Fort Boreman is a historic

archaeological site An archaeological site is a place (or group of physical sites) in which evidence of past activity is preserved (either prehistoric or historic or contemporary), and which has been, or may be, investigated using the discipline of archaeology an ...

encompassing a

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

fortification located near

Parkersburg Parkersburg is a city in and the county seat of Wood County, West Virginia. Located at the confluence of the Ohio and Little Kanawha rivers, it is the state's fourth-largest city and the largest city in the Parkersburg-Marietta-Vienna metro ...

Wood County, West Virginia Wood County is a county in the U.S. state of West Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 84,296, making it West Virginia's fifth-most populous county. Its county seat is Parkersburg. The county was formed in 1798 from the western ...

. It was built in 1863, by Company A of the

11th West Virginia Volunteer Infantry Regiment The 11th West Virginia Infantry Regiment was an infantry regiment that served in the Union Army during the American Civil War. Service The 11th West Virginia Infantry Regiment was organized in several western Virginia counties along the Ohio Rive ...

. It is a series of paired, approximately four foot deep trenches encircling the top of the hill in a zigzag pattern. It was originally built to ensure that the

Baltimore and Ohio Railroad The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad was the first common carrier railroad and the oldest railroad in the United States, with its first section opening in 1830. Merchants from Baltimore, which had benefited to some extent from the construction of ...

link between Wheeling and Parkersburg was not severed or commandeered by the Confederate army. The fort was named after

Arthur I. Boreman Arthur Ingram Boreman (July 24, 1823April 19, 1896) was an American lawyer, politician and judge who helped found the U.S. state of West Virginia. Raised in Tyler County, West Virginia, he served as the state's first Governor, and a United Sta ...

, West Virginia's first Governor. It was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

in 2002.

References

Buildings and structures in Parkersburg, West Virginia Archaeological sites on the National Register of Historic Places in West Virginia Boreman Wood County, West Virginia, in the American Civil War American Civil War sites in West Virginia Mountains of West Virginia Military installations established in 1863 1863 establishments in West Virginia National Register of Historic Places in Wood County, West Virginia American Civil War on the National Register of Historic Places {{WoodCountyWV-NRHP-stub