McWhorter, West Virginia

Story in part from a High School Project By Kristin Snyder

McWhorter, a small village in Harrison County, Virginia , now West Virginia, was settled by Henry McWhorter, a pioneer, who by ancestral lineage was Scotch-Irish, and was the emigrant father of all the McWhorters in West Virginia. Born in New Jersey, November 13, 1760, he was living in Orange County, New York with his mother when called into service during the Revolution.
The father, having died, the mother was left with six small sons to care for. Being in straightened circumstances, the children were bound out. Henry was apprenticed to a millwright, and became skilled in that following. 

At the age of sixteen he enlisted as a private in the Revolution and served his country twenty-two months.
On August 1, 1783 Henry McWhorter was married in Bucks County, Pennsylvania to Mary Fields, a daughter of   Walter Fields. They resided in Pennsylvania for a time, then with their two small sons, moved to Hardy County, Virginia, now West Virginia. In 1790, the little family came by covered wagon to what is now the McKinney's Run neighborhood, in Harrison County, where he built a log cabin and cleared some land. This was the beginning of the little town of McWhorter, which in it's golden years, was full of industry and people, but is now quite small and is only a shadow of it's former glory days.
It is not known exactly how long Mr. McWhorter lived in the village, but he later moved to the banks of Hacker's Creek, where he reared three sons. A mill was erected on the creek near his cabin home, and the place became known as McWhorter's mill, which is now known as Jane Lew, West Virginia. He died August 28, 1834, and is buried in McWhorter.
The eldest son, John, became a barrister and never married. The second son Thomas inherited part of the home farm on McKinney's Run and was a prosperous farmer, and the third and youngest son, Walter F., inherited with his brother Thomas, the homestead on McKinney's Run in Harrison County. Thomas and Walter F. along with their wives are also buried in the quiet country cemetery in the town of McWhorter, where sleep six generations.

Located on what is now Route 25, midway between Lost Creek and Jane Lew, West Virginia,  McWhorter at one time was the home of a carbon plant owned by Oscar Neilson, a Swedish gentleman.; This Carbon company which is the  grandfather of the National Carbon in Charleston, West Virginia,  boasted five operating coal mines during World War I  in the McWhorter area. Kroger Company, Ford-Clark Company,  Hygrade Coal Company, Califf Coal Company and Pennsylvania Coal, which had coke ovens and produced coke for steel making. (Webmaster's Note: The hill at the north end of McWhorter which you have to travel when traveling to and from Lost Creek was named Califf Hill, after the coal company of that name.)

The Hope Natural Gas Company located at McWhorter, had the largest number of horse teams in its entire operation stabled at McWhorter. At one time there were thirty-six (36) teams. In later years horse teams were
contracted for hauling bailing machines, from such individuals as Nathan McWhorter, Hampton Fitzpatrick, Paul McDonald and a Mr. Kircheval of Jane Lew.

At one time five general stores operated in the town, plus a movie theatre, three hotels, (one called "The Yeller Dog") a bandstand where concerts were given on Sunday afternoons by the McWhorter Band, a church, two schools and a post office. There was a shoe repair shop, barber shop, a Macabee's lodge Hall and perhaps many more businesses whose names have been lost to time.

The first church at McWhorter was built in 1866,  and prior to that members of the Henry McWhorter family met in log homes situated on the same hill. Walter McWhorter, Levi McWhorter and Mansfield McWhorter,  all brothers, were responsible for the building of the first McWhorter Chapel. The only description we have, is that it was a wooden structure. The first organist was Alma McWhorter West, and the first organ was donated by Mansfield McWhorter. I n 1914 a movement for a new church was started under the pastorate of Rev. Workman.

The present church was built and formally dedicated in 1917 and was called the McWhorter Methodist Episcopal Church. In 1969 the Methodist Church and the Evangelical United Brethren Church united to form the United Methodist Church, as it is known today.

The first post office in McWhorter opened in 1908 and the postmaster was Joab V. martin. It closed on September 20. 1988, at which time the Postmaster. Mrs. William (Lala) McWhorter retired after having served thirty years. In 1945 there were still two mail trains each day, later, the mail was trucked in to the post office.

In early years the Baltimore and Ohio (B&0) Railroad operated trains through the village, running between Grafton and Richwood. Coal trains operated several times daily and often stopped at the tipple in the upper (North)end of town. These were steam engines, and as they passed through, one had to watch to insure that cinders didn't get into the eye. Later, of course, diesel engines were in use, and at this time there were six  railroad crossings in McWhorter, and several people lost their lives on these crossings.

Webmaster's note: As a small boy in the early 1950's, I can remember seeing the last Steam Locomotive running through McWhorter)

During World War II, strip mining became a big industry here, with P. W. Johnson Coal Company and Yockum Brothers Coal, then later, United Coals. Inc., which is still using the tipple today. At the present time, the trains only come as far as the tipple, to remove coal as CSX Railroad closed the remainder of the line and took up the rails in 1994. (Webmaster's Note: The tipple has been torn down since this was written...the tipple was removed about 1999)

Streetcars were a means of transportation for students to attend the High School at Lost Creek, and folks to travel to Clarksburg and Weston. They ran every hour and passed on a siding at Lost Creek.
The last streetcar on the Weston-Clarksburg run, pulled out of the Traction Building in Weston in 1947. For a time City Lines buses out of Clarksburg were a mode of transportation, but with more people buying cars after the war, the buses were taken off.

(Webmaster's Note: The buses continued running through McWhorter at least into the 1960's  under the name Reynolds Lines)

Photos :..... Click link for larger picture, but remember to click your browser's "back" button to return to this page.

   Iden McWhorter on the porch of his store...cica 1940's-50's