Lewisburg, the seat of justice for the county, lies on the James River and Kanawha turnpike; 214 miles west of Richmond, 263 from Washington; about 150 from Guyandotte, on the Ohio River, 9 miles W. of the White Sulphur, and 13 from the Blue Sulphur Springs. This town was established by law in October, 1782, and the act appointed the following gentlemen trustees, viz.: Samuel Lewis, James Reid, Samuel Brown, Andrew Donnelly, John Stuart, Archer Mathews, Wm. Ward, and Thomas Edgar. It contains 6 mercantile stores, 1 newspaper printing office, 1 Baptist, 1 Presbyterian, and 1 Methodist church, 1 academy, and a population of about 800. It is a flourishing village, the most important in this whole region, and the place where the western branch of the court of appeals hold their sittings.
Lewisburg stands on the site of the old Savannah Fort, and is the place where the army of Gen. Lewis rendezvoused in 1774, previous to the battle of Point Pleasant. They constructed the first road ever made from here to Point Pleasant on the Ohio, distant about 160 miles. The old fort at this place stood about 100 yards SE. of the site of the present court-house, on land now (1843) belonging to Mr. Thomas B. Reynold, and the widow of Mr. Wm. Mathews. It was erected about the year 1770.
The first church — a Presbyterian — erected at Lewisburg, was about the year 1795. It is a stone edifice, and is now occupied by that denomination. Previously, the same society had a log church, about a mile and a half NW. of the village, near the present residence of Mr. Chas. Rogers. Their first clergyman was the Rev John M'Cue. There were then some Baptists in the county; their clergyman was the Rev. John Alderson. Lewisburg derived its name from the Lewis family. In olden time it was called "the Savannah," being a kind of a prairie.
Henry Howe, Historical Collections of Virginia… (Charleston, SC: William R. Babcock, 1852), 284-285.
