Inscription: The resistant Homewood and Conoquenessing sandstones, the "Salt Sands" of the driller, form the canyon walls and Blackwater Falls. These sands produce oil and natural gas in West Virginia and commercial brines on the Kanawha and Ohio Rivers.

Inscription: The Fairfax Stone (1/2 Mi. E.), marking the Potomac's headwaters, was a corner of Lord Fairfax's vast estate. The line of 1736 was checked in 1746 by a survey on which Peter Jefferson, father of Thomas Jefferson, was engaged.

Inscription: Incorporated July 20, 1885 by William H. Lipscomb, John J. Adams, Bascom B. Baker, Ezekiel Harper, Sansome E. Parsons, Wilson B. Maxwell, Adam C. Minear, and William E. Talbott. The school ceased to operate in June, 1893.

Inscription: First county seat. Here John Minear and son, Jonathan, after early visits, settled in 1776. Both of them were killed by Indians, 1780-1781. Captain James Parsons and brother, Thomas, made settlements in the Horseshoe, 1772-1774.

Inscription: John Crouch, pioneer settler, established "tomahawk rights" here in 1766, but the town was not incorporated until 1893. Here Shavers Fork and Blackwater unite to form the Cheat River. Hu Maxwell, the historian, lived near.

After the battles of Philippi, Laurel Hill, and Rich Mountain, Gen. R. S. Garnett, new commander of the Confederates, led his army southward through the Tygarts Valley. His force was overtaken at Corrick's Ford, July 13, 1861, defeated, and Garnett killed.

Inscription: After the Confederate defeat in the Tygarts Valley early in 1861, Gen. R. S. Garnett, the Southern leader, withdrew. Here he was overtaken by Federals under his West Point classmate, Gen. T. A. Morris, his army defeated, and himself mortally wounded.

Inscription: The Seneca Trail, or Warriors' Path, was the Indian highway from New York to the South. In West Virginia, it followed in general the Alleghenies and this trail, made by moccasined feet centuries ago, may be seen at many points today.

Inscription: Formed from Harrison in 1787. Named for Edmund Jennings Randolph, Virginia statesman and soldier. Largest county in the State. Federal dominance of the Tygart's Valley in War between the States largely determined control of W. Va.

Formed in 1856 from Randolph. Named for Henry St. George Tucker, Virginia statesman and jurist. In this county is the Fairfax Stone, marking the boundary of the vast Fairfax estate. Blackwater Falls and Canaan Valley among features.

Inscription: Formed from Monongalia in 1818 and named for James Preston, 13th governor of Virginia. Here is model Federal homestead project, sponsored by Mrs. Eleanor Roosevelt, the wife of Franklin Delano Roosevelt, 32nd President.

Formed, 1856, from Randolph. Named for Henry St. George Tucker, eminent jurist and statesman of Virginia. In this county is a part of the vast Monongahela National Forest. Blackwater Falls and Canaan Valley are also features.

Inscription: To the southeast is Blackwater Falls, 63 feet high, and its rugged gorge. It drains lovely Canaan Valley, which may be seen from the mountain top, 3700 feet high. It was made famous in "Blackwater Chronicles" by "Porte Crayon."

Inscription: The resistant Homewood and Connoquenessing sandstones, the "Salt Sands" of the driller, form the canyon walls and Blackwater Falls. These sands produce oil and natural gas in West Virginia and commercial brines on the Kanawha and Ohio Rivers.

Inscription: Formed in 1866 from Hardy. Named for General Grant, later President. The Fairfax Stone, which established the limits of Lord Fairfax's lands, marks northwestern boundary. The county has many mountain peaks and beautiful scenery.

Formed, 1856, from Randolph. Named for Henry St. George Tucker, eminent jurist and statesman of Virginia. In this county is a part of the vast Monongahela National Forest. Blackwater Falls and Canaan Valley are also features.

Inscription: Formed, 1787, from Harrison. Named for Edmund Jennings Randolph, Virginia statesman and soldier. Largest county in the State. Federal dominance of the Tygart's Valley in the Civil War largely determined control of West Virginia.

