Fayette County
Fayetteville

Settled by Abraham Vandal and originally named Vandalia, the town has been the county seat since 1837.

Population 2010 Census: 2,892
Median Age: 44.4 years

Courthouse: Completed 1904
Architect: J. Charles Fulton


Hover mouse over a dot on the map for details on Fayetteville.

Formed: 1831
Named: In honor of the Marquis de Lafayette.
County Seat: Fayetteville
Land in Square Miles: 661.55
Population 2010 Census: 46,039
Persons per Square Mile 2010: 69.6

Primary Sources Online
1960 Presidential Campaign in Fayette County
Locomotive Boiler Explosion at McDunn
Mount Hope Fire
Explosion at Layland Mine
Explosion at Carlisle Mine
Henry Ford Visit to Nuttal Mine
Elias and Troy Hatfield killed in a shootout at Harewood
Dun Glen Hotel Destroyed by Fire
Groundbreaking at Gauley Junction for Hawks Nest Tunnel and Dam
Dedication of New River Gorge Bridge

Fayette County scouts, ca. 1940    (dialup)    (broadband)
Coal mining town of Kingston, 1967    (dialup)    (broadband)
Ross Marsico and his miniature furniture, 1983   (dialup)    (broadband)
Miniature house made of match sticks, 1983   (dialup)    (broadband)
A senior citizens' fitness group in Montgomery, 1983   (dialup)    (broadband)
Craft center in Gauley Bridge, 1984    (dialup)    (broadband)
Famous look-alikes in Dixie, 1984   (dialup)    (broadband)
Ansted Roller Rink, 1984   (dialup)    (broadband)
Old Civil War well, 1985   (dialup)    (broadband)

Civil War
Skirmish at Hawks Nest, 1861
Skirmish near Piggot's Mill, 1861
Affairs on the Kanawha, 1861
Siege of Cotton Hill, 1861
Reports from Fayette County, 1861
Rebuilding of Gauley Bridge, 1862
Battles in Fayette, 1862
Campaign in the Kanawha Valley, 1862
Prisoners from Fayetteville, 1863
From the 13th West Virginia, 1863
Skirmish near Fayetteville, 1863
Execution of a Soldier, 1863

Photographs
Photographs of Schools in Fayette County
Photographs of Hawks Nest Tunnel Construction
Log House on Miller's Ferry, Camp Anderson, sketch by J. Nep. Roesler, 1861
Camp, Gauley Bridge, sketch by J. Nep. Roesler, 1861
View from Hawks Nest towards the East, sketch by J. Nep. Roesler, 1861
Pickets on the Road from Camp Anderson to Tompkins Farm, sketch by J. Nep. Roesler, 1861
Tompkins Farm (Camp Gauley Mount), sketch by J. Nep. Roesler, 1861
Advance in the Woods, Camp Anderson, sketch by J. Nep. Roesler, 1861
Fall on the Road between Tompkins Farm & Gauley Bridge, sketch by J. Nep. Roesler, 1861
View near Gauley Ferry, sketch by J. Nep. Roesler, 1861
Construction of Hawks Nest Tunnel, 1930
Archaeological outing at Babcock State Park, Fayette County, 1964
Construction of New River Gorge Bridge, 1976

Secondary Sources Online
List of Fayette County Legislators
Crooked Run, Agricultural Extention Community History
Sanger, Agricultural Extention Community History
How County Records Were Preserved Through War and Court House Fires
"Loyalty and Civil Liberty in Fayette County During the Civil War," by Lou Athey (West Virginia History)
"Fayetteville, West Virginia, During The Civil War," by Mary Elizabeth Kincaid (West Virginia History)
"The Rise and Fall of a Coal City," by Jessica M. Fair (West Virginia Historical Society Quarterly)
"Hawks Nest," by Jennifer Jordan (West Virginia Historical Society Quarterly)
Biography of Okey Patteson
Biography of Christopher Payne
Mystery Walls on Armstrong Mountain

History of the American Negro Biographies
Charles Burton Anderson
James Monroe Ellis
Joseph Meredith Grandison
James Arthur Jackson
William Collins Lawrence
Julius Henderson Love
William Ester McCollum
Thomas Lewey Sweeney
Margaret Anastasia (Washington) Thompson
John James Turner
Hezekiah Walden
Hattie Alexander Washington
Stepto Adam Washington
Minnie H. Watson
Robert J. Watson
William Robert Woodson

West Virginia Veterans Memorial Biographies
Lee Hamilton Adkins and Damon Erskin Adkins
James Marion Bowyer Jr.
Ted Howard Christian Jr.
John Conn
Charles Randall Dotson
John Robert Elwell
Billy Keith Ford
Shirley C. Godsey
James Lewis Hatcher
Eugene D. Hensley
Jess Willard Hudnall
Donald Gene Lanham
Shirley Wayne O'Boyle
Mason Nowlin Patterson
Lawrence E. Perry
Mike Plasha
Thomas Edward Priddy
Thomas Hampton Rhodes
Darrell Scarbrough
Eugene Mitchell Skaggs
Bow Smith
James Haynes Thomas
Lee Edward Waugh

Teacher Resources

West Virginia Archives and History