Howesville 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

coal town A coal town, also known as a coal camp or patch, is a type of company town or mining community established by the employer, a mining company, which imports workers to the site to work the mineral find. The company develops it and provides reside ...

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. It sits at an altitude of 2,218 feet (676 m). The community once possessed a post office, which has since been closed. Howesville was named for James D. Howe, who opened a store there in the 1860s. The community was originally built up chiefly by Germans. St. Joseph's Cemetery and Catholic Church are located in Howesville. The original church was built in the 1840s. It was replaced by the current structure. Nicholas Borgman, who was one of the people who helped build the original church, was the first person buried in St. Joseph's Cemetery in January 1847. His gravestone is still standing.

Meteorite Hoax of 1920

hoax A hoax (plural: hoaxes) is a widely publicised falsehood created to deceive its audience with false and often astonishing information, with the either malicious or humorous intent of causing shock and interest in as many people as possible. S ...

news dispatch in 1920, picked up by major newspapers across the U.S., reported that on November 22, 1920, residents of the area "were thrown into a panic tonight when a large

meteor A meteor, known colloquially as a shooting star, is a glowing streak of a small body (usually meteoroid) going through Earth's atmosphere, after being heated to incandescence by collisions with air molecules in the upper atmosphere, creating a ...

fell at Howesville.. according to reports received here." The news story added that "The meteor struck in the business section of Howesville, near the railroad station. It exploded as it buried itself in the earth. The force of the blast was heard for several miles. An automobile standing near the railroad station was damaged by the explosion and the occupants of the machine were dazed, but escaped injury." The dispatch added "There are no telephones in Howesville and detailed information as to the meteor could not be obtained tonight."Meteor Plunges to Town Street in West Virginia", ''Chicago Tribune'', November 23, 1920, p1

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Railroad Train in Howesville
Unincorporated communities in Preston County, West Virginia Unincorporated communities in West Virginia Coal towns in West Virginia {{PrestonCountyWV-geo-stub