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We are so thankful that this year we have received such a warm welcome to Ft. Ashby, at the Mineral County Fairgrounds. Their grounds will allow us to open the festival up to more vendors and more activities.

Here is a little history about Ft. Ashby, Wv. 

In the late summer and early fall of 1755, settlers in the Patterson Valley were attacked by marauding bands of hostile Indians. In response, on October 26, 1755, Colonel George Washington ordered three forts to defend the Western Virginia frontier.

Fort Ashby, which took its name for its first commander, was built by Lieutenant John Bacon and his men from Fort Cumberland, Maryland. The fort was a square stockade of 90 feet on each side with bastions at each corner. Within the fort were barracks and a powder magazine.

It was completed in about six weeks and Captain John “O.C.” Ashby took command of the fort, which was garrisoned by about 30 men. Ashby was ordered to remain quiet as long as he could and to hold the fort as long as possible, but if necessary, he was to burn it rather than surrender it.

Be sure to visit the History Alive program at the Ft. Ashby Museum and relive the the History of Ft. Ashby Wv. Find out what happened here at the outset of the war that changed our nation's destiny.

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