Editing Doddridge County, West Virginia (section)

===First settlers===
The area that became Doddridge County, Virginia – now West Virginia – was first settled in the late 1780s by James Caldwell, who owned {{convert|20,000|acre|km2}} of land that included present West Union. Caldwell sold this land to Nathan Davis, Jr (1772-1866) and his brothers Joseph and William around 1807. They in turn sold {{convert|16,000|acre|km2}} to [[Lewis Maxwell]] (1790-1862), a [[Virginia Assembly]] delegate in the 1820s who later became a [[U.S. Congressman]]. In 1828 [[Ephraim Bee]], Sr (1802–1888) and his wife Catherine established a log home on Meathouse Fork of [[Middle Island Creek]], now part of West Union. They built an Inn across the "Creek" (really a river) at what was then called Lewisport (Congressman Maxwell's namesake), below a blockhouse on the [[Northwestern Turnpike]]. The "Beehive Inn" became a popular place for travelers and locals to meet, refresh themselves and re-provision. Bee operated the first local blacksmith shop; a farm, stables, tannery and horse-racing track soon followed.

According to Ephraim's father, A.A. Bee: "The first bridge across Middle Island Creek [at West Union] was of hewed logs with a center abutment of stones. In the great flood of 1835 it was washed away". In 1842, a contract was awarded to the well-known [[civil engineer]] [[Claudius Crozet]] to build a covered bridge at West Union, as part of a series of public works along the Turnpike. Ephraim Bee was later to become a district officer, magistrate, state legislator, hotelier, and postmaster. As blacksmith, he made all the bolts and bands for the [[West Union Covered Bridge (West Virginia)|West Union Covered Bridge]], completed in 1843.