SOPHIA

A short history of Sophia

A post office called Sophia has been in operation since 1909. The town was named for Sophia McGinnis, the family member of a local civil servant. The town incorporated in 1912.

The area that became Sophia was originally known as Soak Creek. Pyrrhus McGinnis, who received a 2,500-acre land grant from the Commonwealth of Virginia, settled in the area with his family in 1843. Another early settler, Conrad Riffe, also settled along Soak Creek during the same period. The community was later named for Sophia, the third wife of McGinnis.

Development of the community accelerated with the expansion of the Virginian Railway into the region. Contractors constructing the railroad reached Soak Creek in 1908 and established an office and commissary there. In 1909, James I. Wilson, who operated the railroad commissary, sought a new name for the local post office. E. S. Brown suggested "Sophia" in honor of Sophia McGinnis, and the post office subsequently adopted the name.

The town was incorporated on August 30, 1912, with an original area of 302 acres. E. H. Ballard served as Sophia's first mayor, and the town had approximately 45 residents at the time of incorporation.

Sophia developed as a commercial center serving the surrounding Winding Gulf Coalfield. Although Sophia itself was not a company coal town such as nearby Affinity, residents of nearby coal camps traveled to the community for shopping and recreation. At one point, Sophia served as a trading center for as many as 24 surrounding coal mines.

Sophia experienced substantial growth during the first half of the 20th century as the surrounding coal industry expanded. A highway connecting the community with Beckley opened in 1925, improving access to the town, which previously depended heavily on rail transportation. The town's population increased from 240 in 1920 to 1,430 by 1950.

Several fires influenced the development of Sophia's commercial district. Major fires occurred in 1913, 1922, and 1925, with the 1922 fire destroying a significant portion of the town. In January 1925, the town council adopted an ordinance prohibiting the construction of wood-frame commercial buildings. Subsequent businesses were largely constructed of brick and locally quarried stone.

Adapted (trimmed) from the Wikipedia article Sophia, West Virginia, revision 1379540297 by its contributors, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.