The City of Buckhannon was established on January 15, 1816, named after the Buckhannon River. Some accounts say both are named for Buckongahelas (died 1805), a Lenape ally of the British during the Revolutionary War; others that they are named after John Buchannon, a missionary active in the area during the 1780s. The city was chartered by the Virginia General Assembly in 1852, and remained part of the Commonwealth of Virginia until the secession of West Virginia on June 20, 1863 during the American Civil War. Because of its near-central geographic location, Buckhannon was long considered a prospective site for the state capital. In 1866, the legislature approved a bill including Buckhannon among the choices for capital, but officials decided the river was not wide enough to accommodate desired commerce and ultimately settled with Charleston as the state capitol.