Born in 1813, Barclay McCollum moved from Sandy Creek in Preston County to the Cooper’s Rock area to establish a homestead (per an 1895 interview, “on top of Laurel Hill on the east side of Cheat River and about one mile therefrom”). After McCollum’s wife died and five of his children had moved away, two of his daughters, Adelaide (Addie) & Isabelle (Belle) remained to care for their father until his death in 1896.
Listed in the 1910 census as “Boarding House Keepers”, the sisters offered home-cooked meals and lodging to hikers and hunters. The McCollum farm was a regular stop on the itineraries of those in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s who wanted to climb the mountain to explore the region. As visitors were unfamiliar with the remote terrain, Addie and Belle (and their dog “Brave”) would act as guides for those wanting to see the nearby attractions of Cooper’s Rock, Raven Rock, Buzzard’s Rock and Rock City. This was an essential service for hikers to complete their treks safely.
The Morgantown newspaper of the period, the Daily New Dominion, often printed stories of individuals who, without guides, became hopelessly lost for hours and even days in the surrounding forest: “Occasionally a lone wanderer loses his way in this wilderness but strangers usually employ a guide to conduct them over the rocks and through the dense undergrowth.”
Having to fend for themselves in such an isolated location was difficult for the sisters and was not without danger. Per the Clarksburg Daily Telegraph, 4/28/1913, a fire would have destroyed their dwelling had the sisters not “alone in their home near Cooper’s Rock fought a forest fire which surrounded their property all night and succeeded in preventing the destruction of their home and outbuildings.”
Belle died in 1936 at age 76 in Dellslow and Addie, later married to Adolph Eberhart, died in 1939 at age 88 in Weston. The homestead became so well known, or “locally famous” as one newspaper termed it, that postcards of the residence were sold. In sharp contrast to the deprivations the sisters had to contend with, the family’s legacy, today’s 25-site McCollum campground in Cooper’s Rock State Forest, offers electric hookups, shower/laundry facilities and Wi-Fi.
From WorthPoint, a postcard of the McCollum residence dated 8/7/1912: