Editing Flatwoods, West Virginia (section)

==History==
Although first incorporated in 1902, maps show the existence of Flatwoods as a town in 1873,<ref>{{cite web|title=White's Toopographical, County, and District Atlas of West Virginia, Counties of Calhoun, Gilmer, Braxton, Lewis and Upshur (with Weston) 1873|url=http://www.davidrumsey.com/luna/servlet/detail/RUMSEY~8~1~28425~1120359:White-s-topographical,-county-&-dis?sort=Pub_List_No_InitialSort%2CPub_Date%2CPub_List_No%2CSeries_No|work=David Rumsey Map Collection|publisher=Cartography Associates|access-date=July 31, 2013}}</ref> and a church was established by a pastor named John Clark at the community there as early as 1830.<ref>{{cite book|last=Sutton|first=John|title=History of Braxton County and Central West Virginia|year=1919|publisher=McClain Printing Company|location=Parsons|isbn=978-0870126215|page=234|url=https://archive.org/details/historyofbraxton00sutt}}</ref> The West Virginia and Pittsburgh Railroad extended a branch through Flatwoods in the late 1800s.<ref name="wvrailroads.net">{{cite web|title=West Virginia and Pittsburgh Railroad|url=http://www.wvrailroads.net/index.php/West_Virginia_%26_Pittsburgh_Railroad|work=wvrailroads.net|publisher=wvrailroads.net|access-date=July 31, 2013|archive-date=February 8, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170208152854/http://www.wvrailroads.net/index.php/West_Virginia_%26_Pittsburgh_Railroad|url-status=dead}}</ref>  Later, the line was taken over by Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, and Flatwoods was a halfway point on the B&O Railroad's Clarksburg-Richwood branch, approximately 62.6 miles from the Clarksburg terminal, and 59.1 miles from the Richwood terminal.<ref>{{cite web|last=Fergusson|first=Jim|title=West Virginia Railway Station Lists|url=http://www.railwaystationlists.co.uk/pdfusarr/westvirginiarrs1.pdf|work=Jim Fergusson's Railway and Tramway Station Lists|publisher=Jim Fergusson|access-date=July 31, 2013}}</ref>   The town also served as the origin of West Virginia & Pittsburgh Railroad's Sutton Branch.<ref name="wvrailroads.net"/>

[[File:Flatwoods_Visitor_Chair.jpg|right|thumb|Flatwoods monster chair, on the lawn by the town hall, welcomes visitors.]]

The community became nationally known for the [[Flatwoods monster|Flatwoods monster UFO incident]] which occurred on September 12, 1952.