Captain Farley's Raid

Captain Henry Farley, a veteran of the Revolutionary War and resident of Montgomery County, Virginia, was the first known Anglo visitor to present-day Atenville. In June 1792, Captain Farley passed through the area while pursuing a Native American war party that had raided Virginia settlements at Bluestone River. By the time he reached what is today Atenville, he and his group had already engaged the retreating natives in the headwaters of Coal River and in the Guyandotte River valley some two miles below what is today Logan. Farley pursued the natives to the mouth of the Guyandotte River before returning home.^[2]

According to the F.B. Lambert Papers at Marshall University, Stephen Hart's father was killed by Native Americans at the mouth of Little Harts Creek. Big and Little Harts creeks are named for Hart's family. This incident, if true, would have happened prior to 1795.

Twentieth Century

Atenville is named for a Mr. Aten, an employee of the C&O Railroad. Atenville had a post office from 1906-1918 and from 1922–1926. The following persons have served as postmaster: George W. Dillon (1906-1908), William M. Workman (1908-1914), Nancy Payne (1914-1915), Arnold Perry (1915-1918), Kile Topping (1922-1923), and Wilson B. Lambert (1923-1926). The post office was discontinued on February 27, 1926.