Town of Ansted

Your Hometown Mountain Heritage Destination

Early History of Ansted

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.

 

 

In 1827, the first Post Office in Fayette County, Mt. Cove, was located in present day Ansted at the site

English Geologist for whom the Town of Ansted was named. Mr. Ansted organized a coal company that brought economic prominence to the town

Contentment Complex
Antebellum home of Civil War Col. George Imboden, Ansted's first mayor and now the headquarters for the Fayette County Historical Society. Listed on the National Register in 1974. Also on the grounds find the George Eades Pioneer Museum and the Grace and Ivan Steele one room schoolhouse.

Burial site of Julia Jackson Woodson, mother of Civil War General "Stonewall" Jackson.