the park commemorates the 1861 Battle of Carnifex Ferry . This Civil War battle marked the failure of a Confederate effort to regain control of the Kanawha Valley as West Virginia ’ s movement for statehood continued .
The New River Greenbrier Valley is home to one of West Virginia ’ s coolest small towns . Lewisburg was named for surveyor Andrew Lewis and was the site of many battles during Lord Dunmore ’ s War in 1774 . Later , Lewisburg would play a vital role during the Civil War when several of its buildings were turned into hospitals and barracks .
One of West Virginia ’ s most interesting pieces of history that occurred in the Hatfield-McCoy Mountains region is the Hatfield- McCoy feud . William Anderson “ Devil Anse ” Hatfield led the Hatfields , while Randle McCoy led the McCoys . The feud ’ s origins trace back to the end of the Civil War . Devil Anse , a Confederate soldier , and some family members left the army to join the Logan Wildcats , a local militia . Randle McCoy ’ s brother , Asa Harmon McCoy , fought for the Union . In 1865 , Asa was killed while recovering from a battle wound , with rumors suggesting involvement by Devil Anse and the Logan Wildcats .
In the late 1870s , a land dispute arose between Devil Anse and Randle ’ s cousin , Perry Cline . Anse won the case , gaining Cline ’ s 5,000 acres , but the McCoys suspected political influence swayed the court ’ s decision . Tensions escalated when
Photo by Main Street Point Pleasant .
Randle accused Anse ’ s cousin , Floyd Hatfield , of hog theft . The trial ended with a McCoy juror siding with the Hatfields , leading the McCoys to feel cheated . This decision marked the beginning of increased violence between the families .
Another notable piece of West Virginia history in this area is The Matewan Massacre . In May 1920 , 12 men were killed in Matewan in a gun fight that would come to be known as the Matewan Massacre . The local police and townspeople faced off against hired guns from the Baldwin Felts Detective Agency . During the battle , Albert Felts fired the first shot but was killed by Matewan Chief of Police Sid Hatfield . Hatfield warned that the agency had no legal warrants to evict Matewan citizens . Felts attempted to arrest Hatfield , which led to the massacre .
In the Metro Valley , Tu-Endie-Wei State Park , located at the confluence of the Kanawha and Ohio rivers in Point Pleasant , is home to an 84-foot granite monument commemorating the 1774 Battle of Point Pleasant . This significant battle , regarded by some as the first of the American Revolution , broke Native American power in the Ohio Valley and ended a frontier war . It also thwarted a potential British-Native American alliance , which could have changed the revolution ’ s outcome .
Located in the Mid-Ohio Valley , Fort Boreman is the site of a Civil War fort on a hilltop that overlooks a scenic valley created by the confluence of the Little Kanawha and Ohio rivers in Parkersburg . The fort was built by Union troops to protect the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad terminal and key commercial river facilities in the valley . The Fort Boreman site was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2003 and is open yearround , weather permitting .
Photo by Visit Wheeling , WV .
Moving up to the Northern Panhandle , West Virginia Independence Hall in Wheeling is considered the birthplace of the Mountain State . While using this building as his office , Governor Francis Harrison Pierpont composed a telegram to President Abraham Lincoln urging him to sign the bill for West Virginia statehood . In December 1862 , Lincoln received the statehood bill for the creation of West Virginia , and on December 31 , Lincoln signed the bill . West Virginia achieved statehood on June 20 , 1863 . West Virginia Independence Hall is the site of the first West Virginia Constitutional Convention and the first and second Wheeling Convention . Wheeling is unique for serving as the capital of two states , and West Virginia is the only state formed from the Civil War .
Lastly , Mountaineer Country is home to Prickett ’ s Fort State Park in Fairmont , WV . Overlooking the confluence of Prickett ’ s Creek and the Monongahela River , this log fort is a re-creation of the original 1774 fort that served as a refuge from Native American war parties on the western frontier of Colonial Virginia . Up to 80 families from the surrounding countryside would stay here as long as the threat existed .
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