Spanishburg

Spanishburg is an unincorporated community in Mercer County. The community is located on Route 19 about 9 miles outside of Princeton.

The first known white settlers in Spanishburg were James Callahan and Robert McCullock. They surveyed several acres of land each then claimed it.  Settlers could pay for the survey, stake off the property and claim it for their own. Spanish Brown, a relative of James Callahan, joined the settlers. Spanishburg was named after him. The settlers built log cabins, hewn out by hand and furnished them with rough handmade furniture. There was no money and no roads. The first road, named Turn Pike, was completed in 1810 that connected Spanishburg and Princeton. The Spanishburg post office was established about 1853.

The first church was the Rich Creek Baptist Church. The church was established in 1869. They held services in the Bethel Meeting House until September 1893, then began meeting at the Spanishburg School House. The Methodists built the church but defaulted on the payments. The Baptist Church bought it at that time. The Baptists  held their first service in the newly built church building on April 28, 1898. It is a wooden building on Route 19 about one-half mile from Spanishburg School. A new Rich Creek Baptist Church has been built about a mile away from the original church.

In 2023 the original church still stood but has been abandoned. It was once used to store hay but is now empty and dilapidated. The church was used as the first school in the area. The Methodists built a church near the Baptist church. It has been demolished and a new Methodist church was built a short distance away.

A log school was built to replace the classes held in the church. The log school was replaced by a wooden building. As the community grew, a larger brick school was built.  It was replaced by the building that is Spanishburg Elementary. Middle and high school students from the area are bused to PikeView in Princeton.

Senator Robert C. Bird attended the Willis White ‘Hambone’ two room school then later walked out of the hollow where he lived to catch the bus to Spanishburg School.

In 2023 there were less than 200 residents in the Spanishburg community. There were 183 students in Spanishburg Elementary, prekindergarten through 5th grade which included students from outlying areas.

Shortly before his death on the night of December 31, 1952, the country music singer, Hank Williams, Sr. crossed a bridge that carries traffic across the Bluestone River on Route 19 at Spanishburg. This bridge has been named the Hank Williams, Sr. Memorial Bridge in his honor.

According to life-time resident of the area, Mary McPherson, it was proposed that a dam be built at Spanishburg across the Bluestone River to help stop flooding in Beckley and Charleston. Like the small community of Lilly that was destroyed when the Bluestone Dam close to Hinton was built, Spanishburg would have been obliterated and under water. The citizens fought back saying, “Spanishburg citizens are as important as those of Beckley and Charleston.” This time the citizens won and the dam was never built. Therefore, Spanishburg is still a thriving little community offering socialization through its churches, education to its students, and meeting the basic needs of its citizens. Princeton is 9 miles away for recreation, groceries and other shopping activities.

Sources:

wvtouism.com

richcreekbaptistchurch.com/history

wvculture.org History of Spanishburg Community 1927

1987 Mercer County History