Chartered as Concord State Normal School, February 28, 1872. Relocated in 1910 to present campus. In 1931 name changed to Concord State Teachers College, in 1943 to Concord College and in 2004 to Concord University. — — Map (db m161242) HM
One mile east is the former home of Colonel William Henderson French, (1812-1872), local legislator, land dealer and soldier. Elected to the Virginia House of Delegates in 1842, 1843 and 1845, French later became a Captain in the Confederate cavalry . . . — — Map (db m161243) HM
Site of the pioneer cabin of Andrew Davidson. While he was absent, Indians burned his cabin, tomahawked his children, and captured his wife. Mrs. Davidson was sold to a Canadian family from whom she was ransomed. — — Map (db m89918) HM
Bluefield is on land which John Davidson patented in 1774. With Richard Bailey he built a fort about 1777. Later he was killed by the Indians. The home, built by Joseph Davidson in 1811, is still standing. — — Map (db m90455) HM
Established, 1895, by WV Legislature as Bluefield Colored Institute; 1929 became Bluefield State Teachers College. Renamed in 1943, Bluefield State College has continued providing quality higher education for all citizens of the area. — — Map (db m90505) HM
Established as the Bluefield Colored Institute by act of the Legislature in 1895. Later the school became an institution of higher learning for Negroes. Renamed and given its present title in 1929. — — Map (db m90502) HM
The first woman elected to Congress from West Virginia. Born as Maude Etta Simpkins on June 7, 1895, she married Bluefield lawyer John Kee, who served in congress, 1932–1951. Employed 18 years as his secretary; elected to complete his term in 1951; . . . — — Map (db m1821) HM
In 1938, during the New Deal Era, the Works
Progress Administration (WPA) constructed the
park's first resources The roadside park began
with the construction of the stone picnic shelter
fireplace grills, an overlook
two trails, the . . . — — Map (db m90586) HM
West Virginia
(Mercer County)
"The Mountain State"—western
part of the Commonwealth of
Virginia until June 20, 1863.
Settled by the Germans and
Scotch-Irish. It became a line
of defense between the English
and French . . . — — Map (db m105047) HM
Erosion—Nature’s cutting tool—has chiseled away the stone on this spur of Flat Top Mountain, leaving this giant cockscomb more than 2700 feet above sea level. Several counties may be seen from these cliffs. — — Map (db m90566) HM
Stretching across western Mercer County through McDowell and southern Wyoming counties is the Pocahontas coalfield, one of the most productive, coal-bearing areas in the world. In this area, 6 seams of high-quality coal can be found close to the . . . — — Map (db m179086) HM
Bramwell is situated on a horseshoe bend of the Bluestone River at the eastern edge of the Pocahontas coalfield. This was an ideal location for a town. It was close to the coalfield operations yet removed from the dirt and noise of the industry.
. . . — — Map (db m179162) HM
Jordan Nelson, blacksmith, dug coal from bank to fuel forge, and made 1st commercial use by selling for 1 cent a bushel in 1870s. In 1873 I. A. Welch surveyed Pocahontas Coalfield for J. Hotchkiss who induced F. J. Kimball, later President of N&W . . . — — Map (db m130241) HM
While the description of Bramwell as a town of millionaires can be
viewed as an exaggeration, it did have a significant number of wealthy
families. Their wealth was built largely upon the rapid growth of the
Pocahontas coalfield and Bramwell’s . . . — — Map (db m179168) HM
The development of the southern West Virginia coalfields Was dependent upon transportation, specifically the railroad. In 1881, Thomas Graham and a group of investors from Philadelphia purchased the unsuccessful Atlantic, Mississippi & Ohio . . . — — Map (db m179097) HM
Bramwell was not just the home to the owners and operators of the mines. The productive Pocahontas coalfield needed labor. Native Appalachians, immigrants of southern and eastern Europe and African-Americans from the agricultural south filled the . . . — — Map (db m179100) HM
Near this site on May 1, 1862, Battle of the Henry Clark House occurred. Lt. Col. Rutherford B. Hayes’ 23rd Ohio Vol. Inf. engaged Confederates under Col. Walter Jenifer. Captain Richard B. Foley, commanding the “Flat Top Copperheads,” the “eyes and . . . — — Map (db m42173) HM
Called “Home of the Millionaires” when town’s fourteen represented the greatest per capita concentration in the U.S. Incorporated in 1889, Bramwell was the business and residential community for Pocahontas coalfield owners and operators such as J.H. . . . — — Map (db m1857) HM
John Cooper’s mine in Cooper section of Bramwell shipped 1st coal from W. Virginia’s valuable Pocahontas Coalfield over N&WRR on 4 Nov. 1884. The Coaldale, Caswell Creek & Booth-Bowen mines, operated by Cooper, Jones, Freeman, Booth & Bowen, were . . . — — Map (db m1858) HM
Sargent Cornelius H. Charlton, RA 12 265 405. Infantry United States Army, A member of Company C, 24th Infantry Regiment 25th infantry division, distinguished himself by conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity above and beyond the call of duty, in . . . — — Map (db m164736) HM WM
Here in 1862 was stationed the 23rd Ohio Regt., U.S.A. Encamped here were Gen. J.D. Cox, Maj. R.B. Hayes and Sergt. William McKinley. All became governors of Ohio; Hayes and McKinley became Presidents of the United States. — — Map (db m42175) HM
During the Civil War, the Southern
war effort relied on its agrarian
economy to help support military
operations. Although raiding and
foraging occurred often, so too
did business transactions between
the Confederacy and local farmers.
