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Three hilltops watch over Parkersburg. Two of the three overlook the downtown area. The third oversees the east end of town. The first two had Civil War connections, while the latter had a strong Industrial connection.
Fort Boreman Hill, overlooking the confluence of the Ohio and Little Kanawha rivers, previous to the Civil War was called Mt. Logan, after the Logan family who owned at least a portion of the hill. The elevation of this hill is 855 feet above sea level.
Quincy Hill, was in the Civil War years, known as Prospect Hill, later referred to as Polecat Hill. This hill registers an elevation of 760 feet. Fort Boreman and Quincy Hill were important in local Civil War efforts.
The third promontory, Lee’s Hill, with an elevation of 919 feet, not only overlooks the east end of Parkersburg, but also the Little Kanawha River and much of present-day South Parkersburg.
Richard Lee, in some writings referred to as an Indian fighter, is credited with being the first settler on what would become known as Lee’s Hill.
The history of the Lee family that follows are excerpts taken from writings of local historian John A. House:
“Richard Lee lived on Worthington Creek about halfway between the Staunton Pike bridge and the mouth of the creek. When first built, his home had probably been a little log cabin, but later he built a substantial two-story hewed log house, which was set back against the foot of the hill, out of the way of high water. The house must have stood for a hundred years or more. [Originally, the Staunton to Parkersburg Turnpike paralleled the Little Kanawha and crossed Worthington Creek at its mouth. The “shifting” of the pike that House mentions was when it was moved to what is today Staunton Avenue, in front of the old Willard School. This move was necessitated when the railroad was brought to Parkersburg in the late 1850s.]
“Richard Lee had six children, one son and five daughters. In deeds, his wife signed her name Nancy Lee. Her maiden name I have never heard suggested, but there may be significance in the fact that her only son was named Wilson Lee. It was a very common practice to name the oldest, or other, for the mother’s family.
“Richard Lee presumably came from south western Pennsylvania…a resident of this part of Wood County several years before 1800.”
John House concludes that Lee must have died in 1838.
Lee’s Hill Commercially
In his later years, John House lived on Reed Street in the shadows of Lee’s Hill. Being a lover of nature and an avid out-of-doors person, at the age of 80, in 1934, House took what he called a “tramp” to and over much of Lee’s Hill. The detailed notes resulting from that hike, when typed, resulted in a fascinating 32-page historical essay.
Though but excerpts, his writing below will share the commerce once on Lee’s Hill: The Orchard. “At the time of the planting of the orchard, about 1915, the whole [western] face of the hill was cut off, brush, saplings and small trees removed. Mr. Upson was manager of the commercial orchard which ultimately collapsed.
“Though the orchard venture failed, the same company also owned the brick yard on Staunton Avenue, across from the Willard School. Shale clay used for brick-making was brought from Lee’s Hill, across Worthington Creek and into the brick facility in large gondola cars suspended from a cable.”
Shale clay was also extracted from Lee’s Hill as the raw material for the old “tile plant.” Several mines were dug into the hill and clay transported into the plant via small rail cars. The track crossed the turnpike over a high trestle and into the plant. In later years the U.S. Ceramic Tile Co. imported its clay.
Another brick facility had mines and a large kiln just around the bend from the tile plant. Though this brick making facility ceased production years earlier, the huge, strange looking kiln remained until more recent years, perhaps as a tribute to Richard Lee and the hill on which he resided.
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Bob Enoch is president of the Wood County Historical and Preservation Society. If you have comments or questions about Look Back items, please contact him at: [email protected], or by mail at WCHPS, PO Box 565, Parkersburg, WV 26102.