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Ritchie County

County Facts

Date of Formation: 1843
Named: In honor of Thomas Ritchie, a distinguished journalist of Richmond, VA, whose uncle was Judge Spencer Roane, for whom Roane County was named
County Seat: Harrisville

Sources

Books

Atkinson, Mary Davis. Ritchie County, Virginia, 1843-1853. Cairo, West Virginia, Atkinson, 1966.
929.3 R598at.

"The Fire" : Particulars in a Nutshell: Being a Contemporary Account of the Burning of the "Oil Boom" Town of Volcano, West Virginia, in the Year 1879. Harrisville, West Virginia, Charles Stewart, Dean Six, 1988.
975.4 R598PAM.

Cokeley, Robert Lawrence. History of the Ritchie Mines. Harrisville, West Virginia, Charles Stewart and Dean Six Publishers,1987.
665.538 C82 Pam.

Comstock, Jim. Hardesty's Historical and Geographical Encyclopedia. Richwood, West Virginia, Jim Comstock, 1973.
R 975.4003 H259 v.7.

Harris, Thomas Mealey. A History of Ritchie County, West Virginia, Centennial Celebration, July 4, 1876. Harrisville, West Virginia, Stephen D. Six, Ritchie Gazette, 1975c.
975.424 H316.

Historical Records Survey, West Virginia. Inventory of the County Archives of West Virginia: No. 45 Ritchie County (Harrisville) West Virginia. Charleston, West Virginia, Works Project Administration, West Virginia Historical Records Survey, 1938.
016.9754 R598.

Jackson, John M.. Ritchie County Crimes and Calamities: Reports from the Local, State and National Press 1847 - 1922. Charleston, South Carolina: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2011.
975.424 J13.

Lowther, Minnie Kendall. History of Ritchie County. Wheeling, West Virginia, Wheeling News Litho Company, 1911c.
975.424 L922.

Newsombe, H. The Harrisville Industrial Review. s. l., n. p., n. d.
MI 48-33.

Ritchie county Historical Society. The History of Ritchie County, West Virginia to 1980. Dallas, Texas, Taylor Publishing Company, 1980.
975.424 R598.

__________________________. A Photographic History of Ritchie County, West Virginia. Salem, West Virginia, Don Mills, Inc., 1989c.
975.424 R598p.

Snodgrass, Ottis Rymer. History of Methodism in Harrisville, Ritchie County, West Virginia (Virginia), 1820-1963. s. l., n. p., 1963c.
287.6754 S673.

West Augusta Historical and Genealogical Society. Index to Minnie Kendall Lowther's History of Ritchie County. Parkersburg, West Virginia, West Augusta Historical and Genealogical Society, 1985.
975.424 L922 index.

