, and restaurants around the New River Gorge Preserve encourage every visitor to share its pace, and its history.
Fayetteville wouldn’t really get put on the map until 1837, when it removed the title of Fayette County seat from New Haven (now Ansted) in the Mountain Cove District. Back then, the town was called Vandalia. When the courthouse that remains to this day was built, they changed the town’s name once and for all, to Fayetteville, after the revolutionary war hero Lafayette.
Civil War History
Fayetteville played a significant role in the Civil War. The town was held by both the South and the North at different times as the war between the states went on. At least four battles took place in Fayetteville (out of more than 20 in Fayette County).
Most notably, an historic marker in the center of town recognizes Fayetteville as the site of the first use of indirect artillery fire, meaning firing on an enemy position without having a direct line of sight. Whether the town was the location of the battery or the target isn’t known, but when the war was said and done, only four houses remained.
Welcome To Coal Country
The town was rebuilt, partly, because it sat on top of the greatest coal field on earth. Stretching from northern Pennsylvania to Western Alabama, Appalachian coal would change the world. Fayetteville, Fayette County, and the New River Gorge were going to power one of the biggest events in history- the coal boom and the industrial age.
In 1873, the Chesapeake and Ohio railroad busted its way up the New River Gorge, opening Fayette County coal- the highest grade yet discovered- to the world. The county was the largest producer of coal in the state of West Virginia at the turn of the century, at about 4.5 million tons a year. Coal and the railroad were the driving forces behind growth in Fayetteville and the surrounding county.
Changing Times
As the legal center of the thriving New River coal fields, Fayetteville had established its small-town self into a somewhat prominent place in the industrialized world. Tobacco and timber were also moving the town’s economy at a rapid pace. The town didn’t quite know it, but it was poised for a huge shift. The landscape around Fayetteville would once again change dramatically.
The Beginning of Whitewater Rafting
On a bright summer morning in July 1968, Jon Dragan launched what would be the first commercial raft trip down the New River Gorge. Starting upstream at Prince, the water level on that fateful first day was so low, the trip so long, that the expedition left the river at Stone Cliff to go use the phone and get picked up. Two years later, Wildwater Expeditions was incorporated and the company set up shop as the first whitewater rafting company on the River.
Creating A Landmark
There were other factors around Fayetteville that helped to bring about change; namely, a bridge and a park. Or, as most people in the area say, the bridge and the park. The New River Gorge Bridge began its existence as early as 1967 as a department of highways study. Construction crews broke ground in ’73 and finished up with one of modern engineering’s marvels in ’76. It was, for a long time, the longest single arch bridge in the world at 3030 feet.
The U.S. Park Service came in around 1978. The New River Gorge National River Area is like the wet version of a National Park. The park preserves more than 70,000 acres of land in and around the gorge.
Tourism Comes to Town
The outdoor industry has thrived in and around Fayetteville, and the services you can find run the gamut. There are, first and foremost, several professional whitewater companies that take rafting trips down the New and Gauley rivers. The climbing is world class, and visitors are encouraged to take a class from one of the many climbing schools in Fayetteville. Similarly, the mountain biking around town is some of the best anywhere, famous for its diverse challenges.
There’s a lot to do in Fayetteville- it’s one of the Top Ten Coolest Small Towns in America according to Frommer’s Budget Travel magazine. The good part is that you feel like you’ve got all the time in the universe to do it.
Creating A Landmark
There were other factors around Fayetteville that helped to bring about change; namely, a bridge and a park. Or, as most people in the area say, the bridge and the park. The New River Gorge Bridge began its existence as early as 1967 as a department of highways study. Construction crews broke ground in ’73 and finished up with one of modern engineering’s marvels in ’76. It was, for a long time, the longest single arch bridge in the world at 3030 feet.
The U.S. Park Service came in around 1978. The New River Gorge National River Area is like the wet version of a National Park. The park preserves more than 70,000 acres of land in and around the gorge.