Editing Pineville, West Virginia (section)

==History==
Pineville was settled by William Short in 1853.

In 1863, Hiram Clay first settled near the site of present Pineville. The community was once called Castlerock, and the post office there was once named Rock Castle. The town was renamed Pineville for the local pine forest and [[incorporation (municipal government)|incorporated]] as a town under that name in 1907.<ref name="e-WV">{{cite web|url=http://www.wvencyclopedia.org/articles/1858|title=The West Virginia Encyclopedia: Pineville|date=October 22, 2010|access-date=July 23, 2011 |author= unknown|publisher=West Virginia Humanities Council}}</ref> It was named because it was built on the site of a black or pitch pine forest.<ref>{{cite book|last=Kenny|first=Hamill|title=West Virginia Place Names: Their Origin and Meaning, Including the Nomenclature of the Streams and Mountains|url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015009099824;view=1up;seq=516;size=125|year=1945|publisher=The Place Name Press|location=Piedmont, WV|page=490}}</ref>

Pineville became the county seat in 1907, replacing [[Oceana, West Virginia|Oceana]] after a series of disputed elections. [[Castle Rock (Pineville, West Virginia)|Castle Rock]], the towering sandstone formation for which Rockcastle Creek is named, is located at Pineville and is the major local landmark.  The [[Wyoming County Courthouse and Jail|Wyoming County Courthouse]] (1916) is on the [[National Register of Historic Places]].<ref name="e-WV"/>

On April 29, 1960, then Senator [[John F. Kennedy]] stopped into Pineville, drawing a crowd of 800. Kennedy spoke briefly over the local radio station [[WWYO]] during his time in the town. He then marched with the [[Pineville High School (West Virginia)]] band from the radio station to the [[Wyoming County Courthouse and Jail|Wyoming County Courthouse]] where he spoke to the crowd.<ref>{{Cite web |title=1960 Presidential Campaign in West Virginia: Newspapers: Independent Herald : April 29, 1960 |url=https://archive.wvculture.org/history/1960presidentialcampaign/newspapers/19600429independentherald.html |access-date=February 24, 2023 |website=archive.wvculture.org}}</ref>

The Pinnacle Drive Inn has operated in Pineville since the late 1950s, and was operated by Carolyn Clay, a well-known native of the town. It closed for a brief period in early 2017, but reopened later that year under new ownership in honor of Clay, and her legacy of service to her community.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Candace Lately: Pineville Edition: Pinnacle Drive-In |url=https://www.candacelately.com/2015/04/pineville-edition-pinnacle-drive-in.html?m=1 |access-date=November 25, 2024 |website=Candace Lately}}</ref>