Former . . . — — Map (db m179170) HM
Wythe County, Va
Shelby G. Hensley •
Kenneth Darrell Spencer •
Stephen M Brumfield •
Jesse Stephen Manuel Jr. •
Edward D. Akers. •
Larry Elbert Collins •
Luther James Doss Jr. •
Michael Eugene Gearheart
Mercer County, Wv . . . — — Map (db m210490) WM
From 1879 to 1929, this bell was rung to open court at the Mercer County Courthouse in Princeton. After the courthouse was dismantled in 1929, the bell was used as a dinner bell at the County poor farm at Gardner. Later discarded at the farm, the . . . — — Map (db m60030) HM
Near a hill south of town on May 17, 1862, Confederate troops led by Maj. Peter Otey surprised and routed a Union regiment commanded by Colonel Louis von Blessing. Federal losses were 18 killed, 56 wounded and 14 captured. Confederate losses were 1 . . . — — Map (db m37742) HM
Side A
Erected to the Honor & Memory of the Confederate Soldiers of Mercer County, Virginia (now West Virginia)
By the Members of Sons of Confederate Veterans
Camp No. 1694-'Flat Top Copperheads’ & Parshandatha Foley Chapter of the Order . . . — — Map (db m161238) WM
This house, the home of physician Robert B. McNutt, is the only antebellum dwelling in Princeton. It survived the fire that Col. Walter H. Jenifer of the 8th Virginia Cavalry ignited on May 1, 1862, as he evacuated the town.
Jenifer was . . . — — Map (db m37744) HM
The Mercer Salt Works, located at the junction of New River and Lick Creek, began operation in 1850 and supplied salt to the southern part of western Virginia through the use of free and slave labor. On August 10, 1862. troops under Col. Rutherford . . . — — Map (db m140096) HM
Born in 1811, French represented Mercer County as delegate and later senator in the Virginia General Assembly. Although he voted against secession as a delegate to the 1861 Richmond Convention, he served in the Confederate Army. He led the 30th . . . — — Map (db m161236) HM
Scene of several actions, May 1862, between Federal troops from General Cox's army and Confederate forces under Jenifer and Wharton. When the Confederates abandoned their camp here, the town was set on fire and partially burned. — — Map (db m34813) HM
Richard Blankenship, Revolutionary War Soldier, was a member of Major James Robertson's company of New River Valley volunteers who fought at the Battle of Point Pleasant, October 10, 1774. He lived on a 33 acre farm 8 mi. southeast, at Ingleside, . . . — — Map (db m37738) HM
Here Mitchell Clay settled in 1775. Eight years later Indians killed two of his children and captured his son Ezekiel. Pursuers killed several of the Indians but the boy was taken into Ohio and burned at the stake. — — Map (db m117993) HM
West Virginia
(Mercer County)
"The Mountain State"—western
part of the Commonwealth of
Virginia until June 20, 1863.
Settled by the Germans and
Scotch-Irish. It became a line
of defense between the English
and French . . . — — Map (db m90595) HM
