Fayette County was one of the four present-day neighboring counties to contribute land for the formation of Summers County 150 years ago.
In a proclamation, recently issued and shared with Summers County, Fayette County commissioners “wholeheartedly congratulates Summers County” on its anniversary of “countyhood.”
The proclamation begins by stating “in the midst of the American Civil War,” following the secession of some western Virginia counties, “President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed West Virginia the 35th state.”
The process of creating West Virginia’s 55 counties followed and Summers County was the second to the last of them to be created in 1871.
The date was February 27, 1871. All of what is now Hinton and Summers County was the wild frontier. An act of the West Virginia state legislature created what is now Summers County, with land donated by neighboring Fayette, Monroe, Mercer and Greenbrier counties, and a tiny smidge of Giles County, Virginia, according to local historian Doug Wayne Harvey.
Harvey is the president of the Summers County Historical Society, and if you have a question about Summers County, he is a walking, talking encyclopedia. If Harvey struggles to recall a specific little detail he knows exactly where to point you to find the information. Bibliographically speaking, he is like consulting Google when it comes to gathering information.
According to Harvey, in the earliest of years on this continent under English rule the Virginia Land Grant stretched from the East Coast to all points west.
This West Virginia Appalachian frontier, therefore, was Virginia and part of Botetourt and Augusta counties. The borders expanded and contracted over many decades in what would become West Virginia.
Upon its charter in 1869, in large part for the sake of taxation, 55 counties evolve to subdivide the territory, Harvey said. Summers County was among the last ones to be created. In need of a certain amount of turf and a specific number of residents, the area received donated land from neighbors.
Fayette, Greenbrier, Monroe, Mercer and the rarely mentioned little sprinkle of Giles County were not forced into donating land to create Summers County. The transfer was more of a political, financial, and beneficial agreement.
Harvey explained Raleigh County was afraid the county seat would be moved from Beckley if population and commerce shifted. Those in power wanted to prevent such a move. Mercer County conversely wanted to share the Pipestem area to prevent Mercer’s county seat from moving to Athens. Harvey added that Mercer County was happy to tip the scales against that idea and gladly donated land for Summers County. Fluid borders would put the line between counties right through the middle of the New River from Pipestem to Meadowcreek, except for the sliver of Raleigh county lining the banks of the New River through Hinton.
County history will be a topic of discussion all year long, Harvey said, starting with proclamations commemorating the legislative act creating Summers County. Harvey shared that all the history is well documented, including little known details about how “since 1700, some parts of Summers County have been in eight different counties, from Botetourt and Montgomery, Virginia,” to name a few.
Hinton area historians have said they will be looking forward to sharing more facts and details as celebrations are planned out in the coming months.
