Moundsville was named for Grave Creek Mound, the largest conical mound in America, measuring 900 feet around and 70 feet high; an inscribed stone found in it has never been deciphered, and nearby stood the Indian fort built by Joseph Tomlinson. In the spring of 1774, Capt. James Harrod assembled 31 men at the mouth of Grave Creek and from there went to Kentucky, where their settlement at Harrodsburg was halted while they joined Capt. Christian’s company in Dunmore’s War.