The region of Upper Paint Creek is divided into several different villages namely: Cirtsville, Maynor, Sweeneyburg, Maple Fork, North Sand Branch, and South Sand Branch. I will give the history of each of these sections.

After Lonesome Dave moved into the vacant cabin, it was not long until others began to come in and establish homes, the Maynors, Feazells, Tyrees, Steagalls, Kidds and Spanglers. It seemed that Cirtsville was destined to become the central point of Upper Paint Creek and it did become quite a village. It was the shopping center and the center of entertainment for many years.

The Williamses, Maynors, Feazells, and Tyrees were good entertainers and always had fun. On Saturday evenings people for miles around came into Cirtsville and there was fun for all. Clyde Shumate who lived where the Dry Hill Road intersects Harper Road said that on Monday morning, his father would assign enough work to keep him and his brother, Ray, busy all the week and tell them that if they finished by noon Saturday, they could have the horses to ride to Cirtsville. He said they would work until dark each day in order to finish by noon Saturday. Each Saturday afternoon, Cirtsville took on the atmosphere of a county fair.

Industries began to move into Cirtsville. The Spangler Mill was the largest industry: however, it was not the first. The first industry in Cirtsville was a whiskey distillery owned and operated by a man by the name of Nathan Purdy. This was a legal enterprise as Mr. Purdy had a license to operate it. He located his plant on Dixon Branch on the lower end of the John Evans bottom near where Mrs. Chloe Williams now lives. The land then belonged to Richard Maynor. Mr. Purdy specialized in apple brandy. Most of the farmers had orchards of apples and peaches, so Mr. Purdy did a rushing business. I don't know just how long Mr. Purdy was in business. He started in the early 1870's. There was a change in the Federal law sometime in the 1890's which made it impossible for him to get his license renewed so that business probably lasted about 20 years. After Mr. Purdy's distillery closed down, there was never any whiskey sold legally in Raleigh County but there was usually moonshine available so the people were not deprived of their stimulants.