This volume traces the economic, social and political life of the people of Lewis County from the time the first settlers came to the Hacker’s Creek Valley to the early 1900s. The narrative is replete with descriptive accounts of historical occurrences and incidents, as well as the individuals who participated in these events, many of whom are well-known to historians and genealogists of the region. The book follows an outline popular in the period histories and consists of 30 chapters, two appendices, and an index. Chapters include: The Physical Basis for Development; The Aboriginal Inhabitants; Early Settlements; Lewis County in Dunmore’s War, the Revolutionary War, and the End of the Indian Wars; The Beginning of Law and Order; Economic Beginnings; Life of the Pioneers; The Extension of Settlements - Skin Creek, Collins Settlement, and Freeman’s Creek District; Progress in Older Settlements; The Formation of Lewis County; The Beginning of Weston; Early Transportation; The Irish and German Immigration; Territorial Losses; The Great Business Boom, 1845-60; The Development of Education; The Seccession from Virginia; Military Operations; The Political Reconstruction; Economic Development After the War; The Coming of the Railroad; Twenty Years’ Progress, 1880-1900; The Oil and Gas Development; The Twentieth Century; and more.