Jimtown was formerly known as Fair Hope for the one-room school located at the junction of Findley and Yeager Roads from circa 1898 to 1953, and it was later named for James J. "Squire Jim" Phillips (1855-1937), a former Justice of the Peace. During the Civil War, his mother Margaret Scott Phillips served Southern troops as a courier and a guide while living on this farm. Phillips Cemetery was established as a burial ground for the poor and was named for Moses J. Phillips, who was Overseer of the Poor from 1872 to 1877. The oldest known grave is for War of 1812 veteran Dudley A. Gibson, and both Union and Confederate veterans are buried there. The cemetery lies 750 feet to the west, and the Staunton-Parkersburg Turnpike National Scenic Byway passes via WV 151.