Sesquicentennial—Individuals, most adorned in period attire, paused for a photo at the Alleghany Jubilee following the Feb. 12 kickoff of the county's 150th anniversary celebration. Pictured are (seated, from left) Ken Richardson, Betty Richardson, N.C. Society of Historians President Elizabeth Bray Sherrill, John Miller, Agnes Joines and Thelma Andrews Edwards. Also pictured (from left) are Mary Jane Ciraco, Gencie Finney, Mary Pennington, Senith Nichols, Juanita G. Bryan, Charity Gambill-Gwyn, Delmer A. Bryan, Ann Johnson, Jeff Halsey, Wes Brinegar, Claire Halsey, Sandy Rost, Sharon Halsey, Barbara Lucier, Pastor Phil Edwards and Autumn Brinegar. In the background are musicians Ernest Joines, Joe Irwin, Charlie Edwards, Chris Johnson, Kermit Pruitt, Lynn Worth, Dr. Mark Handy, Lucas Pasley and Gary Joines. Photo by Laura Thornburg

County kicks off 150th year

The Alleghany County Courthouse was filled with people when the county held its sesquicentennial kickoff in the courtroom Feb. 12.

During the evening, Judge Richard Doughton and Sparta Mayor John Miller offered a history of the county. Charity Gambill-Gwyn served as the mistress of the evening's ceremonies and Ken Richardson, chairman of the Alleghany County Commission, offered closing remarks.

Offering a bit of information on Doughton, Gambill-Gwyn stated he is the son of Dick and Ellen Doughton, he began a local law practice in 1971, was appointed a special superior court judge in 1997, a position he continues to hold at present. He is also a member of the Alleghany Rotary Club.

Doughton said, "I've been asked to begin this celebration of the 150th anniversary…I'll give you a short history of the formation of Alleghany County. A bill creating our county was introduced to the legislature this date by Colonel Allen Gentry in the 1858-1859 legislature. Colonel Allen Gentry lived near Shiloh Methodist Church. The bill was read three times and passed in the house and senate, creating our county. The name Alleghany is believed (to be) derived from a Delaware Indian name for the Alleghany and Ohio rivers and is said to have meant ‘a fine stream.'"

He added an act was ratified in December 1862 to establish a superior court for the county, held at Shiloh Church, where court sessions were held until a site for a courthouse could be provided.

"The first term was to be held on the third Monday after the fourth Monday in August 1863," said Doughton, with the first appointed clerk being Gentry, who died in 1862.

He remarked, "There have been various acts of the legislature since the beginning of our county to make some small changes, clarifications and extensions and territories added to the boundaries of our county, but basically it remains.

 

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