Elgood

Just a short 8 mile drive from Concord University lies the small community of Elgood. Elgood was founded in the 1800s. 

Elgood was originally known as Mount View. There was already a community in Summers County named Mount View. To avoid confusion when the post office was established in 1885, Mount View in Mercer County was renamed Elgood.

The name “Elgood” came from an Oakvale man named Elondias Goodwyn using the first two letters of his first name and the first four letters of his last name…The only remnant of the Mount View name is the church which bears the name. ---Jeff Harvey, Princeton Times, January 17, 2016.

Mountain View Community Church is located at the intersection of Elgood Road, Cheesy Creek Road and Hatcher Road. At one time this intersection was the hub of Elgood. There were two competing stores in the intersection,  Ray Cheatwood ran the Cheatwood Store on one corner. Before building the larger store in the 1920s the Cheatwood’s had a small log store. Luther White operated a similar store on the other corner. The Elgood school, Elgood cemetery and the Mountain View Community Church occupied another corner. 

Nancy K. Mann Dunbar, (1832-1857) was the first known person to be buried in the Elgood Cemetery. ---Findagrave.com #89353863

The Cheatwood store sold anything needed in the community from coveralls to groceries. People also traded there, meaning you could trade chickens for groceries, you could kill rabbits and the store would pay $.25 for them each. They sold gas and just about anything else needed in the community.  ---Jeff Harvey, Princeton Times, January 17, 2016.

For a number of years Paul Hazelwood was pastor of another church in Elgood, Faith Tabernacle.

Ward H. White, Sr. (1922-2014), was a World War II Army veteran. He graduated from Athens High School in 1940. When he died he was probably the last member of the Elgood “Hot Shots,” a team that traveled around the area playing basketball. They were legendary for outplaying the best teams in the state. ---Findagrave.com #179538682

On November 20, 1969, Elgood was the epicenter of a 4.3 to 4.6 magnitude earthquake. It was felt in a region of 125,000 square miles over nine Mid-Atlantic states. There were no injuries and no damage beyond some broken windows and cracked plaster. ---"The Elgood, West Virginia, Earthquake of November 20, 1969," ---pub.geoscienceworld.org

Change. Both of the country stores have closed and fallen into disrepair. The school is no longer open. The land is home to a number of farm animals and the school building is probably used for storage. The Mountain View Community Church is the only building in the intersection that is still being used for its original purpose. In 2023 it was being renovated.

Some changes are good. After years of dealing with poor quality well water high in mineral content, fecal content, high sulfur content and a less than adequate water supply, 162 families in the Elgood community began receiving clear, clean public water in 2018.