In 1903, travelers moving between Wellsburg and Steubenville had their attention attracted by a well kept orchard covering the wide, high bottom lands, midway between the two towns and opposite Mingo Junction, Ohio

The orchard was the property of T.J. and H.B. Mahan.

Wellsburg, about three miles south of this area was overlapping its boundaries and stretching northward. Steubenville,(Oh) three miles to the north and on the other side of the river was expanding in all directions.

Such was the situation when the Follansbee Brothers, in search of a location for a tin mill and steel plant saw this orchard, identified on area maps as "Mahan's Station".

The location appeared to be ideal for a manufacturing and residential town so the Follansbee Brothers arranged to purchase three hundred acres and began the erection of a sheet steel and tin plate plant capitalized at a million dollars.

The tin plate industry attracted a very skilled group of workmen, particularly a great many of Welsh extraction. These workers proved to be a very substantial lot and undertook the building of homes and an entire community.

By 1906 the area had grown to the point where it became apparent that the town should be incorporated. A committee composed of Thomas Rogers, H.B. Mahan, Thomas Gilll, H.H. Provines and A.S. Craig, made application for a charter which was granted under date of June 4, 1906.

Under the provisions of this charter, the city government was vested in a Mayor, Recorder and five members of Council. At the first municipal election held on July 14, 1906, the following were elected officers and members of council: Mayor, Thomas J. Mahan; Recorder, Brown Latimer; Council, A.S. Craig, George S. Hahne, Thomas Rogers, Harry Herbert and J.W. Nott. The new council elected Attorney R.L. Ramsey to the dual position of City Sergeant and City Solicitor.

In the year 1749, the French inaugurated the trading system with the Indians along the Ohio River Valley. At that period, the Mingo Indians held the undisputed possession of what was formerly known as “Old Mingo Bottom”, where the city of Follansbee is now located. Here, they had large fields of maize, and the surrounding hills were their hunting grounds. During the years from 1754 to 1756, while the French and Indian War was waging, the English settlers who had forged their way into this district were forced to return to the more thickly populated districts beyond the Allegheny Mountains for protection against Indian massacres. As a result of the French and Indian War, and the subsequent withdrawal of the English settlers, there was very little development along the Ohio River Valley in this section from 1758 until about 1762, when a treaty of peace was signed. The Indians, however, held control of the greater part of the Ohio River Valley until about 1768. At that time, at the suggestion of the General Assembly of the Virginia Colony, a treaty was drawn up between the Six Great Nations of Indians and the English settlers, by which it was agreed that the settlers were to have all the territory south of the Ohio River, the River to be the boundary line between the lands held by the settlers and that held by the Indians. The rich bottom land known as “Old Mingo Bottom” was, until the signing of the treaty in 1768, still the home of the Mingo Indians, but under the conditions of the treaty, they were compelled to move across the Ohio River to what is now Mingo Junction, where they pitched their tents on the land now occupied by the Carnegie Iron Hill.

After the signing of the treaty in 1768, the settlers again pushed westward to the border, and in the spring of 1772, Isaac Cox and his companions, eager for adventure, located on Mingo Bottom and erected a log house. During the same year, Isaac Cox made a formal entry upon the land, but afterward transferred all of his rights in the same to John Decker. In 1774, quite a number of massacres occurred and many forts along the Ohio River fell into the hands of the Indians. In order to protect his family and property, John Decker built a fort on the land he had taken up on Mingo Bottom. This fort was constructed of logs and stone and was situated on the ground over which the tracks of the P.W. & Ky. R.R. , now run, at a point immediately in front of the station and just south of Broad Street in the City of Follansbee. This fort, known as Fort Decker, was the scene of many conflicts, as the leaden bullets and arrow-heads found in the River bank in front of the spot bear witness. The indications are that the fort had been fired upon from Mingo Island.

