The town's first permanent settlers were named William and Polly (maiden name, "Friend") Arthur, who arrived in 1860. The first post office established in Webster County was Fort Lick, present-day Webster Springs. The postmaster at the time was a man by the name of John Hall. It is also the county seat of Webster County
The Morton House was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1986.
Hall, along with a man whose first name is not known, who is only known as Mr. Skidmore, drilled the first salt sulfur well in the county, it was known as "Old Spring." The well was later owned by Colonel John T. McGraw. The salt sulfur well helped make Webster Springs a popular summer tourist location during the 19th and early 20th Century.
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Addison (Webster Springs) on the map, 1915 to 1995
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Addison (Webster Springs). Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1915Webster Springs sheet · 1:62,500
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Addison (Webster Springs).
Then & now
Stand where they stood
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.
Retake this viewOldest Concrete Road in West Virginia, 1896
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Addison (Webster Springs)’s page.
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 (12), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
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