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Preston County, West Virginia
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==History== Native Americans lived in (and traveled through) what would one day become Preston County; they crossed-over from the [[Ohio River]] watershed, which drains into the [[Mississippi River]], into the [[Chesapeake Bay watershed]]. From 1736, European traders and explorers lived in the County, and one boundary stone was laid in 1746—the Fairfax Stone marking the limits of the North Branch of the River. Larger numbers of white settlers began arriving in 1766, with even more coming to the region after the [[American Revolutionary War]]. Traveling by foot or horseback, settlers built their own log cabins. Further development followed from 1818, when the [[National Road]] was built slightly to the north. When the earliest railroads came, in 1851, all land passed into private ownership, the population increased 70% in a decade, and industrialization truly began.<ref>Oren Morton, A History of Preston County, part 1 (Kingwood W.Va., Journal Publishing Company 1914) pp. 9-11</ref> During the [[American Civil War]], more Preston County men enlisted in [[Union (American Civil War)|Union]] service than with the [[Confederacy (American Civil War)|Confederacy]]. There were relatively few [[slave owners]] in Preston County, and naturally, few slaves. There were virtually none within a half-hour’s walk from the old [[Clarksburg, West Virginia|Clarksburg]]-[[Winchester, Virginia|Winchester]] Road, dated to the late [[Thirteen Colonies|colonial era]]. The [[United States Census]] indicates that Preston County’s all-time slavery peak occurred in 1830, with 125 slaves accounted for, alongside 27 free colored persons.<ref>Morton p. 138</ref> On June 20, 1863, Preston was one of 50 Virginia counties that were admitted to the Union as the State of West Virginia. Later that year, the counties were divided into [[civil township]]s, with the intention of encouraging [[local government]]. This proved impractical in the heavily rural state of West Virginia, and the townships were converted into [[minor civil division|magisterial districts]] in 1872.<ref>Otis K. Rice & Stephen W. Brown, ''West Virginia: A History'', 2nd ed., University Press of Kentucky, Lexington (1993), p. 240.</ref> Preston County was divided into eight districts: Grant, Kingwood, Lyon, Pleasant, Portland, Reno, Union, and Valley. These remained largely unchanged until the 1990s, when they were consolidated into five new magisterial districts: First, Second, Third, Fourth, and Fifth.<ref>[[United States Census Bureau]], [[United States Census|U.S. Decennial Census]], Tables of Minor Civil Divisions in West Virginia, 1870–2010.</ref>
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