Moorefield turns 200 years old
The old post office at Moorefield—The picture was made in 1916. Standing is Forrest Thompson, rural carrier on Route 1 from 1914-1922, and Ed Blount, a local resident. Rural Free Delivery was established in 1904. Avery Burgess was the first RFD carrier, 1904-1911, Walter Cloud, 1912-13, Herman Vice, 1914, Earnest Boothe, 1923-29, Ed Blount 1930; Roy Blount was carrier starting in 1931. This post office burned in 1917.
The history of Moorefield, a rural community in Nicholas County, Ky., dates to 1796 when several settlers traveled westward from Virginia.
Benjamin Hall was one of those early settlers who had brought his family to the area and his wife had named the village Moorefield in honor of her home in West Virgina, which was still Virginia at the time.
Once the community was given a name, Alexander Blair opened the first post office in his log store on June 26, 1818.
Although a cemetery was never established in the little town, early settlers had family burial plots near their homes.
When the Mt. Pisgah cemetery on the Gravel Road was established in 1814 residents used that burial ground and at Shiloh on the Whetstone Road.
Postmasters have been James Clark, Samuel Hall, Dunlap Howe, Robert Howe, W.H. Howe, Nora Kash, Henry S. Weaver, Ben Hoffer, Robert Blount, Letha Blount, Frank A. Weaver and Mrs. Violet Weaver.
Rural free delivery was started in 1904 and carriers have been Avery Burgess, Walter Cloud, Herman Vice, Forest Thompson, Ernest Boothe, Roy Blount, and Calvin Wills.
The settlers needed a place to worship God
The early settlers needed a place they could worship so they organized a Presbyterian Church and built a log building on a tract of one and a half acres of land sold to the trustees for $10 by Samuel Hall son of Benjamin.
The church was located about 270 yards northwest of the present United Methodist Church and they called it “New Concord”. The first minister was Rev. William K. Burch and the trustees were Hugh Wiley, Joseph Woods, Thomas Caldwell, James Thompson, and James H. Thompson.
On Apr. 9, 1851 the name was changed to Moorefield Presbyterian and was replaced in 1854 with a more modern frame building.
In 1888 the Presbyterian and Methodists constructed a new frame building at a cost of $5,000 and it was called the M. and P. Church, sometime later, the property became that of the Methodist organization and today is the Moorefield United Methodist Church.
In 1887 the Moorefield Christian Church was organized, and a frame building was erected on a lot deeded to the trustees L.N. Thompson and W. Harvey Howe b W.H. Howe and wife, Mollie F. Howe.
Education was important even in the smallest communities
Across the road from where the Christian church now stands, the first public school was conducted in a two-story frame house that was built in 1868.
In 1910 the school was replaced with a new building located near the Moorefield United Methodist, and was replaced again with a three-room, two-story brick building in 1928.
The brick school building burned in 1947 and a larger two-story school was built and used until the school consolidated with the Nicholas County school in Carlisle in 1971.
Today, they are considered roads “less traveled, or “off the beaten path,” but in the early days, the roads that lead to Moorfield were as busy as any other.
The Upper Blue Lick Road follows the old Buffalo Trace and intersects Moorefield on the east side of the Carlisle, Sharpsburg Road.
In 1848 the road was a turnpike and tollgates were placed at the edge of the village. In the 1900s all tollgates were removed.
Today, Moorfield may not be the bustling village it once was, but the community of people who still live in the area are proud of their rich history.
Local historian, Kenny Lyons was able to save the old Moorefield Deposit Bank sign. Kenny and his family moved to Moorefield in 1946 from the neighboring town of Sharpsburg. He is an avid fan of local history and has spent many hours gathering information to add to his extensive collection of notes and photographs that tell the history of his hometown. We would like to thank Kenny for sharing his pictures and notes with us.
