CITY
OF COVINGTON - VIRGINIA
CITY
Location: 37.77796 North,
79.99027 West
Zip codes: 24426
Population in 1990: 6,991
Number of dwellings: 3,269
Land area: 11.49 sq. kms.
Water area: 0 sq.kms.
DISTRICT
Location: 37.79737 North,
80.00735 West
Zip codes: 24426
Population in 1990: 1,890
Number of dwellings: 804
Land area: 70.848 sq. kms.
Water area: 0.028 sq.kms.
Non-populated areas: Edgemont, Fairlawn, Idlewilde, Parrish Court, Rayon Terrace and Rivermont
With an elevation of 1245 ft,
Covington, Virginia is the City and County seat of Alleghany County, West
Central Virginia, 35 miles North of Roanoke in the Alleghenies, 141 miles West
by North of Richmond and 55 miles North West by West of Lynchburg, in Jackson
River Valley, West of Lexington and East of Beckley on U.S. Route 60.
The site was first settled in
1746 and a later settlement, Merry's Store, grew around Fort Young. Laid out
in 1819 and named after Peter Covington, the town's oldest inhabitant, it was
incorporated as a town in 1873 and as a city in 1952. Covington continues to
be politically independent and governed by a manager and council. By 1970 the
population stood at 10,060.
The city serves as the western
approach to the Shenandoah Valley, hemmed in by Warm Springs, Sweet Springs
and Lick Mountains.
Other points of interest
include The Alleghany Central Scenic Railway and Fort Young, a copy of the
original built in 1754, taken from Col. George Washington's original plans.
The Roaring Run Waterfall and
Spa at Sweet Chalybeate, which is open to public in summer for swimming, are
both worth a visit as is the Humpback Bridge, West on US 60. It is an unusual
covered bridge, built by pioneers in 1835 and made of hand-hewn oak held
together by locust pins and is the only one of its type in the U.S.
Falling Spring, a 200 ft
cascading waterfall into a gorge was referred to by Thomas Jefferson for its
scenic beauty in his Notes on Virginia, A plaque nearby refers to Indian War
figure, Mad Ann Bailey, a frontier woman adept at shooting, riding &
swearing.
A visitor would also enjoy
Moomaw Lake, 12 miles long with 100 mile of coastline of towering mountains
and The James River Ranger District office of the George Washington National
Forest.
Best Hotels/Motels are The
Holiday Inn, Pinehurst, Town House.
Main local trades include
Paper, rayon textiles, furniture, flour, coal, iron & limestone, film,
chemicals and production of bleached board.
First Virginia Bank at
Highlands appear in The Million Dollar directory as one of America's Top
50,000 leading private & public companies in 1988. Other large businesses
to be found locally are Covington Motor Co. Inc., 603 S.Monroe St. and
Covington Tire Co. Inc. 1015 S.Monroe Ave.,
Addresses worth contacting for
further local information are:
The Archives Dept, Room E400
State of West Virginia Library, Charleston 25305.
West Virginia Collection,
University of West Virginia, Morganstown 26506.
Greater Alleghany Highlands
Chamber of Commerce, 241 West Main St, Covington 24426.
THE HUMPBACK BRIDGE -
COVINGTON
Extract from "Covered
Bridges in Virginia"
Grandaddy of the covered
bridges can be found west of Covington as part of the Kanawha
Turnpike in Alleghany County. One of three humpback bridges said to have been
built within a mile, it received its name from its location and its rise of
eight feet from the bridge's ends to its centre
The 100 ft long, single-span
structure carried traffic for nearly 400 years before being abandoned in 1929.
For nearly a quarter of a century, it stood derelict near its then-modern
successor
Since 1954, it has been
maintained as part of a five-acre highway wayside three miles west of
Covington on US 60. The Business and Professional Women's Club of Covington
and the Covington Chamber of Commerce were active in securing donations to
help restore the old structure and to preserve it as part of Alleghany
County's history Today it is the nation's only surviving curved-span covered
bridge.
The bridge can be reached from
Interstate 64 by taking ramps to US 60 at the Callaghan interchange, then
traveling east on US 60 about a half-mile, or by taking US 60 west from
Covington."
Local Industry
Westvaco Corporation
The
Covington Mill is one of the most technologically advanced bleached paperboard
manufacturing facilities in the world. The mill stretches 1.5 miles along the
Jackson River and employs about 1,500 people. It produces more than 2,500 tons
of bleached paper and paperboard each day and exports its products to more
than 60 countries.
This facility manufactures
paperboard used for premium folding cartons, for aseptic and other liquid
packaging and for printing applications that include books, greeting cards and
sports cards.
With
185 employees, the Carbon Department manufactures activated carbon for use in
environmental control applications and industrial purification processes. The
facility supplies a major share of the world' requirements for carbon used to
clean automotive emissions. Activated carbon is also used to purify foods,
chemicals and pharmaceuticals and as catalysts for other industrial uses.
One of Westvaco's three
research centers is located in Covington. The work of this laboratory, staffed
by nearly 50 scientists and support personal, covers research and development
for papermaking, converting and new products.
The Low Moor converting and
services facility processes approximately 25% of the Covington Mill's output
of bleached paperboard through one or more of its three distinct and separate
operations: extrusion coating, sheeting, and custom rewinding. Approximately
180 employees work at this advanced converting operation, located eight miles
east of the Covington Mill.
In this view of the Covington
Mill, the blue buildings highlight Westvaco's $1 billion investment in
Covington since 1983.
