Cabell County, West Virginia: History
Cabell County was created by an act of the Virginia General Assembly on January 2, 1809, out of Kanawha County. The county was named in honor of William H. Cabell, who served as Governor of Virginia from 1805 to 1808.
Many of the first inhabitants in Cabell County were the Mound Builders. More specifically, the Adena people. Later, many Hurons occupied the area until they were driven out by the Iroquois Confederacy. By the 1700s the area of Cabell County was mostly used as hunting grounds by the indigenous populations in the area.
The first European to set foot in present-day Cabell County was most likely Robert Cavelier de La Salle, who sailed down the Ohio River in 1669. The first English explorers were probably Thomas Batts and Robert Fallam, who explored the area in September 1671. While they explored the area, they found tree markings with the letters MANI and MA, signifying to them that other Englishmen that been there before.
The Savage Grant of 1772 was made to John Savage and 60 others for service during the French and Indian War. William Buffington purchased lot 42 of this grant and willed it to his two sons, Thomas and William Buffington. Thomas and his brother Jonathan came to present-day Cabell County in 1796 and found Thomas Hannon. Hannon is regarded as the first settler in Cabell County.
Cabell County's location along the Ohio River made it a natural resting place and port for westward travelers. Areas such as Guyandotte and Holderby's Landing (present-day Huntington) became ferrying points. The James River and Kanawha Turnpike was extended to Barboursville in 1814. In 1837, Marshall Academy was formed at Holdby's Landing. The school was named after Chief Justice John Marshall, a friend of local lawyer John Laidley. The academy was incorporated in 1838 by the Virginia State Legislature. In 1867, Marshall Academy was created as the State Normal School of Marshall College to train teachers. Marshall College gained University status in 1961.
Prior to the outbreak of conflict, the citizens of Cabell County were largely divided on the issue secession. The arrival of Eli Thayer and his Ceredo Experiment caused an uproar in the county. After the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, a militia was formed called the Border Rangers led by Albert Gallatin Jenkins. The first engagement of the Civil War in Cabell County was the Battle of Barboursville in 1861. Later that same year, the town of Guyandotte was raided and eventually burned by the Union Army. The county's economy suffered greatly after the burning of Guyandotte, but the proximity to the Ohio River and arrival of the railroad boasted the county. On June 20, 1863 when West Virginia was admitted to the Union, Cabell county, became part of West Virginia. In 1871, railroad magnate Collis P. Huntington laid out and founded the city of Huntington, near Holdby's Landing, as the western terminus of the C&O Railroad.
Several industries entered Cabell County as a result of the establishment of Huntington. This influx of industry boast the economy, which saw a boom period until the Ohio River Flood of 1937. Huntington saw the introduction of the state's first radio station in 1923 and the state's first television station in 1949. The construction of Interstate 64 in the 1960s also saw a growth in the local economy.