Professor William Barton Rodgers

From West Virginia (WV) Cyclopedia

William B. Rodgers, Virginia's first state geologist, received the degree of M.D. from the University of Maryland in 1822, becoming professor of natural philosophy and chemistry at University of Virginia from 1828 through 1853.

In 1835 Roger was asked to organize the geological survey of Virginia. Roger's brother, Henry D. Rogers, was then state geologist of Pennsylvania. Roger's analysies of the coal in the then undeveloped lands of present-day West Virginia, published in the 1840's, helped to attract global attention its commercial potential, which led to the rapid development of the West Virginia coal industy, which began in earnest following the end of the Civil War.

Mount Rogers, Virginia's highest point (5728 ft.), located in the southwestern Virginia Blue Ridge, is named in honor of Prof. Rogers.