Newspaper Clippings

"And Things That Go Bump in the Night," Ritchie Gazette, 10-29-1992.
"Auburn, Paradise," Charleston Daily Mail, 5-4-1979.
"Baseball Field Named For Former Ritchian," Ritchie Gazette, 11-5-1992.
"Beech Grove Community," Ritchie Gazette, 10-22-1992.
"Berdines's Celebrates 80 Years," Charleston Gazette, 10-30-1988.
"Bustling Cairo fo 1900 Remembered by Driller," Parkersburg News, 7-2-1976.
"Cairo Far From Being Ghost Town," Charleston Daily Mail, 8-4-1982.
"Cairo Far From Being a Ghost Town," Charleston Daily Mail, 8-4-1982.
"Caring for Cairo," Charleston Gazette, 2-26-1999.
"City Man Nearing a Century of Memories," Parkersburg Sentinel, 3-10-1997.
"Cornwallis Named for Old Defeated Friend," Parkersburg News, 6-18-1963.
"Cornwallis," Charleston Daily Mail, 5-6-1981.
"Cornwallis," Charleston Daily Mail, 5-6-1981.
"Dr. Heflin's Talk on Co. History Printed at Request of Our Readers," Ritchie Gazette, 9- 5-1963.
"Ellensboro, Depot is New; Its Ware Old," Parkersburg Sentinel, 8-1-1994.
"Good Night Molehill, G'Morning Mountain," Charleston Daily Mail, 4-17-1979.
"Harrisville Founded in 1822 on Thomas Harris Land," Parkersburg News, 6-18- 1963.
"Harrisville Textile Mill Marks 125th Anniversary," Parkersburg Sentinel, 2-21- 1990.
"Harrisville Native Writes of Earlier Times Here," Ritchie Gazette, 7-21-1966.
"Harrisville," Ritchie Gazette, 9-3-1992.
"Harrisville," WV Hillbilly, 12-19-1969.
"Harrisville's First 100 Years," WV Hillbilly, 11-22-1969.
"Harrisville's First 100 Years," Pennsboro News, 6-25-1964.
"Heritage Inn Rich in History," Ritchie Gazette, 8-27-1992.
"Historic Ritchie Hotel Gets New Life," Clarksburg Telegram, 12-6-1990.
"Historical Displayed at Historical Meeting," Ritchie Gazette, 8-13-1992.
"History is Told of Whitehall Hotel in Town of Harrisville," Parkersburg News, 8-2- 1964.
"History of Beason," Ritchie Gazette, 10-27-1994.
"Housing the Past, Ritchie Co. History Kept at Old Stone House," Parkersburg News, 6- 15-1997.
"Just Beyond Macfarlan is a Smelting Furnace," Parkersburg News, 1-16-1977.
"Landowners Watershed Project, Dam Construction," Parkersburg Sentinel, 10-5- 1996.
"Leaving Tracks, Part I-V," Ritchie Gazette, 7-23-1992; 8-26-1992;10-8-1992;12-24- 1992.
"Listen Here, Mountain Made Out of a Mole Hill," Woman's Day, October 1949.
"Mole Hill in West Virginia Becomes a Mountain," Inter-Mountain, 5-16-1995.
"Mountain of Mole Hill?," Parkersburg News, 10-17-1999.
"Newspaperman Dies After Sudden Illness," Ritchie Gazette, 12-7-1992.
"Oil Tycoon Founded Beatrice," Parkersburg News, 7-13-1975.
"Oil Men Bring in Ritchie Glass Plant," Charleston Gazette, 2-20-1996.
"Old Chimney is Landmark Near Cisco," Parkersburg News, 6-14-1965.
"Pennsboro Landmark to Go," Parkersburg News, 3-29-1964.
"Pennsboro Museum Filled with Ritchie County History," Parkersburg Sentinel, 6-17- 1997.
"Pennsboro Early History Vague," Parkersburg News, 7-16-1975.
"Pennsboro," WV Hillbilly, 3-7-1970.
"Petroleum Is My Town," WV Hillbilly, 2-3-1973.
"Reminiscing," Ritchie Gazette, 8-27-1992.
"Ritchie County's Roadside Hospitality," Charleston Gazette, 9-30-1962.
"Ritchie County Sesquicentennial Early Settler and Indians," Ritchie Gazette, 9-30- 1993.
"Ritchie Mines Are Remains Untapped," Parkersburg Sentinel, 7-31-1991.
"Ritchie On the Prowl," WV Hillbilly, 8-20-1987.
"Ritchie County Named for Tom Ritchie...," Parkersburg News, 6-18-1963.
"Ritchie County 1992 in Review," Ritchie Gazette, 1-7-1992.
"The Making of Ritchie Co., Virginia Act Passed February 18, 1843, Ritchie Gazette, 7- 16-1992.
"The Legacy of Daniel Haymond a Mountain Out of a Mole Hill," WV Call, March 1968.
"The Legacy of Daniel Haymond a Mountain Out of a Mole Hill," Mullens Advocate, 5- 16-1968.
"Thursday a Post Office," Ritchie Gazette, 9-13-1973.
"Toll Gate, WV," Ritchie Gazette, 8-20-1992.
"Town Seeks to Hold On to History," Charleston Daily Mail, 2-7-1990.
"Town Has Dubious Distinction," Clarksburg Exponent, 4-15-1990.
"When Ritchie Town's Name Changed America Took Note," Clarksburg Telegram, 4- 27-1995.

Ritchie County Records on Microfilm

County History Resources

History Center

West Virginia Archives and History