Bruceton Mills and the Scottish King Connection
Near Wisp, West Virginia
The mills at this bend in Big Sandy Creek drew on the water power of the creek. A settler named John Hoffman named the community Bruceton in honor of his stepfather, George Bruce, a Marylander said to be descended from Robert Bruce, the king of Scotland. The town was chartered in eighteen fifty-three.
The Big Sandy Creek still flows past here on its way to the Cheat River, and the creek has become a popular put-in for kayakers. The mills are long gone, but the name with its royal Scottish echo has outlasted every other claim to the place.
