Bethany College, established here in 1840, is the oldest school of college rank in the state, and the home and study of its founder, Alexander Campbell, are here. Here Prof. A. E. Dolbear perfected parts of the telephone that Bell used. Near here stood Rice's Fort, the frontier outpost built by Abraham and Daniel Rice on Buffalo Creek. In September, 1782, its small garrison of six men repulsed an attack by 100 Indians who had just been defeated in an assault on Fort Henry at Wheeling.