West Virginia businessman
Henry G. Davis founded the
Potomac and Piedmont Coal and Railroad Company in 1866. In 1880 the company began to construct a rail line from a
junction on the
Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&O) near
Bloomington, Maryland, south along the
North Branch Potomac River. In 1881 the line reached
coal fields near
Elk Garden, WV, and Davis obtained new
charters from the states of West Virginia and Maryland, renaming the company as WVC&P. By 1884 the line reached
Fairfax, WV and the location of the future town of
Davis, WV. Davis became a center for
logging,
sawmills and leather
tanning, and in the 1890s it was the starting point for the rapidly growing Davis Coal and Coke Company. In 1886 the WVC&P began construction north from the Bloomington junction (known as WVC Junction) toward
Westernport, Maryland and Cumberland, using a newly created subsidiary, the Piedmont and Cumberland (P&C). The P&C reached Cumberland in July 1887. Connections with the B&O were established at Cumberland and
Rawlings, Maryland. Southward construction on the WVC&P continued, and the line reached
Parsons in 1888 and Elkins (formerly Leadville) in 1889. Elkins became a major hub for the railroad. A branch out of Elkins west and north along the
Tygart Valley River was constructed and reached Belington in 1891. Another branch followed the river south, reaching
Beverly in 1891 and Huttonsville in 1899. In 1899 the WVC&P established the
Coal and Iron Railway (C&I) to build a line from Elkins to Durbin. By 1903 the line to Durbin was complete and a connection was made there with the
Chesapeake and Ohio Railway (C&O). ==Acquisition==