SEWELL, WV (LOOTPRESS) – Sewell was the first English settlement in the New River Gorge, but it was not always called Sewell and the settlement had nothing to do with coal at the time.
In 1749, Stephen Sewell, from New England made his way to the New River Gorge. He is said to be the first white man to explore the area.
Later, the construction of the Old State Road from Lewisburg to Kanawha Falls would run right through what would soon be called Bowyer’s Ferry, present-day Sewell.
George Washington saw a need for a route to the west that overcome the mountain barriers formed by the Blue Ridge and Allegheny Mountains. So, in 1784, Washington brought the proposal to the Virginia legislature which agreed with the idea, and construction on the Old State Road commenced in 1785.
Peter Bowyer, a Pennsylvania native, saw an opportunity to capitalize off of the Old State Road. He settled at the Wagon Road’s Crossing of New River at Mann’s Creek in 1798. Bowyer started a ferry service there that took travelers across the raging New River where the Old State Road would climb up the mountain to Vandalia, which is now known as Fayetteville. Bowyer built a cabin there and the settlement would soon be called Bowyer’s Ferry.
The Old State Road opened in 1790 and a toll gate was erected at Bowyer’s Ferry in 1809.
The C&O Railway was completed in 1873, opening up Bowyer’s Ferry and the New River Gorge to the rest of the world.
When a passenger station was built at Bowyer’s Ferry after the Longdale Iron Co. purchased land and opened mines there, the name was then changed to Sewell Station and later shortened to Sewell.
A ferry still operated across the New River at Sewell up until 1900 when an iron truss wagon bridge was constructed to connect Sewell and the nearby coal town of Cunard. Unfortunately, a flood destroyed the bridge less than a year after it was built. The ferry service returned after the destruction of the bridge.
The bridge was a three-span, iron wagon bridge with stone abutments. There was a payment of $22,325 issued for the reconstruction of the bridge, but it was never rebuilt. Foundations from the bridge can still be seen standing in the New River.
Today, Sewell is a ghost town and is part of the New River Gorge National Park & Preserve.