City of Kingwood Historical Marker
Introduction
Text-to-speech Audio
The City of Kingwood was named for a grove of big trees. Southeast of the city is Dunkard Bottom, settled by Thomas Eckarly in 1754. Nearby, during Indian raids in 1778 and 1788, many settlers were killed. Martin Wetzel and William Morgan, noted frontier scouts, had narrow escapes.
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Backstory and Context
Text-to-speech Audio
The area was heavily forested and the Great Indian War Path crossed the land. The town was named for the beautiful grove of large trees where travelers stopped to picnic and drink from a nearby spring. At this time, the site was a part of Monongalia County and the State of Virginia. Later, Kingwood became the seat of county government and the courthouse today is located where the grove of trees stood. The downtown section today basically follows the same mapping as the original boundaries of the town.
Many of the homes and commercial buildings were built of local stone and brick. A characteristic feature in the town's landscape is the preponderance of stone walls for retaining walls and fence walls. The stone work in the facades, foundations, and chimneys, along with these walls, bears evidence of the quarry and masons of the past.