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Old Fields, West Virginia

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Old Fields
Unincorporated community
CountryUnited States
StateWest Virginia
CountyHardy
Elevation
804 ft (245 m)
Time zoneUTC-5 (Eastern (EST))
 • Summer (DST)UTC-4 (EDT)
ZIP codes
26845
GNIS feature ID1555262[1]

Old Fields is an unincorporated community on the South Branch Potomac River in northern Hardy County, West Virginia, USA.

According to the Geographic Names Information System, Old Fields has also been known throughout its history as Indian Old Field, Indian Old Fields, and Oldfields.

History

The South Branch was being settled by whites in the 1730s and 1740s. According to Samuel Kercheval, these settlers "On the Wappatomaka [South Branch]...discovered...considerable openings of the land, or natural prairies, which are called the 'Indian old fields' to this day [i.e., 1833]. Numerous Indian graves are to be seen in the neighborhood".[2] This was the site of Fort Pleasant, built in 1756 during the French and Indian War.[3] Fort Pleasant was one of the principal fortifications in Colonel George Washington's chain of forts on the Virginia frontier.[4] Less than a mile to the east of the fort, the "Battle of the Trough" was fought in the spring of 1756, on the banks of the South Branch, during which several local settlers were killed.[5]

Other buildings of interest in the vicinity include Old Fields Church (1812; the second-oldest church in West Virginia), the Garrett Van Meter House (1835), Buena Vista (1836), built for William T. Van Meter (killed in Gen. Wade Hampton’s “Beefsteak Raid” behind Union lines near Petersburg, Virginia, in 1864), and Traveler’s Rest (1856; constructed for Garrett Van Meter’s three unmarried sisters: Ann, Rebecca, and Susan).

See also

References

  1. ^ U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Old Fields, West Virginia
  2. ^ Kercheval, Samuel (1833; 2nd ed., 1850), A History of the Valley of Virginia, pg 37.
  3. ^ Baker, Norman L. French & Indian War in Frederick County, Virginia, 2000
  4. ^ Baker, Norman L. French & Indian War in Frederick County, Virginia, 2000
  5. ^ Baker, Norman L. French & Indian War in Frederick County, Virginia, 2000
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