Littleton

Littleton, West Virginia, grew from a Baltimore & Ohio Railroad stop into an oil-boom town in Wetzel County before fire, industry decline, and railroad abandonment led to its gradual decline and eventual unincorporation.

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Littleton is a small community in Wetzel County, West Virginia, named for the Little family, who settled in the area during the pioneer period. ³ The town developed along Big Fish Creek and on the north and south hills that form the surrounding valley.

Littleton became a stop on the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad’s Fairmont Subdivision, and the railroad helped shape the town’s early growth. ¹ Many of the workers who helped construct the railroad through the area were Irish immigrants. ³ The village was incorporated in 1892 during an outdoor meeting held near Martin Tunnel, beside the watering tubs where locomotives stopped to refill their tanks. Because of that setting, the meeting became known locally as “the Tub Convention.”

The discovery of oil in the region brought rapid growth to Littleton. ² Between 1896 and 1906, the town experienced a major oil boom, serving as a depot for supplies bound for the surrounding oil fields. ³ Pipeline construction for oil and gas created additional work, and by 1900, Littleton had a population of about 1,000 residents. At the height of its growth, the town included four hotels, several saloons, the Exchange Bank, a flour mill, a school, churches, banks, and numerous other businesses.

A fire destroyed much of Littleton on February 9, 1906. ^{2 3} Among the businesses associated with the town during this period were Bernard Farrell’s Drug Store; Jessie Loudenslager’s Barber Shop; John Pettit’s Grocery, later Pettit and Cullinan; Berger’s General Store; Harry Winer’s Clothing; James Robinson’s General Store; Antill’s Undertaking Parlor; and Mollie Prendergast’s Millinery Shop. ³ Littleton also had a stogie factory, a glove factory, a gasoline plant, and Chaney’s flour and feed mill.

After the oil boom faded, Littleton’s population began to decline. By 1907, the town had 725 residents. ³ A nearby quarry was sold to the American Stone Company in 1916, but it closed in 1920. ² During the 1930s and 1940s, the Bank of Littleton closed, and students in grades seven through twelve were transferred from Littleton Public School to Hundred High School. By the beginning of the Great Depression, Littleton’s banks and public school had closed.

Rail service also diminished in the mid-20th century. Passenger operations on the Fairmont Subdivision ended in 1950, and all freight traffic ceased in 1960. ¹ By 1960, Littleton’s population had fallen to 324 residents, and by 2000, it had declined to 207. ¹ The town was formally unincorporated on August 3, 2004.

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Sources

1. Majors, Dan. “Littleton, W.Va., Is a Town Decimated by Poverty, Drugs.” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. 31 Mar. 2015. Web.
2. Evans, R. L., Mary Long, and Russell Kimble. History of Wetzel County, West Virginia. Littleton. Ancestry.com. Web.
3. “Littleton, WV.” Wetzel County WVGenWeb.

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