The land on which the town is built was originally conveyed from Thomas Lord Fairfax to George Mason in 1749. In 1750, the first frontier fort, Fort Ohio, was built at Ridgeley. It was, at the time, the westernmost outpost of colonial civilization and was most commonly referred to as the "New Store" settlement at the time. The New Store was primarily a trading post created by the Ohio Company which included prominent members including George Mason and Lawrence Washington. Christopher Gist was in charge of construction of "New Store" which was just over what is now the Blue Bridge leading into Ridgeley from Cumberland. The settlement was used as a headquarters for traders and trappers from 1750 and 1763, and also served as a local fort outpost to shelter travelers or workers in the event of an Indian attack. Early Ohio Company residents who worked at the settlement (and who explored the surrounding countryside) included Hugh Parker and Christopher Gist. According to a history of the time, there were no white settlers in the area at this point. Lowdermilk's 1878 history reflects that at this point, the area was on the very outside of civilization; in fact, Lowdermilk refers to it as the "very outskirts of civilization. The country beyond was an unbroken and almost pathless wilderness. It was separated by many miles of tortuous mountain roads from the settlements in the east".