History Philippi, West Virginia

1 history

1.1 settlement, founding , naming
1.2 civil war
1.3 later history

history
settlement, founding , naming

the first white settlement in present-day barbour county established 3 miles downriver future site of philippi in 1780, @ time area still part of western virginia , included within monongalia county. earliest settlers on section of bottomland 1 day become philippi william anglin (as 1783 or 84) , daniel booth (1787). ford existed here 1789 served road had been surveyed between beverly , sandy creek. anglin original owner of land upon philippi stands, hence earliest known name locality — anglin s ford. booth owned , operated commercial ferry here 1800, area s second popular designation — booth s ferry. william friend wilson married booth s daughter , built wool , grain mill on river in 1818.

in march 1843, vast monongalia county of western virginia carved several smaller political units, among them barbour county, included booth s ferry. in 1899, hu maxwell described april 1843 founding , official naming of new county seat:

county seat of barbour located @ place philippi stands before there town , before place named. farm belonging william f. wilson, , locality had long been known booth s ferry. land first property of william anglin, , in succession owned john wilson, daniel booth, ely butcher, elmore hart, thomas h. hite , william f. wilson, divided lots , disposed of of within few years of establishing of county seat. county named after [the virginia lawyer , jurist] philip pendleton barbour, , intention of county court when selected name town honor given name of mr. barbour; giving feminine form, however, in conformity latin language. feminine of philip philippa, , meant such should name of town. because of misspellings , misunderstanding of origin of name (confounding philippi, ancient city) name took form has. on april 5, 1843, third day of first county court, ordered county seat of county known , called phillippa . except name has many l s form proper, according intended. later name became philippi, oftener misspelled spelled correctly.

as maxwell implies, st paul s epistle philippians , ancient battle of philippi no doubt influential in final form of name. philippi established charter in 1844.

in 1852 lemuel chenoweth, appalachian architect , carpenter, built covered bridge in philippi provide link on turnpike running between beverly , fairmont. philippi covered bridge spelled end of commercial ferry operation , still town s prominent landmark.

town of phillippi (1861)



civil war

philippi scene of first land battle of american civil war, on june 3, 1861. battle promptly lampooned philippi races because of hurried retreat confederate troops encamped in town. (the battle reenacted every june during town s blue , gray reunion. )

at daylight on june 3, 2 columns of union forces under command of col. benjamin franklin kelley , col. ebenezer dumont, perhaps 3,000 men, arrived grafton , attacked 800 poorly armed confederate recruits under command of col. george a. porterfield. union troops had marched night through heavy rain storm arrive before daylight. surprise attack — heights of battle hill northwest — awakened sleeping confederates. after firing few shots @ advancing union troops, southerners broke lines , began running frantically south, still in bed clothes.

the union victory in relatively bloodless battle propelled young major general george b. mcclellan national spotlight, , given command of union armies. battle inspired more vocal protests in western part of virginia against secession. few days later in wheeling, wheeling convention nullified virginia ordinance of secession , named francis h. pierpont governor. these events resulted in separate statehood of west virginia.

bird s eye view of philippi, west virginia, 1897



later history

philippi incorporated act of west virginia legislature on 1 february 1871. first railroad — grafton , greenbrier, narrow gauge — arrived @ philippi on 25 january 1884. 3 years later line extended belington , in 1891 became standard gauge when acquired b&o. in 1904, citizens passed bond issue permitting city begin generating electricity first time gas.

in 1901, broaddus college (founded in 1871 in clarksburg, west virginia) relocated battle hill , overlooking philippi. in 1932, broaddus merged alderson academy (itself founded in 1901 in alderson, west virginia), whereupon these 2 baptist institutions became alderson–broaddus college. (the institution changed name current alderson broaddus university in 2013.)

in 1905 new barbour county courthouse completed. designed j. charles fulton in monumental romanesque revival style. building contractor j.p. conn.

rail activity @ philippi peaked in 1920s when many 6 passenger trains, along mail , freight, transited town daily. automobile brought decline in local railroad service, however, , final passenger train made last stop in philippi in 1956.

throughout history, philippi has suffered floods because of proximity river , relatively low elevation of of town. damaging of these came in november 1985. town has since adopted flood plain management plan.

four miners barbour county killed in 2006 sago mine disaster, 3 of whom philippi.