Formed, 1856, from Randolph. Named for Henry St. George Tucker, eminent jurist and statesman of Virginia. In this county is a part of the vast Monongahela National Forest. Blackwater Falls and Canaan Valley are also features.

Inscription: The massive Pottsville Sandstones exposed here are the same as those in the Blackwater Gorge, and are the "Salt Sands" of the driller. The "Salt Sands" produce oil and natural gas in West Virginia and commercial brines on the Kanawha and Ohio Rivers.

Inscription: Formed from Monongalia in 1818 and named for James Preston, 13th governor of Virginia. Here is model Federal homestead project, sponsored by Mrs. Eleanor Roosevelt, the wife of Franklin Delano Roosevelt, 32nd President.

Formed, 1856, from Randolph. Named for Henry St. George Tucker, eminent jurist and statesman of Virginia. In this county is a part of the vast Monongahela National Forest. Blackwater Falls and Canaan Valley are also features.

Inscription: Formed from Harrison, Lewis and Randolph in 1843. It is named for Philip Pendleton Barbour, distinguished Virginia jurist. The scene of opening hostilities on land between the armies of the North and South in 1861.

Formed, 1856, from Randolph. Named for Henry St. George Tucker, eminent jurist and statesman of Virginia. In this county is a part of the vast Monongahela National Forest. Black Water Falls and Canaan Valley are also features.

Inscription: Here stood Tucker's first courthouse. Confederate flag raised over it, May, 1861. The town changed sides ten times during the Civil War. "County Seat War" ended Aug 1, 1893, when records removed by armed men.

Erected by John Minear in 1776, who with a group of immigrants later founded St. George. Settlement site of American Indian raids in spring of 1780. Minear and son Jonathan among those killed in 1781 attack.

Inscription: Formed from Hampshire in 1866 and named for its great mineral deposits. In Mineral County is Fort Ashby, the only standing unit in the chain of frontier forts which were built in 1755 under George Washington's order.

Formed, 1856, from Randolph. Named for Henry St. George Tucker, eminent jurist and statesman of Virginia. In this county is a part of the vast Monongahela National Forest. Black Water Falls and Canaan Valley are also features.

Inscription: Segregated school located along North Fork of the Blackwater that served Coketon, center of coal and coke empire of H. G. Davis. In 1892 teacher Carrie Williams, represented by J. R. Clifford, state's first African American lawyer, sued when county reduced school's term. She won equal pay and terms for black students in WV. School closed in 1954.

Inscription: In 1892, Coketon Colored School teacher Carrie Williams sued the local school board for equal pay. She was represented by the first African American lawyer in WV, J. R. Clifford, in front of Judge Hoke. Local jury found for her and she won appeal at WV Supreme Court. This early civil rights case affirmed equal school terms for African Americans in WV.

Inscription: In 1888, Henry Gassaway Davis began a railroad expansion from Thomas to Hendricks. The Black Fork grade is a prime example of 19th-century railway engineering, with grades reaching 3.75% to drop 1,236 feet in 10 miles of mountainous terrain. Bought by Western Maryland Railway in 1905, the line was abandoned by its successor, CSX, in 1983. It now is a recreational rail-trail.

Inscription: On November 9, 1862, Colonel John Imboden's 1st VA Partisan Rangers captured the town of St. George. Having a larger Confederate force, he compelled Union Captain William Hal (6th WV) to surrender his command with relative ease. Though a minor victory for Imboden, the action cut short his ultimate goal of the railroad at Rowlesburg by moving the element of surprise.

In November 1862, Confederate Col. John Imboden of the 1st Virginia Partisan Rangers led his men on a second expedition through Randolph and Tucker counties to destroy the railroad at Rowlesburg. Imboden abandoned the mission when news of his presence spread following his capture of St. George. During his brief raid, Federals troops raided his own camp on the South Fork.

Inscription: In 1884, Henry Gassaway Davis's WV Central & Pittsburgh Railroad established Davis. Many industries followed, most notably Thompson's Blackwater Lumber, later acquired by Babcock Boom and Lumber. Jobs built on the area's rich resources drew immigrant workers and their families. As the old growth timber waned, so too did the viability of the mill, which closed in 1924.