Aurora is an

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a parcel of land that is not governed by a local general-purpose municipal corporation. (At p. 178.) They may be governed or serviced by an encompassing unit (such as a county) or another branch of the state (such as th ...

and

census-designated place A census-designated place (CDP) is a Place (United States Census Bureau), concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only. CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the counte ...

in southeastern

Preston County Preston County is a County (United States), county located in the U.S. state of West Virginia. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 Census, the population was 34,216. Its county seat is Kingwood, West Virginia, Kingwood. The county was fo ...

West Virginia West Virginia is a mountainous U.S. state, state in the Southern United States, Southern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States.The United States Census Bureau, Census Bureau and the Association of American ...

, United States. As of the 2010 census, its population was 201. Aurora is located on

U.S. Route 50 U.S. Route 50 or U.S. Highway 50 (US 50) is a major east–west route of the U.S. Highway system, stretching from Interstate 80 (I-80) in West Sacramento, California, to Maryland Route 528 (MD 528) in Ocean City, Maryland, on the Atlantic ...

between the

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It borders the states of Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and Delaware to its east ...

state line and the town of Rowlesburg.

Cathedral State Park Cathedral State Park is the largest virgin timber tract remaining in West Virginia. The park features trees of up to 90 feet in height and 16 feet in circumference. Located on about one mile (1.6 km) east of the town of Aurora and five m ...

is located to the east of Aurora's post office.

History

Aurora was originally a

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

settlement. The town was originally called Salem and later Mount Carmel. Its current name was suggested because of the town's high altitude. One of the original settlers to the area was John Stough, a Lutheran minister. The primary industries throughout the early and mid-19th century were farming and timber. In the late 1880s, the town became known as a resort area as the result of several large hotels which were built in the area. Some of these featured casinos, pools, and concert halls. In the 1930s an artist colony formed in the nearby Youghiogheny Forest area. Located near Aurora are the Brookside Historic District,

Gaymont Gaymont is a historic home located near Aurora, Preston County, West Virginia. It was built about 1896 as a summer resort cottage. It is a two-story, T-shaped dwelling constructed of wood, wood shingles, wood half-timbers, and cut stone. It ...

and the Red Horse Tavern, listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

References

Northwestern Turnpike Census-designated places in Preston County, West Virginia Census-designated places in West Virginia Morgantown metropolitan area German-American culture in West Virginia {{PrestonCountyWV-geo-stub