The first settler arrived circa 1787. The town was formed from the town of Norwich in 1806, but some of Preston was relinquished to Norwich in 1808. In 1816, part of Preston was used to form the new town of McDonough. In 1820, another section of Norwich was added to Preston.
The botanist Frederick Vernon Coville (1867–1937), author of Botany of the Death Valley Expedition, was born in Preston.
Passages that mention Preston, cut from the printed page as they were published.
A History of Preston County, West Virginia1914Read the page →
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Preston County was reached by the railroad early in 1852. Entering the County near Corinth, construction was pushed rapidly through Terra Alta, Rowles'burg, Tunnelton, Newburg and Hardman to Grafton. President Swann then promised the investors that through rail connections would be established by January i, 1853; and that no time would be lost, gangs were started building the line from Wheeling towards Fairmont to meet the construction westward.
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A History of Preston County, West Virginia1914 · page 726Read the page →
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Judge John N. Hagan, J. C. McGrew, George C. Sturgiss, J. W. Guseman and John T. McGraw met in the parlor of Colonel Guseman's house, near Reedsville, to take steps towards the building of a railroad through Preston county. Not long after that, a meeting was again held in Grafton, at which time letters of organization and incorporation were drawn up, with the general plan of a road outlined from Grafton to the Pennsylvania line to be called the "West Virginia Railroad."
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Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
By decade
Preston, decade by decade
One decade in the archive so far: the 1870s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021). How TownRatings grades history →
From Wikimedia Commons (1), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
