EARLY 1905-1920 PHOTOS OF ARNOLDSBURG - Village Established In 1832

(02/20/2026)

Photo taken of the village about 1920, with a couple automobiles parked in front of the gas station in lower right of the photo (Bob Weaver Collection) Same photo cropped, showing upper and lower village An earlier photo of the village (likely taken from property now owned by Ron Lane) about 1905-1910 shows the Louisa Chapel Church on the hillside, upper right (Photo compliments of Gene Clark) Same photo cropped, showing close-up of village Arnoldsburg was an early Calhoun settlement, officially established as a post office in 1832, named in honor of James Arnold, who patented land upon which the village stands. He was so honored because he taught the first school that same year. The first permanent settler in Calhoun has been given as Phillip Starcher, who built a house at Arnoldsburg in 1810, although several explorers and pioneers came and went many years before. By 1835 the pioneers decided they should have a permanent place for schooling, and erected a log cabin for a school house. The village came close to being the county seat, the subject or a royal battle between "West Forkers" and the "Grantsville Bunch." It was the home of Peregrine Hays, son of Congressman Samuel Lewis Hays, who came to Arnoldsburg in 1840. He is one of the county's most historical characters and politicians, a Confederate soldier, farmer and slave holder. He was a principal player in the creation of the county and the county seat squabble that lasted 13-years. While he often blamed the "Grantsville bunch" for taking the seat from Arnoldsburg, he purchased land below Big Bend, just in case the seat would go to northern Calhoun. The sharp division between northern and southern Calhoun lives on 150 years after the birth of the county, some of it based on real shenanigans while other issues are connected to politicians perpetuating the division for their personal gain. The village was the rallying place of Calhoun's Moccasin Rangers, a renegade Confederate band that wreaked havoc over several counties in the name of the southern cause. Read History of My Community - Arnoldsburg  by Mattie Starcher Carper

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