Peyton Falls, Alleghany County, Virginia, 1864. Engraving of a ...sketch, by an amateur artist, of Peyton Falls, in the Alleghany Mountains, Western Virginia. This romantic and beautiful cascade is on the Falling Spring, a brook tributary to Jacksons River. It is situated in the district or township which was once known as West Augusta...Peyton Falls is the highest cascade or waterfall in America, being 200 ft. in height, while that of Niagara is only 150 ft. The principal stream, however, is only about 10 yards wide at the top and a little more spread at the bottom of the fall. The water is bright and sparkling, and the stream in other parts is full of trout. Near the cascade there is a mineral spring of rare curative properties. From "Illustrated London News", 1864.