Spencer, WV

Spencer is Roane County’s seat, a West Virginia city first chartered in 1858 under the name California. It was renamed for Spencer Roane, the Virginia jurist who also gave Roane County its name. Spring Creek runs through town, while the Robey Theatre and the McIntosh Mansion point back to the city’s older layers. The Robey Theatre opened in 1907 and still operates, a rare bit of continuity for a local movie house. Each autumn, the West Virginia Black Walnut Festival brings the county’s annual gathering to Court Street, and nearby Charles Fork Lake hosts the Tour de Lake mountain-bike race. Spencer is a courthouse city with a theater, a festival, and a walnut-heavy name on the calendar.