Barboursville, founded in 1813, was named for Virginia Governor James Barbour. In 1835 Joseph Martin called it a “handsome little village” of “25 dwelling houses.” U.S. 60 bypassed Barboursville in 1930, and the town's smallscale charm comes as a welcome relief from the commercial strip architecture that now lines both sides of the highway between it and Huntington. Barboursville's historic core lies on both sides of Main Street, which follows the lazy curves of its predecessor, the old turnpike. With a 2000 population of 3,183, Barboursville still maintains the demeanor of a small, early-nineteenth-century village, at least in its center.
Writing Credits
If SAH Archipedia has been useful to you, please consider supporting it.
SAH Archipedia tells the story of the United States through its buildings, landscapes, and cities. This freely available resource empowers the public with authoritative knowledge that deepens their understanding and appreciation of the built environment. But the Society of Architectural Historians, which created SAH Archipedia with University of Virginia Press, needs your support to maintain the high-caliber research, writing, photography, cartography, editing, design, and programming that make SAH Archipedia a trusted online resource available to all who value the history of place, heritage tourism, and learning.