Orlando, West Virginia

The first settlers came to Oil Creek's wilderness in the early decades of the 19th century from Virginia and Maryland, many from the area of the South Branch of the Potomac River.

[2][3][4] By the late 19th century, several farming communities had developed in the Oil Creek watershed, including Blake, Peterson, Posey Run, and others.

These little communities in Oil Creek’s watershed tended to include a one room school, one or two churches, and perhaps a general store, blacksmith and/or grist mill.

In the late 19th century the Coal and Coke[5] and then the Baltimore and Ohio railroad lines were built and they crossed near the community of Confluence.

Because of damming projects in the late 20th century, Orlando today, surprisingly, sits in the center of West Virginia’s Lake District [1] situated between the Stonewall Jackson and Burnsville recreation areas.