In 1776, Fairfax granted the site of the town to the Virginia Colony. Blennerhassett Island, in the Ohio River near Parkersburg, was the site of a mansion built by Harman Blennerhassett about 1800. Blennerhassett, with Aaron Burr and others, was suspected of planning an independent government in the southwestern region of the United States. A reconstruction of the mansion has been built over the original foundation. Cass, in Pocahontas County, has a state-owned scenic railroad powered by steam locomotives.
Trains run through beautiful mountain country on the tracks of a former logging railroad.
Charles Town, the county seat of Jefferson County, was founded in 1786 by Charles Washington, younger brother of George Washington. A jury at the Jefferson County Courthouse found John Brown guilty of murder and treason after his 1859 raid on Harpers Ferry. A stone marker designates the site of the John Brown Gallows. Several historic homes stand in the area around Charles Town. Harewood was built about 1770 for George Washington's brother Samuel.