Historical collections of Virginia containing a collection of the most interesting facts, traditions, biographical sketches, anecdotes, &c., relating to its history and antiquities, together with geographical and statistical descriptions : to which is appended, an historical and descriptive sketch of the District of Columbia : illustrated by over 100 engravings, giving views of the principal towns, seats of eminent men, public buildings, relics of antiquity, historic localities, natural scenery, etc., etc. |
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FAYETTE. |
 | Historical collections of Virginia |  |
FAYETTE.
Fayette was formed in 1831, from Logan, Greenbrier, Nicholas,
and Kanawha. Its greatest length is 47 miles; greatest width 30.
New River, a main branch of the Great Kanawha, runs through
the county its whole length. Much of the surface of the county
is mountainous. The principal mountains are the Gauley, (a continuation
of Cumberland mountain,) Big and Little Sewel. The
great turnpike through the Kanawha valley passes over some of
the most lofty of these mountains. "There are extensive bodies
of good arable land, in some places partaking of the character of
what along the Alleghany mountains is denominated glades, and
in the west, prairies. The average price of unimproved, or wild
lands of good quality, is one dollar per acre. We are satisfied that
these lands, in point of natural fertility, and adaptation to the culture
of grain, grasses, fruits, &c., is superior to the best counties
east of the Blue Ridge." Pop., whites 3,773, slaves 133, free
colored 18; total 3,924.
Fayetteville, the county-seat, is 289 miles westerly from Richmond,
and contains a few dwellings. The turnpike leading from Charleston,
on the south side of the Kanawha River, passes through the
place, and terminates at the Red Sulphur Springs in Monroe county.
Gauley Bridge is situated at the falls of the Great Kanawha,
just below the junction of the Gauley and New Rivers, 36 miles
above Charleston. There are here a store or two and several mills.
The Kanawha at this spot is 500 yards wide, and has a fall of 22
feet over a ledge of rocks extending entirely across the stream.
This is one of the wildest and most picturesque regions of the
state. It is the last navigable point on the Kanawha, and presents
one of the best sites for machinery in Virginia. A traveller
who visited these falls, thus describes his impressions:
We reached the hotel at which we were to pause, about midnight. It is near to the
Kanawha Falls; and from the beauty of the neighborhood has many visitors. I took a
hasty cup of coffee, and weary as I was, went with another gentleman to see the Falls.
We could hear them in the distance; but we had to go round in order to reach them.
The chief of our way was over shattered rock, offering a good access by day, but requiring
holes bored in them by the eddies of the water. They are not to be spoken of
with Niagara, or even with Shauffausen, but the whole scene was striking and interesting,
the more so, undoubtedly, in the still hour of night. I seated myself on a shelf of
rock whence the waters made their principal leap. Darkness had spread its curtain on
the sleeping objects in the distance. The pale moon had run her race, and was just
falling behind the hills; her last lights fell faintly on my face and the head of waters,
but left the precipices and pools before me in heavy shadows. At my feet the river
was dashing, and lifting up its voice from the depths beneath to Him who holds the
waters in the hollow of his hand. It had done so for ages past; it would do so for ages
to come. Here the poor Indian had stood, but will never stand again, thinking he
heard in those waters the voice of Deity, and gazing on the face of that orb with wonder,
till the spirit of worship was stirred within him. Here also I stood, and shall never
stand again, wistfully looking through the visible and audible to the unseen but present
object of adoration and praise.
On New River, along which passes the Kanawha turnpike, and
within 10 m. of its junction with the Gauley, the traveller passes
by the summit of a high cliff of rocks, long known as the Hawk's
Nest, but more recently called Marshall's Pillar, in honor of the
late venerable chief-justice, who, as one of the state commissioners
in 1812, stood upon its fearful brink, and sounded its exact
depth to the river margin, which is about 1000 ft. Standing upon
the verge of this precipice, the river, diminished by distance in the
deep valley below to a silvery thread between two borders of
green, appears to wash the base of the cliff; yet it requires a
powerful arm to cast a stone into its waters. The sublime and
elevating emotions which this scene is calculated to inspire, are
given in the following chaste and beautiful language of a foreign
traveller:
We returned to the inn. I had an hour and a half of rest; and was found with my
companions on the way, soon after 3 o'clock. Most of the company showed that they
had only been awakened, like a child, to be put in a new position, and their heads were
nodding about in all directions. About 7 o'clock, however, we approached a spot which
is of great reputed beauty, and we pledged the coachman to stop, that we might have
a fair sight of it. You leave the road by a little by-path, and after pursuing it for a
short distance, the whole scene suddenly breaks upon you. But how shall I describe it?
The great charm of the whole is greatly connected with the point of sight, which is the
finest imaginable. You come suddenly to a spot which is called the Hawk's Nest. It
projects on the scene, and is so small as to give standing to only some half dozen persons.
It has on its head an old picturesque pine; and it breaks away at your feet abruptly
and in perpendicular lines, to a depth of more than 1000 feet. On this standing,
which, by its elevated and detached character, affects you like the Monument, the forest
rises above and around you. Beneath and before you is spread a lovely valley. A
peaceful river glides down it, reflecting, like a mirror, all the lights of heaven—washes
the foot of the rocks on which you are standing—and then winds away into another
valley at your right. The trees of the wood, in all their variety, stand out on the verdant
bottoms, with their heads in the sun, and casting their shadows at their feet; but
so diminished, as to look more like the pictures of the things than the things themselves.
The green hills rise on either hand and all around, and give completeness and beauty to
the scene; and beyond these appears the gray outline of the more distant mountains,
bestowing grandeur to what was supremely beautiful. It is exquisite. It conveys to
you the idea of perfect solitude. The hand of man, the foot of man, seem never to have
touched that valley. To you, though placed in the midst of it, it seems altogether inaccessible.
You long to stroll along the margin of those sweet waters, and repose under
the shadows of those beautiful trees; but it looks impossible. It is solitude, but of a
most soothing, not of an appalling character—where sorrow might learn to forget her
griefs, and folly begin to be wise and happy.
![illustration](https://iiif.lib.virginia.edu/iiif/uva-lib:427301/full/!1600,1600/0/default.jpg")
MARSHALL'S PILLAR.
On Big Beaver Creek, in this county, are the remains of an ancient
fortification, which occupies an area of about 20 square rods. The
walls were built of stone, and, it is supposed, were 6 ft. high, and
at the base 7 ft. thick. The reader will find a plan, drawn by A.
Beckley, and a description by Isaac Craig, in the American Pioneer
for Sept. 1842.
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