History

ECONOMY: Richwood is rich in history. The town was quickly carved out of a vast wilderness of virgin timber and established as a town in 1901. Throughout the last 100 years, Richwood has undergone many eras of prosperity and decline attributed to the life cycle of various industries. Today it appears that the community is embarking on yet another renaissance under the collective wing of various smaller enterprises.

The Richwood story truly gets underway a little over 100 years ago. The nearby Gauley and Cherry Rivers provided an avenue for the development of the railroad near the turn of the century (1898.) Richwood was born out of the establishment of the railroad into this once secluded area of West Virginia. The town was originally known as Cherry Tree Bottoms, due to the virgin cherry trees that covered these mountains. It became one of the fastest growing communities east of the Mississippi River as the lumber industry gave rise to one of the world’s largest saw mills of the time, the Cherry River Boom and Lumber Company.

In just a few short years, many other industries followed the rails and timber activity to Richwood.  These included a paper mill, handle factory, hub factory, tannery and, what was then the world’s largest clothes pin factory.

Later in the 20th century, another industry became the primary employer in these mountains and also utilized the same railroad, which had opened the mountains up for the timber industry.  This new economic boom was, of course, coal.   With some of the best and largest coal reserves in the world, Richwood saw its economy thrive even more than in the earlier lumber years.  Virtually everyone who wanted a good paying job could find one in the mines. 

However, this heavy reliance on coal as the driving force in the economy would eventually lead to Richwood’s hardest fall.  During the late 1970’s and into the early 1980’s coal went bust, and took with it the livelihood of thousands of local families.  As coal companies pulled out, many people were forced to uproot and move to other states for employment.  The loss of those generous paychecks and the inevitable loss of population left Richwood reeling throughout the 80's and into today.

However, the future of this once thriving town is starting to turn around.  Over the last few years the economy has slowly started growing based on the establishment of many diverse businesses.   These enterprises include the traditional timber and lumber businesses— Georgia Pacific Lumber Company and Mullican Lumber. New spin-off industries include a plywood plant, Columbia Hardwoods, and a company that manufactures doors, JeldWen, in Craigsville, along with a furniture plant, Cherry Valley Furniture, in Richwood.  BE Aerospace in Fenwick is continuing to produce high quality products for the Federal Government. Additionally, the newest potential growth field for Richwood seems to be in the technology field. Richwood's remote location just might work to its advantage in the electronic age. Since information technology (IT) seems to be the wave of the 21 st Century, and the work can be done anywhere, Richwood intends to prove that it can be done just as efficiently and economically in our mountain town as in the bigger cities. The ever-increasing contributions of small business to the local economy means that Richwood is finally beginning to see light at the end what seemed a very long tunnel.

As Realtors will tell you, the main selling point of any good investment is location, location, location, which means the tourism trade is not being ignored as a potential economic windfall for the town. We are adjacent to the Monongahela National Forest, which means the beautiful scenery and the many outdoor activities offered in and around Richwood have become a large contributor to the local economy as well.

With Richwood’s low crime rate, high quality of life, low cost of living, beautiful scenery, hard-working potential employees, and four-season outdoor activities, it is quickly becoming more marketable to both high tech companies and individuals for relocation.

PEOPLE: Far beyond Richwood’s economic background; the people are what make Richwood so special.  Just a few of the more notable figures that helped put Richwood "on the map" include: basketball Olympic gold medallist, Mike Barrett; West Virginia's best know historian and newspaper editor, Jim Comstock; noted outdoorsman, Ed Buck; the community's guardian angel, Edwin Pratt; sculptor, Sterling Spencer; painter, Gale Surface; founder of the Cherry River Navy, Buggs Teets; five time mayor, Meryl White; confederate spy, Nancy Hart; founder of Grandparents Day, Marion McQuade, who lived in Dain until moving to Oak Hill where she actually invented the holiday.

DISASTERS: Many notable disasters have occurred in and around Richwood. These incidents tested the heart and soul of our locals and have helped prove that Richwood is a special place with special people. Some of these events include two major fires on Main Street during the 1920’s, various floods, blizzards and droughts, train wrecks, coal mine disasters, etc.

LANDMARKS: There are many places in and around Richwood that are important to the history of the area.  Some of these places are mysterious places, forgotten places, objects, former buildings, former businesses, natural wonders, man made wonders, etc. Some of the landmarks include: Nancy Hart’s grave, Indian shelters, slave burial grounds, the mystery location of a gold filled Civil War cannon, the old City Hall, the old High School, the Rainbow Grill, the bowling alley, Alice's Restaurant, Dew Drop Inn, hospital, Catholic grounds, swinging bridge, high sidewalks, Rudolph Falls, dredged river, Cranberry Glades Wilderness Area, Scenic Highway, liming stations, fisherman's rock, town hill, brick streets, smoke tree, cannon, murals, rails to trails, Summit Lake, Visitor's Center, Masonic Lodge, etc.

A landmark remembered and submitted by Shelva Surface Pettit is "no longer there, but not forgotten by many....the Coke ovens out the Saxman road at Fenwick."  She goes on to say, "when my children were small and we lived at Charleston and came to Fenwick to visit my mother...many times it would be after dark driving down Fenwick Mountain...the children would see the ovens all aglow and that was their "landmark" telling them they were almost to Grandma's house."

EVENTS: Many events shaped the character of Richwood and our colorful history. Some of these are the establishment of CRN, 1st Ramp Fest, Richard Nicholson’s game winning touchdown run for WVU against Penn State in 1952, the passage of Richwood’s City Charter in 1921, etc.

Credit to Richwoodwv.com the city's webpage