WV Civil War History at Carnifex Ferry Battlefield, near Summersville
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Local History

Summersville is the county seat of Nicholas County. It was established in 1824 and was named after Judge Lewis Summers who introduced the bill in the Virginia legislature creating Nicholas County. Summersville was a major crossroads in the old historic Pocohontas Trail which connected the westward flowing Kanawha River with the east. Summersville is located in the center of Nicholas County in central West Virginia.

In July, 1861, a lady Confederate spy named Nancy Hart led an attack on Summersville which captured the Union forces and their leader, Captain Starr. Most of the town was burned.

Nicholas County was established in 1818 and named for Wilson Cary Nicholas who served as governor of Virginia from 1814 to 1816.

Carnifex Ferry Cottages are adjacent to Carnifex Ferry Battlefield with easy access to all the park’s amenities, Summersville Lake, and the Gauley River.

State History

The earliest inhabitants of the area were the Indians known as the Adena, or Mound Builders, whose mounds are still prominent archaeological landmarks at several sites in the state. The Mound Builders were succeeded by the Fort Ancient people, who were in turn succeeded in the 17th century by the Iroquois and the Cherokee. The first permanent white settlers entered the area in the 1730s, and the English won control of the region over the French in the 1750s and ‘60s.

West Virginia was originally part of Virginia, but its largely non-slaveholding population voted against secession in 1861 and split away from Virginia. In 1863 West Virginia was admitted into the Union as a newly constituted state.
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