Mountain Highlands Regional Resources
From 1871-1875 David Hunter Strother, renowned artist and writer, introduced the West Virginia Mountains of the Potomac Highland region to readers across America through his 10-part series written for Harper's New Monthly Magazine entitled "The Mountains." In this series, Strother (under pen name Porte Crayon) opened to an international readership the natural beauty and rugged adventure of the West Virginia mountains. He also gave readers a glimpse into the life and times of the people who lived there. Strother's journey began in 1851, taking him from his home in Martinsburg through the agricultural valleys surrounding Petersburg, Grant County, south to the 'Cliffs of Seneca' (Seneca Rocks in Pendleton County), down under the tunnel of Gandy (Sinks of Gandy in Randolph County) and into the heart of the Land of Canaan where he accompanied the very first fishing expedition into Blackwater Falls country. Today, the West Virginia Mountain Highlands encompasses eight counties in the northeastern section of the state. Also known as the Potomac Highland, the region is still rich in its historic and natural offerings. Just as it took Strother four years to explore and write about the region, it would probably take just as long to rediscover it! An historic tour of this region cannot be done in a day, which gives you all the more reason to come back. The easiest way to explore the Mountains is from the points of the compass, entering the region from the north, south, east and west. From the North From I-68 Maryland, via US 220 US 220 follows the Potomac River south through Keyser in Mineral County to the intersection of US 50 at Burlington. Here corn is ground into meal by a water-powered wheel at the Williamsport Grist Mill (c. 1882) Tours are by appointment. Further west on US Rt. 50, Romney, home to the largest Hopewell Indian burial mound east of the Ohio River (c. 500-1,000 AD), is also the site of the Confederate Monument and Cemetery. Romney saw many a Civil War conflict, and the Fort Mill Ridge Trenches are considered to be the best preserved in the state. West of Romney on WV 28, Fort Ashby is the only remaining fort (c. 1755) of a total of 69 ordered to be built by Colonel George Washington under the authorization of Governor Dinwiddie to protect the western Virginia settlements. Heading south on US 220 into the South Branch Valley, keep a watchful eye for the numerous pre- and post-Civil War homes and buildings that dot the Hardy County countryside. From the South From I-64 West Virginia, via US 219 From Lewisburg, US 219 meanders along the mountaintops overlooking the Greenbrier Valley and River, all the while gaining elevation into the mountains of the Mountain Highland region. Droop Mountain Battlefield State Park, an important battle site and stop along the Civil War Discovery Trail, is just outside of Hillsboro, birthplace of Pearl S. Buck, the first American woman to win both the Pulitzer and Nobel prizes for literature. Marlinton (Marlin's Bottom, 1747) is the first recorded pioneer settlement built west of the Alleghenies. Heading north, WV 66 leads to the restored town of Cass (c. early 1900s) and the Shay-driven train, then veers off to WV 28 north to the Reber Radio Telescope at the National Radio Astronomy Observatory in Green Bank (a National Historic Landmark). Further along this route, US 250 (the Staunton-Parkersburg Turnpike Byway) intersects on its way to Virginia. Time travelers into West Virginia turn left to explore Camp Bartow Historic District and the restored railroad depot in Durbin. US 250 maintains a northern heading into Elkins, the town founded by Senator Stephen B. Elkins and his father-in-law, Henry Gassaway Davis, who brought the first railroad to West Virginia's rugged Mountains. From the East From I-81 Virginia, via WV 55 The trip along the Highland Trace (WV 55) from Strasburg, VA offers glances of pre- and post-Civil War architecture in the towns of Wardensville and Moorefield. The Hardy County seat offers an historic district worth taking an afternoon to investigate. Traveling south through Petersburg (the same path Strother blazed 150 years ago), Route 55/28 heads toward Seneca Rocks, the geological formation along the confluence of Seneca Creek and the South Branch of the Potomac, where evidence of early Native Americans has been recently discovered at the location of the new Seneca Rocks Discovery Center, operated by the U.S. Forest Service. The Rocks were used during World War II for training soldiers in mountain rock climbing techniques and are popular today with rock climbers worldwide. At Seneca Rocks, Highland Trace 55 becomes US 33 heading west through Harman, location of the restored Day-Vandevander Grist Mill (c. 1877) and into Elkins, home of Davis & Elkins College. Seven of the structures on campus are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. From the West From I-79 WestVirginia, via US 33 Elkins is a straight jaunt from I-79 on the newly completed section of Corridor H (US 33). The Elkins Historic District is a blend of 19th and early 20th Century architecture. Just outside Elkins is the town of Beverly, the original county seat that claims the oldest cemetery west of the Alleghenies. Nearby, the Rich Mountain Battlefield Foundation holds a reenactment every other year to commemorate the early engagement by Gen. George McClellan who routed the Confederates holding the pass over Rich Mountain. US 219 heads north from Elkins to Parsons, the county seat of Tucker County. The courthouse, built in 1900, is also on the National Register of Historic Places. Further to the north, Thomas, and its newly revitalized downtown Historic District, is a shopping mecca for vacationers heading to Canaan Valley, the historic home of West Virginia skiing and the highly publicized mountain recreation noted by Strother so long ago.   Homeward Bound If your way home from Canaan Valley takes you south toward Elkins via US Rt. 32, stop on the southern rim of Canaan Valley (which, by the way, is the highest elevated valley east of the Mississippi) and look to your left. On July 5, 1941 the highest mountain in Strother's Land of Canaan was dedicated to his memory &emdash; Mt. Porte Crayon. || Order your FREE West Virginia Magazine | Request FREE regional travel information | Mountain Highlands Regional Resources | Locator Map | Back to the top | Take me home || site by WVAgency