Bulltown Historic Area

Cunningham House, The Bulltown Historic Area, Burnsville, West Virginia, USA

Cunningham House, The Bulltown Historic Area, Burnsville

–  Click on the image to enlarge or purchase  –

Bulltown Historic Area

Bulltown Historic Area is located in central West Virginia in Braxton County.  Bulltown gets its name from a Delaware Indian chief who went by the name of Captain Bull.  Captain Bull and his band of warriors settled on the banks of the nearby Kanawha River attacking white settlers in the area.  Even after Captain Bull and his warriors moved on, the area would be forever known as Bulltown in his memory.

After Captain Bull moved on, the white settlers were able to develop the area.  During the 1820’s a gristmill was built followed in the 1830’s by a salt works and a tannery.  During the civil war both Union and Confederate soldiers sought to occupy Bulltown due to its strategic location at the river crossing on the Weston & Gauley Turnpike.

On October 13, 1863 the Battle of Bulltown was waged on the Cunningham farm lands.  The Confederate forces were led by Colonel William L Jackson, who was Stonewall Jackson’s first cousin.  The battle lasted for about 12 hours.  The result was the Union forces maintaining control of the fort overlooking the river.  The Confederates lost eight men to the Union’s none.  The only civilian injured was Moses Cunningham, the farm owner.  He was shot as he ran from his farm house during the battle shouting “Hurrah for Jeff Davis”.  Fortunately, he did recover.

Click here to learn more about the civil war sites of Virginia and West Virginia

Fleming House, The Bulltown Historic Area, Burnsville, West Virginia, USA

Fleming House, The Bulltown Historic Area, Burnsville

–  Click on the image to enlarge or purchase  –

In the 1970’s everything changed at Bulltown.  The US Army Crop of Engineers acquired a lot of the houses and businesses in Bulltown and neighboring Falls Mill so that they could build the Burnsville Dam on the Kanawha River.  The Dam was completed in September 1976.

The Cunningham Farm was also acquired at this time with the surrounding land on which the Battle of Bulltown occurred and converted into the Bulltown Historic Area.  Several historic log cabins and the yellow log St. Michael’s catholic church were moved on to the property.

St. Michael's Church, The Bulltown Historic Area, Burnsville, West Virginia, USA

St. Michael’s Church, The Bulltown Historic Area, Burnsville, West Virginia, USA

–  Click on the image to enlarge or purchase  –

All of these images are single processed RAW captures with enhancements applied using OnOne Software’s Perfect Effects to bring out the details especially in the roofs, the grain of the wood and the pathways.

Summary
Article Name
Bulltown Historic Area
Description
Bulltown Historic Area in West Virginia was originally the Cunningham farm on which the Battle of Bulltown was fought in October 1963
Author
Publisher Name
Mark Summerfield
Publisher Logo

5 Comments

  1. Excellent post with a nice history and wonderful images Mark. I especially like the last image.

  2. Nice writeup and great collection of images!

  3. I love learning about all these places from your posts. Wonderful images as usual Mark.

  4. Excellent write-up as always, Mark. You bring the history to life and these images are fantastic. Nice work, man.

  5. Tina Lowe

    My ancestors lived in this area back in early 1800’s surname Ware.
    Alot of ancestors buried in Ware Cemt on Airport Rd. My grt grandfather born 1870. And his grandfather lived arnd the area of the present day Highknob Curch. I am really interested in very early records concerning Bulltown and my ancestors. Thank you for any info you can find.

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Copy Protected by Chetan's WP-Copyprotect.