In the 1800s, cloth-making grew into a big business in parts of West Virginia. Small family-run mills began to replace homemade cloth, using machines to make better yarn and fabric like blankets, stockings, and linsey-woolsey. Mills were found in towns such as Wheeling, Martinsburg, and Wellsburg.

By 1810, Berkeley County had many water-powered textile mills and led Virginia in producing mixed cottons. By the late 1800s, different cities specialized in different products—Wheeling made calico, Martinsburg made wool and socks, Charleston made blankets, and Huntington made work clothes. A well-known company, J. L. Stifel & Sons, made cotton goods in Wheeling from 1835 to 1957.