About

Colonists first settled Mossy Creek in the 1740s. Mossy Creek Iron Works was founded by 1775, when partners Henry Miller and Mark Bird began operating an iron furnace, forge, and mills here. The ironworks became an important industrial enterprise and produced pig iron and finished pieces that were sold throughout western Virginia. Bird sold his interest in the ironworks to Miller in 1779. A community grew up around the ironworks, which likely ceased operation during the Civil War. By 1852 the Mossy Creek Academy was established by Jedediah Hotchkiss, later the cartographer for Confederate Maj. Gen. Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson. The school remained in operation until about 1861.