History of Cowen

(excerpts from historian Mark Romano)

Cowen is located in Webster County and is situated on the divide between the Gauley and Elk Rivers at around 2,400 feet in elevation. It is near the junction of WV Routes 15/20 and 82. It lies 15 miles from Webster Springs, 23 miles from Summersville and 26 miles from Richwood. It is the largest of three municipalities in the county land area with a population of approximately 485 residents according to the 2019 Census. 

Early History

Early settlers to the area found a setting described by historian Mark Romano (2011): The first settler in present-day Cowen, located at what is now the site of Country Hardware, adjacent to West Third Street and WV Route 20.” This was a home constructed by Ward R. Woods in 1828. Other families followed and soon a small handful of homesteads were living in the area that is now Cowen. At the time, the main hub of activity was roughly 1/2 mile to the east of town along John Goff Road. Here the community of Welch Glade was located, situated around a small post office on Bobbitt farm. Romano describes the sight of early settlers:

In the vicinity of Cowen, was a natural cranberry bog. Here, year after year, the cranberries crew wild. They were large, had a fine flavor and were abundant. Eventually the bog was drained and the land converted into good farming soil which produced all kinds of crops. It seemed especially suited for the growing of corn, potatoes and celery. The low lying hills were fine for grazing pastures and were particularly adapted to raising sheep.

In 1892, railroad tracks of the West Virginia and Pittsburgh Railroad reached the community. At this time, the community was known as Savannah, for the pastoral setting and natural pastures around the cranberry bogs and glades in the area. The railroad had surveyed routes through both the Cowen and Upperglade but settled upon Cowen’s position as the better-suited. According to Romano, “Senator Johnson Camden (principal of the West Virginia & Pittsburgh Railroad) bought 96 acres from Wallace Hollister at $15.00 an acre, and then he laid out the town site.” A depot was constructed and by 1893, the line had reached Lane’s Bottom, some five miles to the south of Cowen, near the former Stroud settlement. In July 1893, Senator Camden conveyed by deed recorded in the Webster County courthouse a mapped plat of land for the construction and development of a town. The town was to be named “Cowen” for vice-president of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, Mr. John K. Cowen. The community was bolstered on November 15, 1893, when the Welch Glade post office relocated from the Bobbitt farm.