About:
In May of 1975, North Hills Group Incorporated was founded as a
Fayette County, West Virginia, land development company and
immediately acquired more than 1000 acres adjacent to US Rt. 19.
Original members of North Hills Group were The Honorable Former
WV Senator Pat Hamilton, attorney and statesman; Robert Kelly,
land developer; Joe Lewis, land developer; Doug Mooney,
attorney; and Harry “Penny” Thomas, Jr., civil engineer. These
men shared a vision for the future economic growth destined to
follow the boom in tourism by those seeking the thrills found in
“Wild and Wonderful” West Virginia.
Three years after the land
acquisition, the New River Gorge Bridge was completed, thus US Rt. 19 connected Interstate 79 from Canada to
Interstate 64 east and 81 directly south to Florida.
With the advent of this superhighway and later national park
designation, more that 21,000 cars a day
travel this system over the New River Gorge Bridge. Although some of the
acreage owned by North Hills Group Incorporated has been
developed into Thousand Oaks and Whispering Oaks, both upscale
housing developments, and other parcels purchased to create a
lucrative strip mall still thriving today, 600 plus acres still
remain for development and/or investment purchases.
Currently, camping, hiking, biking, whitewater rafting,
kayaking, spelunking, rappelling, fishing, hunting, snow skiing,
tubing, and zip lining enthusiasts frequent the area for these
extreme adventure sports. Bridge Day, featured on ESPN, draws
crowds in excess of 50,000 from all over the world, as base
jumpers and rappellers plummet from the New River Gorge Bridge,
the 4th longest steel arched bridge in the world.
In the spring of 2011, Fayette County welcomed the Boy Scouts
of America, The Summit: Becthel Family National Scout Reserve,
which acquired 10,600 acres adjourning the New River Gorge
National River. This scouting reserve drew an estimated 50,000
boy scouts and 300,000 visitors to the first Boy Scout Jamboree
in West Virginia, held July 15-24, 2013. Following the inaugural
year, a permanent high adventure base was completed to host an
estimated 48,000 scouts each summer. The World Jamboree will be
held in Fayette County in 2016. The summit is less than ten
minutes drive to the property owned by North Hills Group
Incorporated with easy egress to US Rt. 19.
Current stockholders of North Hills Group Incorporated are:
heirs to the estate of The Honorable WV Senator Pat Hamilton;
heirs to the estate of Robert Kelly (Jane Baugh and Betty Pike);
heirs to the estate of Joe Lewis; Doug Mooney; and heirs to the
estate of Harry Thomas, Jr., (Carroll Early, Elizabeth Fako, and
Mary Lynn Flint.)
For information regarding this property, please call 304.237.9220.