John Decker owned 343 acres which comprised the land from the Wabash Bridge, west of the top of the hill, including the land recently owned by W.B. Mahan

In 1780, Alexander Wells received a patent from Thomas Jefferson, then Governor of the Commonwealth of Virginia, for 200 acres of land “lying and being in the county of Ohio, on the eastern branch of the Ohio River and including the lower end of the rich bottom called “Old Mingo Bottom”, opposite the “Town of Mingo”. Shortly after this patent was received, we find that Alexander Wells institutes a suit against the Heirs of John Decker for possession of this land, and the suit seems to have been decided in favor of Alexander Wells. Alexander Wells conveyed this land to his son, Henry Wells in 1799, who held the same until the time of his death in 1815. In his will, it appeared that previous to the time of his death Henry Wells had agreed to sell the tract of land containing 360 acres to William Mahan for a consideration of $350,000. The 360 acres includes all of the land now owned by Webster D. Davidson and the Brooke County Improvement Company and about 100 acres lying immediately north of the land of the Brooke County Improvement Company.

William Mahan was a native of Hartford Cross Roads, Hartford County, Maryland. He was born in 1776, married in 1800, and in 1814, he brought his family, then consisting of his wife and one small son, Thomas, 8 years of age, to Mingo Bottom where he had agreed to purchase the land of Henry Wells. William Mahan and his family made the trip from Maryland to their home by wagon. They descended the hill from what is now the Walker Place, down through the Tenth and Eighth Addition Plans of the City of Follansbee, to the log house that was to be their future home. The road down over Walker’s Hill was the only one in this part of the country at that time. The log house on the plantation purchased by William Mahan was one of the first built by Isaac Cox in 1772. Henry Wells during his possession of the land built an addition about twelve feet from the original house, which consisted of but one room, leaving a porch or vacancy between the two houses over which he built a roof. When William Mahan and his little family arrived at the log house described above, they found Henry Wells, then an old man, sick on his death-bed, which made it necessary for them to wait for the possession of their new house. They journeyed on to the Army Barracks at Fort Steuben, which stood where the City of Steubenville is now situated, and took up winter quarters at the fort. During the month of February, 1815, Henry Wells died and William Mahan took possession of the Old Mingo Bottom Plantation, which he made his home until his death in 1853 at the age of 77 years. He left his plantation to his son, Thomas Mahan, who enjoyed possession of the same until he, also at the age of 77 years, died in 1883 leaving quite a number of heirs, who all joined in conveying the farm to T.J. Mahan and H.B. Mahan, sons of Thomas Mahan, and it was used buy them as a fruit and truck farm until 1902, when they sold it to Benjamin G. Follansbee. Benjamin G. Follansbee conveyed to Follansbee Brothers Company a tract of 40 acres on which they have erected their large Tin Mill and the remainder of the land he conveyed to the Brooke County Improvement Company, who laid the same out in town lots.

Since the establishment of the Follansbee Brothers Company Tin Mill and the many improvements made by the Brooke County Improvement Company, the City of Follansbee has grown very rapidly and much credit for its rapid advancement is due to William Banfield, the able manager of Follansbee Brothers Company Mill and President of the Brooke County Improvement Company, whose discretion and judgment and tireless efforts have largely contributed to the marked success of this thriving little city.

At the June term of Court 1906, the City of Follansbee received its charter as a municipal corporation, and at the first election held in he new city, Thomas J. Mahan, one of the former owners of “Old Mingo Bottom” was elected Mayor, Brown Latimer the first City Recorder, and the following citizens compose the city council: L Thomas Rogers, George Hahne, J.W. Nott, Harry Herbert and A.S. Craig.

When the Brooke County Improvement Company laid out “Old Mingo Bottom” in town lots, they were forced to destroy two landmarks in order to secure the proper grade for the streets. These landmarks, were two prehistoric mounds, supposed to have been built by the Indians who formerly inhabited the country. The smaller of the two mounds showed evidence of being fifteen or twenty feet across at the base and several feet high, and was located on Main Street, midway between the intersections of Broad and State Streets with Main Street. This mound, by reason of the cultivation of the soil was partially destroyed years ago. The larger mound was 30 feet in diameter and 12 feet high. When these mounds were removed, quite a number of Tomahawks, arrowheads, scalping knives and other Indian relics were found.

