French Creek, West Virginia
{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2023}}
{{Infobox settlement
|name = French Creek
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|settlement_type = Unincorporated community
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|pushpin_map_caption = Location within the state of West Virginia
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|map_caption = Location within Upshur county
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|subdivision_type = Country
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|subdivision_name1 = West Virginia
|subdivision_type2 = County
|subdivision_name2 = Upshur
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|timezone = Eastern (EST)
|utc_offset = -5
|timezone_DST = EDT
|utc_offset_DST = -4
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|elevation_ft = 1460
|coordinates = {{coord|38|53|8|N|80|17|50|W|region:US_type:city|display=inline,title}}
|postal_code_type = ZIP code
|postal_code = 26218{{cite web|url=http://tools.usps.com/go/ZipLookupAction!input.action|title=USPS - Look Up a ZIP Code|access-date=2012-02-15|author=United States Postal Service|year=2012}}
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|blank1_info = 1554511{{cite gnis|1554511|French Creek}}
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French Creek is an unincorporated community in Upshur County, West Virginia, United States.
French Creek is 9½ miles south of the county seat, Buckhannon, on West Virginia Route 20. It is home to the West Virginia State Wildlife Center — formerly the "French Creek Game Farm" — a zoological park featuring native and introduced fauna. Popular exhibits at the center include American bison, North American river otters, black bears and mountain lions.
History
French Creek was settled in the early 19th century by a number of New England Presbyterians. Family names from these settlers include Gould, Young, Phillips, Burr, Sexton, Brooks, Alden and Loomis. The community's first post office, only the second established in the county, opened in 1822. The community takes its name from nearby French Creek, a tributary of the Buckhannon River watershed.{{cite book|last=Kenny|first=Hamill|title=West Virginia Place Names: Their Origin and Meaning, Including the Nomenclature of the Streams and Mountains|url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015009099824;view=1up;seq=282;size=125|year=1945|publisher=The Place Name Press|location=Piedmont, WV|page=254}} The village was also referred to as Meadeville, as it is located in the magisterial Meade District. French Creek was also known "Snatchburg" for some time in the 1800s, said to be a reference to the perceived rapaciousness of local merchants.{{cite book |last1=Vance|title=Memorial of the centenary celebration of the French Creek Presbyterian Church |first1=Harry W. |date=1919 |publisher=self published |location=French Creek, West Virginia, USA |page=25 |url=https://archive.org/details/memorialofcenten00vanc/page/24/mode/2up |access-date=25 January 2022}}
The French Creek Presbyterian Church was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1974. The land was donated to the church by the Young family.{{NRISref|2009a}}
Ralph "Boone" Young lived on Bush Run Road in French Creek, where he once kept bobcats and other wild animals. His animals became a visiting point of sort over time. He was a trapper and one of the founders of the Game Farm, (now called the West Virginia State Wildlife Center).
Notable person
- Maurice Graham Brooks (1900–93), biologist, forester and celebrated authority on Appalachian natural history.
See also
References
- Images of America: Upshur County by The Upshur County Historical Society, pages 27 and 46.
{{Upshur County, West Virginia}}
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Category:Unincorporated communities in Upshur County, West Virginia