Rowlesburg’s post office opened in 1852, and 37% of its homes were built before 1940
1 place in town is on the National Register, among them a historic district with 51 buildings. Below: 4 old photos and papers from 1892 on and old-book passages.
How Rowlesburg began, and where its name came from
When was Rowlesburg founded?
1852
The Rowlesburg post office opened in 1852, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Manheim (1898), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
2020 census: 438174 years
How did Rowlesburg get its name?
Rowlesburg was named for Thomas Rowles, a railroad engineer.
Rowlesburg was incorporated as a town in 1858. It was named for Thomas Rowles, a railroad engineer.
During the American Civil War, its two Baltimore and Ohio Railroad bridges crossing the Cheat River and Tray Run were of great strategic importance. Confederate troops led by General Robert S. Garnett failed to reach Rowlesburg in 1861, but the 1863 Jones–Imboden Raid did reach the town. However, Union troops and townsmen called out of their churches on Sunday morning, April 26, 1863, successfully defended the town and "Lincoln's lifeline," so General William E. Jones retreated and later court-martialed a subordinate.
The Downtown Rowlesburg Historic District was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2005.
Passages that mention Rowlesburg, cut from the printed page as they were published.
A History of Preston County, West Virginia1914 · page 875Read the page →
Read the text
When but eighteen years old, in 1869, Mr. Hollis came to Rowlesburg, where he was employed for a short time by the Rowlesburg Lumber & Iron Company, but in the month of September of that same year he began railroading, and for thirty-five years thereafter, with the exception of three months, he continued in the employ of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad iCompany. First he was a brakesman, but after a service in that capacity twenty-two months, he was made conductor, and this position he held six years. From 1878 to 1880 he was a fire-
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
A History of Preston County, West Virginia1914 · page 679Read the page →
Read the text
nearly two years on Bull Run. In 1905, he organized the Gibson Lumber Company, and supplied the M. & K. Railroad Company with lumber for the construction of their railroad from Reedsville to Rowlesburg. In 1906, he purchased the interesits of A. K. and L. M. Jenkins, J. V. Gibson and L. W. Cobun, and for six years, thereafter, he and his brother Bert T. Gibson ran the business. In July, 1912, H. T. Lincoln purchased Bert T. Gibson's interest in the business, since whiich time these two men, probably as well fitted for their
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Timeline
Rowlesburg, 1852 to 1980
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
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.
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.
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 (2), the Library of Congress (4), the National Register of Historic Places (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.
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2010
2004