Greenbrier, West Virginia

Greenbrier County, West Virginia
Greenbrier County Courthouse
Seal
Location in the U.S. state of West Virginia
West Virginia's location in the U.S.
Founded	October 20, 1778
Seat	Lewisburg
Largest city	Lewisburg
Area
• Total	1,025 sq mi (2,655 km2)
• Land	1,020 sq mi (2,642 km2)
• Water	4.9 sq mi (13 km2), 0.5%
Population (est.)
• (2015)	35,516
• Density	35/sq mi (14/km²)
Congressional district	3rd
Time zone	Eastern: UTC-5/-4
Website	www.greenbriercounty.net

Greenbrier County /ˈɡriːnbraɪər/, is a county in the U.S. state of West Virginia. As of the 2010 census, the population was 35,480. Its county seat is Lewisburg. The county was formed in 1778 from Botetourt and Montgomery counties in Virginia.

Prior to the arrival of European-American settlers around 1740, Greenbrier County, like most of West Virginia, was used as a hunting ground by the Shawnee and Cherokee nations. They called this land Can-tuc-kee.

Shawnee leaders, including Pucksinwah and later his son Tecumseh, were alarmed by the arrival of the European settlers, who by 1771 had set up extensive trade in the area. The day books of early merchants Sampson and George Mathews recorded sales to the Shawnee that included such luxury items as silk, hats, silver, and tailor-made suits. Shawnee leaders feared the loss of their hunting lands, which were vital to their survival. They believed the white settlers would continue to encroach on their territory downriver on the Ohio.

Confrontations, sometimes, violent, increased between the Native Americans and settlers. In 1774, the Earl of Dunmore, then governor of the colonies of New York and Virginia, decided to raise an army of 3,000 men to attack the Shawnees in their homeland in present-day Ohio. Half of these men were inducted at Fort Pitt, while the other half assembled at Fort Union under the command of General Andrew Lewis. The town of present-day Lewisburg developed around the fort and was named for that commander. By early October of that year, Lewis' force had marched downstream to the mouth of the Kanawha River. They fought the Battle of Point Pleasant against a Shawnee force led by Hokoleskwa, also known as Cornstalk. This site later developed as the town of Point Pleasant, West Virginia.