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                                                            Exhibit 31.1
                                  CERTIFICATION


I, William A. Loving, Jr., certify that:

1.       I have reviewed this quarterly report on Form 10-Q of Allegheny
         Bancshares, Inc.;

2.       Based on my knowledge, this report does not contain any untrue
         statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact necessary
         to make the statements made, in light of the circumstances under which
         such statements were made, not misleading with respect to the period
         covered by this report;

3.       Based on my knowledge, the financial statements, and other financial
         information included in this report, fairly present in all material
         respects the financial condition, results of operations and cash flows
         of the issuer as of, and for, the periods presented in this report;

4.       The issuer's other certifying officer and I are responsible for
         establishing and maintaining disclosure controls and procedures (as
         defined in Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e)) for the issuer
         and we have:

         a)  designed such disclosure controls and procedures, or caused such
             disclosure controls and procedures to be designed under our
             supervision, to ensure that material information relating to the
             issuer, including its consolidated subsidiary, is made known to us
             by others within that entity, particularly during the period in
             which this report is being prepared;

         b)  evaluated the effectiveness of the issuer's disclosure controls and
             procedures and presented in this report our conclusions about the
             effectiveness of the disclosure controls and procedures, as of the
             end of the period covered by this report based on such evaluation;
             and

         c)  disclosed in this report any change in the issuer's internal
             control over financial reporting that occurred during the issuer's
             most recent fiscal quarter (the issuer's fourth fiscal quarter in
             the case of an annual report) that has materially affected, or is
             reasonably likely to materially affect, the issuer's internal
             control over financial reporting; and

5.       The issuer's other certifying officer and I have disclosed, based on
         our most recent evaluation of internal control over financial
         reporting, to the issuer's auditors and the audit committee of the
         issuer's board of directors (or persons performing the equivalent
         functions):

         a)  all significant deficiencies and material weaknesses in the design
             or operation of internal control over financial reporting which are
             reasonably likely to adversely affect the issuer's ability to
             record, process, summarize and report financial information; and

         b)  any fraud, whether or not material, that involves management or
             other employees who have a significant role in the issuer's
             internal control over financial reporting.



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                                            /s/ WILLIAM A. LOVING, JR.
                                            ----------------------------------
                                            William A. Loving, Jr.
                                            Executive Vice-President and Chief
                                             Executive Officer


Date:   May 6, 2004