Beverly, WV

Beverly was founded in 1790 as the first county seat of Randolph County, Virginia, and its early role was straightforward: market town, courthouse town, and meeting point for settlers moving through Tygarts Valley. The Staunton–Parkersburg Turnpike reached Beverly in 1841 and connected the town to the Ohio River corridor by 1847. Civil War history is close to the surface here; Federal troops occupied the town, using local buildings for telegraphs, hospitals, and quarters, while Confederate raids came through four times.

Beverly lost the county seat to Elkins in 1899, but its historic core still carries the older civic story. The Beverly Heritage Center combines the 1808 Randolph County Courthouse, a 1900 bank, a 1907 store building, and the Bushrod Crawford house, built around 1850 and used as McClellan's headquarters. The center also hosts the Beverly Heritage Branch of the Elkins-Randolph County Public Library. Walk the main streets and Beverly's character comes through in the buildings that made it important. The preserved streets make the story tangible.