The Seventh-day Adventist Church began in 1863, based on the teachings of William Miller, who believed Jesus would return soon. Adventist beliefs first came to West Virginia in 1879, when people in Rockport (Wood County) started keeping Saturday as the Sabbath. Evangelist Isaac Sanborn visited and helped spread the faith, reporting 40 followers by the end of 1880.

More churches were formed in Wood and Kanawha counties, and in 1887, the West Virginia Conference of Seventh-day Adventists was officially created. The first camp meeting had about 125 people.

In the 1900s, Adventists continued spreading their message across the state. By 1950, there were over 2,000 members, and churches and schools were built. In 1971, the church reorganized into the Mountain View Conference, with its main office in Parkersburg, and opened a retreat and campground called Valley Vista near Huttonsville.