Join us and explore the history and heritage of Mount Hope, West Virginia (WV).

The first white settler of record to the area that includes present-day Mount Hope was William Blake, Sr. In 1796 Blake purchased 3,602 1/4 acres of land for the sum of $1,258 from William and Sarah Austin. The Austins had obtained the land in 1786, via a land grant issued by Gov. James Wood of Virginia. The tract was a small portion of the Henry Banks survey that included land lying along the waters of the New River and Dunloup Creek in Montgomery County, Virginia. In the spring of 1805 Blake, his wife and children moved to the area, taking temporary shelter in a so-called Indian fort while constructing a permanent dwelling. Read More...

Many sources give the impression that the lands that became West Virginia were simply regarded and used as "hunting lands" by Native Americans. However there is a great deal of physical evidence that the Native Peoples of North America occupied and make great use the lands of present-day West Virginia, including the area of Mount Hope, for thousands of years prior to the arrival of the white explorers. Read More...