In the year of 1830, William Mahan tore away a part of the old log house originally built by Isaac Cox, and to which he had made an addition shortly after purchasing the land from Henry Wells and built part of the structure now occupied as the office of the Follansbee Brothers Company. This structure consisted of the room north of the hall, the hall-way and the rooms over it, while the balance of the old log house was removed by Thomas Mahan in 1864 and the remaining portion of the present building was erected, and up util the time of the sale of the property by Thomas J. Mahan and H.B. Mahan to Benjamin G. Follansbee on Ma 9, 1902, it was occupied as the Mahan Homestead.

William Mahan, soon after he acquired the “Old Mingo Bottom” plantation, built a log house near the site of the brick house now owned by W.D. Davidson and the W.D. Davidson homestead was built by Thomas Mahan n 1864. Thomas Mahan also erected the house near the one now owned by W.B. Mahan, and known as the William Mahan Homestead, and which is now the property of Cyrus Ferguson and others, and stands immediately north of the City limits of the City of Follansbee.

The Sheet Metal Specialty Company occupy a tract of land on Broad Street, adjoining the P.W. & Ky. Depot and are engaged in the manufacturing of sheet metal specialties.

The S. Keighly Metal Ceiling and Manufacturing Company is situated immediately north of State Street and near the Pennsylvania Depot and manufacture steel window and door frames, iron shutters, re-inforced iron work for concreting and metal ceilings.

The Jefferson Glass Company’s plant is located immediately south of State Street and on the P.W. & Ky. R.R. and it is their intention to manufacture fine glass table ware.

The Union Lumber Company purchased a lot south of Duquesne Way and the P.W. & Ky. R.R. where they have their lumber yard.

The Builders’ Supply Company occupy quarters immediately west of Mill Alley and Ohio Street. The two last named Companies have furnished nearly all the material used in the buildings now erected in Follansbee.

The Pan-Handle Abstract Company who have charge of the sale of lots for the Brooke County Improvement Company report that there have been 931 lots offered for sale since June 1, 1904 and 572 lots sold up to September 27, 1906.

R. Humes who purchased #28 and 29 of the Original Plan to the Town of Follansbee on June 1, 1905 broke ground for his store room the same day and erected the first building in the town of Follansbee, as platted and laid out by the Brooke County Improvement Company.

The first brick structure erected in the City of Follansbee was by H.H. Provines on lot #121 of the Original Plan, and the front room of the building is now occupied by the first bank in Follansbee, the “Citizens Bank of Follansbee” This bank was established in July 1906 with an authorized total stock of $25,000. The officers of the bank are as follows:

The United States Post Office was first established in Follansbee in 1905, with Mrs. Mary Hately for Postmistress, and was located on lot #34 of the Original Plan of Follansbee.

At the present ti me, Follansbee has a three-roomed school house which is merely a temporary structure, weather boarded and down with strips on the outside and will soon be abandoned as a new school building is being built for a cost of about $20,000. There are two churches in the city, the Methodist Church at the corner of Virginia Avenue and Raymond Street and the Christian Church at the corner of Penn and Neville Streets. About three hundred private residences, a hotel, and thirty store rooms have been built, in addition to the various manufacturing plants before mentioned. The street car line operated by the Tri-State Traction Company extends through the city of Follansbee from its northern to its southern limits and is located on Main Street. The P.W. & Ky. R.R. Branch of the Pennsylvania Railroad, the Bell Telephone Company and the Pheonix Telephone Company all extend through Follansbee.

There are, however, no paved streets, no street lights, no sewers, and no water or gas mains in Follansbee, but the many improvements made within the last year would indicate that it will not be many months before Follansbee will have all these conveniences.

The box made of tin in which this History is found was rolled at the Tin Mill of Follansbee Brothers’ Company.

Wellsburg W.VA. September 27, 1906 abstract contributed by Gwendolyn Mackey Hubbard