You know you want to be here...

A great town to visit and a perfect place to live.  Come, make Ansted your home - for a weekend or for a lifetime.

Things to See

 Hawks Nest Rail Trail, its length is 1.8 miles with a surface of pea gravel.  The trail includes 2 decked rail trestles. There are many railroad remnants and the 1920 portal of the Mill Creek Mine site.  Permitted uses are for hiking and biking. The trail endpoints are the Town of Ansted and Hawks Nest Lake. Access can be achieved via US Rt. 60  just follow the Trail Signs

Only town in Fayette County, one of very few in the state, that has a state park within the city limits. In 1830, it was was established as the 1st county seat of Fayette County, then called New Haven later incorporated as the Town of Ansted.

Welcome

The town of Ansted, chartered in 1891, was created because of coal. The town's name is a remembrance of a British geologist, David T. Ansted, who stalked out the seams of high grade coal, but today it is difficult to find evidence of this once thriving industry. Gauley Mountain Coal Co., Signal Knob Coal, Hawk's Nest Mining have come and gone, leaving behind "coal camp" architecture and the Victorian mansions of William Page, coal company manager, and that of the company's superintendent.

     Today Ansted looks toward a future working with the environment, not against it. The foundation townsfolk build on are: education, tourism, and quality of life issues. This community of 1700 tucked in the fold of Gauley Mountain and hugging the rim of the New River Gorge, gains strength and momentum form the past, and welcomes the future as a town eager to share the best of West Virginia's lifestyle - a precious heritage comprised of love of family, respect for your fellow man, and a code of values to live by.

Hometown Mountain Heritage Festival

 The Hometown Mountain Heritage Festival is Fayette County, WV’s premier Heritage Festival.  Each June, the town of Ansted becomes a living telling of the story of Appalachia’s history.  The Festival is scheduled for the third weekend of June each year and is accompanied by family, class, and church reunions throughout the area.