Since ancient times, people used mills to process grain, and a mill was often the first structure planned and built in a new community. At the close of the American Revolution, it was believed that every village and town in the United States had access to a water-powered mill. Hundreds, if not thousands, of mills once dotted the hills and glades of what is now West Virginia. Though the vast majority are gone, towns all over the Mountain State bear the names of the mills that put them on the map. History buffs, nature photographers, and outdoor enthusiasts, you are invited to come along on an adventure: hit the Country Roads in search of fifty-three historic water mills built between 1735 and 1976. Together, these structures tell the story of West Virginia’s agricultural and industrial past. A few are still in operation. Some are in ruins. Many are preserved in their original state, and still others have taken on roles as private residences, shops, and museums. Whether operational or abandoned to decay, the historic mills of West Virginia stand in testament to the ingenuity and independent spirit of those entrepreneurs who were millers, but also bankers, economists, and mechanical engineers. This book features over one hundred illustrations, regional and county maps with the mill locations marked, and QR codes that give instant access to driving directions.

A History of Monroe County, West Virginia by Oren Morton Frederic, first published in 1916, is a rare manuscript, the original residing in one of the great libraries of the world. This book is a reproduction of that original, which has been scanned and cleaned by state-of-the-art publishing tools for better readability and enhanced appreciation. Restoration Editors' mission is to bring long out of print manuscripts back to life. Some smudges, annotations or unclear text may still exist, due to permanent damage to the original work. We believe the literary significance of the text justifies offering this reproduction, allowing a new generation to appreciate it.

As a body, these records are extracted from roughly 750 known Bibles and extend from the late 18th through the early 20th centuries, with the greatest concentration from the mid-19th century. Most of the entries refer to births, marriages, and deaths and in most cases indicate the name(s) of the principals, the date of the event, and, sometimes, such supplementary information as his/her age or address, the maiden name of a parent, etc. Each Bible record is identified by family name and followed by a reference to the Huguenot Society records where the original can be found. In all, the records refer to more than 2,500 main families named in the surname index at the back of the volume and embrace a staggering 25,000 individuals of Huguenot or possible Huguenot ancestry--connections and allied families that would otherwise be lost to us in the unpublished files of this august organization.

In 1880, ancient-growth forest still covered two-thirds of West Virginia, but by the 1920s lumbermen had denuded the entire region. Ronald Lewis explores the transformation in these mountain counties precipitated by deforestation. As the only state that lies entirely within the Appalachian region, West Virginia provides an ideal site for studying the broader social impact of deforestation in Appalachia, the South, and the eastern United States. Most of West Virginia was still dominated by a backcountry economy when the industrial transition began. In short order, however, railroads linked remote mountain settlements directly to national markets, hauling away forest products and returning with manufactured goods and modern ideas. Workers from the countryside and abroad swelled new mill towns, and merchants ventured into the mountains to fulfill the needs of the growing population. To protect their massive investments, capitalists increasingly extended control over the state's legal and political systems. Eventually, though, even ardent supporters of industrialization had reason to contemplate the consequences of unregulated exploitation. Once the timber was gone, the mills closed and the railroads pulled up their tracks, leaving behind an environmental disaster and a new class of marginalized rural poor to confront the worst depression in American history.