This is a history of the Alderson community. A definition of the community is that area comprising the incorporated town of Alderson, West Virginia, the unincorporated village known as Palestine to the Northeast, the settlement known as Glen Ray, and the Federal Reservation on which is located the Federal Reformatory for Women, to the West.

Roughly, the Alderson Community is a triangle from Palestine south along the base of Muddy Creek Mountain to the base of Flat Top Mountain across the Greenbrier River above Camp Greenbrier, west to the Reformatory and northeast from the Reformatory to Palestine. It is in the southeastern section of West Virginia and parts of it are in Greenbrier, Monroe and Summers Counties.

The elevation is 1551 feet at the Post Office. The exact location is 37° 43’ N latitude, 80° 38’ W longitude. The 1960 census gives the population in the Town of Alderson to be 1225; 774 in North Alderson and 451 in South Alderson. To this can be added probably 500 living outside the corporate limits and the approximately 600 unwilling inmates of the Federal Reformatory for Women. Thus, the total population of the Alderson community is about 2300.

The community is divided by the Greenbrier River running east to west, forming the Greenbrier-Monroe Counties’ boundary. Greenbrier County is on the north side with about two-thirds of both area and population, and Monroe County is on the South side of the river. Below the town to the west is the Summers County section.

The community is located in the valley of the Greenbrier River, much of it flat alluvial land. The northern part of the town is a gentle slope beyond which on Muddy Creek is the village of Palestine, about one and one-half miles from the business section. Along the south side of the Greenbrier is the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway. Parallel to the railroad on the Monroe side for two blocks is the main business section. North and South Alderson are joined by a narrow concrete bridge built in 1914 across the Greenbrier. Muddy Creek Mountain overlooks the community to the east, Flat Top Mountain to the south, and magnificent Keeney's Mountain is a few miles to the west. Greenbrier River and the surrounding mountains give the Alderson community one of the most beautiful natural settings imaginable.

The primitive possessors of all the land were the Indians who used it primarily for hunting. There is no record of there having been an Indian settlement in the section although their weapons and artifacts facts can still be found. The Indians did have villages on New River in Summers County and the Smithsonian Institution in 1948 explored the Bluestone Reservoir area before it was flooded by Bluestone Dam, from Narrows, Virginia to Sandstone.

It was found that historic and pre-historic Indians, including the Adena mound-builders, had lived in the New River Valley for centuries before civilized history of this continent. Nine villages, mounds, rock-shelters, ceramics and a vast collection of artifacts were found.

It is not unreasonable to suggest that the Alderson Valley may also have been the ancient home of pre—historic Indians. Solecki, the Smithsonian archeologist, said more explorations should be made in West Virginia as he had but "scratched the surface."
An Archeological Survey of Two River Basins in West Virginia. Rulph S. Solecki, Smithsonian Institution, l948. West Virginia History Quarterly, July, 1949, Vol. X, N0. 4

The Indians traveled far and wide. Wild game — buffalo, elk, bear, deer, fish and smaller animals were plentiful. The animals made paths and the Indians followed the same paths. These paths became veritable Indian highways. One of the most famous was the great Seneca Trail or Warriors Path. One branch of it passed directly through Alderson following the river. (This trail ran from the New York — Pennsylvania region to the North Carolina region.) Another great trail crossed the Greenbrier at the mouth of Griffith's Creek and across Keeney’s Knob from Monroe County and the east. There were so many Indian trails it is impossible to trace them all. When the vast wilderness began to be invaded by white men, the adventurers, explorers, traders and settlers followed the same Indian paths.

No one knows who the first white man was to tread the soil now Alderson. That early visitor may have been an adventurer, trader, or a criminal fleeing a harsh justice. These early Wanderers had no sense of the historical importance of their travels. They wrote nothing and probably many of them were unable to write.

The French claimed the entire Mississippi basin of which the Kanawha, New and Greenbrier valleys are a part. The French relied upon Jesuit priests for exploration, who in their long black robes carried the Cross to the savages and represented the Crown of France. The Jesuits were educated, dedicated explorers and missionaries of the Catholic faith. They kept records which have been published in a 73 volume set entitled Jesuit Relations. This writer has searched the records and finds no authority for the supposition that the Jesuits came closer to the Greenbrier Valley than Point Pleasant on the Ohio.

Next: Early Exploration