 The 1884 Heirloom tomato variety was said to be discovered by James Lyde Williamson growing in a pile of flood debris along the Ohio River near Friendly, after the Great Flood of 1884.In 1903 the Parkersburg and Ohio Valley Electric Railway began to build a major electric interurban railway between Wheeling and Parkersburg.It only opened five miles (8 km) between Sistersville and Friendly, and operated until 1918.