Centerville (Formerly Ripley Mills) — also known as Alma — is an unincorporated community in Tyler County, West Virginia, United States. Centerville is located along West Virginia Route 18, southeast of Middlebourne. Centerville has a post office with ZIP code 26320; the post office uses the name Alma.

History

The Centerville/Alma area is where three streams ( McElroy Creek, Wheeler Run and Conaway Run) flow into

Middle Island Creek Middle Island Creek is a river, 77 miles (124 km) long, in northwestern West Virginia in the United States. It is a tributary of the Ohio River, draining an area of 565 square miles (1,463 km2) on the unglaciated Allegheny Plateau. It w ...

within a short distance of one another. The earliest white settler was John McElroy who gave his name to McElroy Creek and was killed by Indians there. This was likely in the early 1790s, as the natives had effectively been expelled by 1795. William Underwood (1780-1866) and his family settled there on 23 March 1812. He had been appointed constable of the McElroy District and was granted 2000 acres of land on McElroy. He was also appointed Captain of the Virginia militia in the same year. He served as Justice of the Peace there for 37 years. In April 1840, "Squire" Underwood hosted

John Brown John Brown most often refers to: *John Brown (abolitionist) (1800–1859), American who led an anti-slavery raid in Harpers Ferry, Virginia in 1859 John Brown or Johnny Brown may also refer to: Academia * John Brown (educator) (1763–1842), Ir ...

(1800-59) — later the famous abolitionist and terrorist — who was in the area scouting land and properties.

References

Unincorporated communities in Tyler County, West Virginia Unincorporated communities in West Virginia {{TylerCountyWV-geo-stub