1926 Map of Weston

About this map

The West Fork River winds through Lewis and Harrison Counties, anchoring a landscape of small agricultural hubs and mountain valleys during the mid-1920s. Weston serves as the primary municipal center at the junction of Stonecoal Creek and Town Run, where the Baltimore and Ohio railroad corridor facilitates the regional economy. This survey documents a highly decentralized network of rural education and worship, with dozens of family and community-named institutions like Sycamore Dale School, Sheets Mill School, and Stonecoal Chapel scattered along the ridge-and-valley terrain. The map captures the infrastructure of the era before modern highway expansion, highlighting the significance of minor waterways and the placement of Jackson Mill and Jane Lew along the river's path. These details reflect the early 20th-century settlement patterns in the North Central West Virginia hills, where life was organized around the proximity of the railroad and the numerous creeks feeding into the West Fork.