6 HISTORICAL AND INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT. 



venswood, Spencer and Glenville Turnpike extends from the 

 Ohio River at Ravenswood, Jackson County, through Spencer, 

 Arnoldsburg, Millstone, Stumptown, Lockney, Normantown 

 and Lettergap to Glenville. Since it passes through a region 

 where there is little railroad transportation, it has long been 

 an important artery of travel. 



Clarksburg and Weston Turnpike. The Clarksburg and 

 Weston Turnpike extends from Clarksburg through Byron, 

 Lost Creek, McWhorter and Jane Lew to Weston, being 

 closely parallel to the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. Sinc v e 

 its route is mostly over a red clay soil and it is not macadam- 

 ized, it is usually not fit for travel in winter, but in the sum- 

 mer months is a good road. 



Ordinary County Roads. Aside from the few turnpikes 

 mentioned above, the highways of Lewis and Gilmer are 

 mostly unimproved dirt roads, many of which become impass- 

 able in the winter months on account of the heavy hauling to 

 the oil and gas fields. No attempt has been made in either 

 county to macadamize or pave them. According to Hon. A. 

 D. Williams, State Road Engineer, there are 650 miles of 

 wagon roads in Lewis and 575 in Gilmer. 



GENERAL DESCRIPTION, LEWIS COUNTY. 



Miscellaneous Items. 



Formation. The following account of the formation of 

 Lewis County is given by Hon. Virgil A. Lewis 5 : 



"Lewis County was formed from Harrison by an Act of Assembly 

 passed December 18, 1816, by which the boundaries were defined to 

 be: 'Beginning at the head of the left hand fork of Jesse's run; thence 

 a straight line to the mouth of Kincheloe's creek; thence up said creek 

 to the dividing ridge; thence a west course to the Wood county line; 

 thence to include all the south part of Harrison down to the mouth 

 of the Buckhannon River; thence a straight line to the beginning.' 

 The Act directed that the first court should be held at Westfield, and 

 appointed the following named commissioners to locate the county 

 seat: Edward Jackson, Elias Lowther, John McCoy, Lewis Max- 

 well and Daniel Stringer. 



"The county was named in memory of Colonel Charles Lewis, who 

 was killed at the battle of Point Pleasant. He was the youngest son 

 of John Lewis, the pioneer settler of Augusta County, and a brother 

 of General Andrew Lewis, who commanded the Virginians at Poin* 

 Pleasant." 



'History of West Virginia, p. 636; 1889. 



