Skip Navigation

Roane County

County Facts

Date of Formation: 1856
Named: In honor of Judge Spencer Roane, distinguished judge of the Supreme Court of Appeals of Virginia, and son-in-law of Patrick Henry
County Seat: Spencer

Sources

Books

Bishop, William Henry. History of Roane County, West Virginia, From the Time of Its Exploration to A. D. 1927. Spencer, West Virginia, W. H. Bishop, 1927c.
975.4365 B622.

Comstock, Jim. Hardesty's Historical and Geographical Encyclopedia. Richwood, West Virginia, Jim Comstock, 1973.
975.4003 H259 v.5.

Crane, Phillip L. California County, Calhoun County or Roane County, West Virginia. s. l., Roane County Journal, 1997.
975.436 C891 Pam.

Cunningham, Dan. Murders of Roane and Jackson Counties. Charleston, West Virginia, n. p., 1931.
364.152 C973.

Flat Fork Baptist Church. Minute Books, 1850-1948. Flat Fork, West Virginia, Wooster, Ohio, Bell and Howell, 1979c.
Mi 50-16.

Historical Records Survey, West Virginia. Inventory of the County Archives of West Virginia, No. 44 Roane County, (Spencer). Division of Professional Service, Projects Works Administration, Charleston, West Virginia, West Virginia Historical Records Survey, 1941.
016.9754 R628.

Hopkins, M. A. C. History of Harper District. Ripley, West Virginia, Knightstep Imprints, 1995.
929.3 R628h.

House, John A. Pioneers in Roane County, West Virginia: Historical Notes on the Early Settlement of Reedy Valley, With Notice of Pioneers of Spring Creek and the West Fork. s. l., n. p., 1906.
975.436 H842.

Mylott, James P. A Measure of Prosperity, A History of Roane County. Charleston, West Virginia, Mountain State Press, 1984c.
975.436 M997.

Roane County Family History Committee, Roane County West Virginia Family History, 1989. Waynesville, North Carolina, Don Mills, Inc., 1990.
975.436 R628r.

Roane County Year Book and Almanac, 1921. Spencer, West Virginia, The Times Record, n. d.
525.5 R53.

Newspaper Clippings

"200 in County in Year 1830," Times Record, 5-25-1922.
"20th Annual Central West Virginia Oil and Gas Edition," Times Record, 12-26- 1940.
"Bicentennial Salute to Roane County," WV Hillbilly, 5-15-1976.
"Billion Dollar Subway System Travel Through Roane Co.," Times Record, 2-21- 1929.
"Bird's Eye View of Newton, WV," Roane County Reporter, 4-27-1989.
"Boat Yard Leading Industry in Roane's First Settlement," Parkersburg News, 5-5- 1963.
"Clio Post Office Scheduled to Close Friday," Times Record, 7-27-1989.
"D. Boone Pioneer of Roane County," Times Record, 12-6-1924.
"Dark side of Roane History," Times Record, 9-16-1926.
"Days of Harvesting Wheat in Roane Recalled," Roane County Reporter, 7-13-1989.
"Elbow Room is Plentiful in Roane," Beckley Post Herald, 10-6-1969.
"Ex-Salve Meets Misty a Last Time," Charleston Daily Mail, 4-26-1978.
"Famous Old Opera House of 1897 No More," Times Record, 3-8-1923.
"First Court House in 1858," Times Record, 7-6-1922.
"Gabe's Tree," Charleston Gazette, 2-16-1958.
"Ghost Town Reedy," Charleston Daily Mail, 5-27-1980.
"Giggling Tourists Figure Looneyville Wrong," Charleston Gazette, 10-29-1991.
"History of Roane County Schools," Times Record, 1-8-1925.
"History of the Oil and Gas Industry in Roane County," Times Record, 2-21-1929.
"Interesting Career of Editor Craig," Parkersburg News, 5-11-1940.
"Man Who Ran First Spencer Train Here," Times Record, 4-24-1922.
"More History About County," Times Record, 7-22-1922.
"Noted Italian Sculptor Establishes Studio in Roane," Times Record, 4-24-1980.
"People in Looneyville Talk to Each Other, Not Themselves," Charleston Gazette, 9-16- 1987.
"Pioneer Rode into Court Room About 1858..Escaped Through Flue," Times Record, 7- 16-1922.
"Ralph Nestor, A Lifetime Spent Compiling History," Times Record, 9-15-1988.
"Recalls Old Days Around Walton," Roane County Reporter, 6-9-1988.
"Reedy Expecting Big Crowd for Celebration," Parkersburg News, 9-24-1994.
"Reedy Struggling to Revive Prosperity of Former Days," Charleston Gazette, 12-8- 1982.
"Remembering Reedy," Times Record, 8-18-1994.
"Roane County Formed in 1856," Parkersburg News, 6-18-1963.
"Roane County Then and Now," Roane County Reporter/Times Record, 1968-1969.
"Roane Excited by Silver Diggings," Parkersburg News, 11-3-1968.
"Roane General Hospital a Matter of Survival," Charleston Gazette, 2-14-1999.
"Roane Court House 75 Year Old Landmark at Trail's End," Roane Co. Reporter, 7-30- 1964.
"Sam Tanner's Gravesite Remains a Mystery," Roane Co. Reporter, 10-6-1988.
"Scout Troop Has Library," Times Record, 7-21-1920.
"Settlers Had No Wheat Bread and Spun Own Cloth," Times Record, 5-15-1922.
"Settlers Made Home in Cave," Times Record, 5-11-1922.
"Some Early Residents of Roane County," Roane County Reporter, 11-7-1968.
"Spencer WV Chosen All-American City," Southern Living, May 1975.
"Squeezing the Puck, Roane Rubber Firm..," Charleston Daily Mail, 12-22-1976.
"Summary and Completion of Roane County History," Times Record, 7-27-1922.
"Teacher Came to Reedy 1830," Times Record, 6-1-1922.
"The Story of Roane County," Times Record, 6-12-1924.
"The Story Behind Roane's Record-Setting Well," Roane County Reporter, 5-30- 1991.
"The Walton Fair," WV Hillbilly, 1-16-1982.
"Theater Still Rolling After 86 Years," Charleston Gazette, 3-7-1993.
"Theater May Put Roane in National Historic Register," Roane County Reporter, 2-23- 1989.
"Three Forks Former Name for Reedy," Parkersburg News, 6-18-1963.
"Wells Opera House Robey's First Movie House Recalled," Parkersburg News, 11-28- 1968.

Roane County Records on Microfilm

County History Resources

History Center

West Virginia Archives and History