[3][4] 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.

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.

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.

By early October of that year, Lewis' force had marched downstream to the mouth of the Kanawha River.

One of the heroic defenders of Fort Donnally was an African American slave named Dick Pointer.

Pointer later addressed the Virginia General Assembly and gave a moving appeal that "in the decline of life" he requested to be freed for his defense of Fort Donnally.

During the secession crisis of 1861 Greenbrier citizens chose Samuel Price as their delegate to the Richmond convention.

On April 17, 1861, the day Virginia's secession ordinance was passed he voted against it, but later changed his mind and signed the official document.

[7] The Civil War came to the county in mid 1861, and several battles were fought in the area, including Lewisburg in May 1862 and White Sulphur Springs in August 1863.

Greenbrier County became part of the new state of West Virginia, although it never participated in any of the votes held by the Restored Government in Wheeling.

[8][9] In 1863, West Virginia's counties were divided into civil townships, with the intention of encouraging local government.

[10] Greenbrier County was initially divided into ten townships: Anthony's Creek,[i] Big Levels, Blue Sulphur, Falling Spring,[ii] Fort Spring, Irish Corner, Lewisburg, Meadow Bluff, White Sulphur, and Williamsburg.

to be the oldest golf course in the United States was founded in 1884 just north of White Sulphur Springs by the Montague family.

Shue's mother, Mary Jane Heaster, testified in court that her daughter's ghost had visited her on four separate occasions, claiming that her neck had been broken by her husband, who had strangled her in a fit of rage.

A historical marker located along U.S. Route 60 at Sam Black Church describes it as the "[o]nly known case in which testimony from [a] ghost helped convict a murderer.

"[12][13] During the decade prior to World War II, several Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) camps were located along the Greenbrier River.

For most of the 20th century, the Meadow River Lumber Company operated the world's largest hardwood sawmill in Rainelle.

During the years of the Cold War, a large underground bunker was built beneath a section of new construction at the hotel, to serve as a secret Congressional refuge in case of nuclear attack.

In 2005, Invenergy, LLC of Chicago Illinois announced plans to build the $300 million, 124-turbine Beech Ridge Wind Farm along the tops of several Greenbrier County mountains.

Development, which was originally expected to begin in late 2007, was stalled when the state Supreme Court agreed to hear the case brought by opponents of the project.

[16] Ultimately, The Supreme Court ruled in favor of the developers, clearing the way for construction to begin in the summer of 2009.

The school system is governed by the Greenbrier County Board of Education, which is elected on a non-partisan basis.