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Various subjects discussed include Indian attacks, turnpikes and taverns, the first telegraph system, natural gas illumination, Civil War manufacture of saltpeter, schools and economy in post-Civil War Charleston, salt and chemical industries, carrier pigeons, steamboats on the Kanawha River, and the coming of the railroad to Charleston. Persons mentioned include M.F. Maury, Jr., J.P. Hale, and J.Q. Dickinson.

An 1851 letter to Rebecca Coplin from Harriet Burdett of Pruntytown, West Virginia, on community health, family affairs and Methodist church matters. A merchandise account book, 1859-63, of an unidentified general store owner and inn keeper; steamboat bills of lading for the Kathryn and French of the Little Kanawha Packet Line (Creston-Parkersburg), 1899 and 1905. There are also mimeographed sketches on the history, topography, scenery, agriculture, geology, rural development and natural resources of West Virginia by a Wood County agricultural extension agent, C.R. Titlow.

A Civil War soldier's letter to his brother from Camp Hill, Harper's Ferry, (West) Virginia, 1863 February 28; a Christmas menu from Hill's Central Hotel, Parkersburg, West Virginia, ca. 1879; and a campaign ribbon from the West Virginia Democratic State Convention, Parkersburg, West Virginia 1892 July 27, the printing on the ribbon reads "Sweeney for State Supt. of Free Schools".

A scrapbook compiled by E.L. Mathers and Max Mathers, dealing with Morgantown and Monongalia County. There are photographs and newspaper clippings concerning civic, military, and social organizations; taverns and hotels; churches and schools; marriages and deaths; historic houses, early buildings, business places, and river navigation; and biographical sketches.

A sketch of the town and its geographical setting, copied from a map owned by Mrs. E. Bruce Allen, Moorefield, West Virginia. Included are short notes on the history of the town, description of the rivers, public buildings, school, circulating library, tavern, religious denominations, and nationalities represented among its inhabitants.

Papers of H. C. and Virginia R. Cabell, husband and wife, of Greenbrier County, West Virginia. Includes tax receipts for real and personal property, hotel licenses, and a tobacco retail license. Also includes a receipt for payment on a note by William A. Martin.

County and circuit clerks records, arranged chronologically. Records for the years 1835-1857, include bonds of ministers, tavern operators, ordinaries, ferries, and county officials; estate settlements; records pertaining to road, bridge, and public building; records of the overseer of the poor; school commissioners' and surveyors' appointments; and lists of county officials. Records for 1863-1874 include county supervisors' records; records of the Fairmont and Wheeling Turnpike; and muster certificates and reenlistment and bounty lists for the First, Second, Sixth, Seventh, Tenth, Fifteenth, Seventeenth, and Eighteenth West Virginia Volunteer Infantry Regiments, the First, Third, Fifth, Sixth West Virginia Cavalry, the First Light Artillery Regiment, and the Forty-fifth Regiment, United States Colored Troops. Papers for 1867-1907 include justice of the peace records, United States Admiralty Court records, and road surveyors' statements.

Court case papers, wills, deeds, surveys and plats, ca.1772-1879, along with bound volumes of court records, deeds, estrays, road and tax records, a register for free blacks, and private account books, 1783-1923. The account books include: records of a U.S. Army post hospital at Union, 1867-1869; oil well drilling, 1886-1890; Union and Fort Spring Stage Line, 1876-1877; newspapers, 1867-1903; taverns, 1815-1872; and Union Lyceum minutes, 1845-1847.

Photographs and histories of early taverns and inns in western Virginia between 1740 and the 1850s, written and compiled by Mrs. Innis C. Davis.

Ledger book for an inn or ordinary in Romney, (West) Virginia operated by Peter Steenbergen. The ledger contains entries from 1766-1775; there is a name index at the back.