The first syllable "KFAR'' is of Syrian origin and means village or town. The second syllable "SGHAB" could be of Phoenecial origin and similar to the Arabic "saab" meaning rugged terrain featured by valleys and hills. It could also be of Hebrew origin "saaf" which means trees, branches and shrubs or could be of Arabic origin "GHAB'' meaning a forest. There is an interesting tale handed down from forefathers to descendents about the origin of the name "KFARSGHAB''. It is said that a wild animal used to terrorize the district in the old time and when it appeared on a nearby hill, the inhabitants warned each other by saying "Ban" (meaning in Arabic "appeared" and upon disappearance they uttered the word "Ghab"' (meaning in Arabic disappeared''). The location of the neighboring villages, Kfarsghab and Ban, gives support to this legend.

There does not exist a written history that gives the exact date when Kfarsghab was first built. It is, however, believed to be older than 1,000 years, It is written by Father Ignatios Tannous mentioned the village in his book on North Lebanon .... "there was a bridge built in the year 1200 between Kfarsghab and Aintourine

Kfarsghab is situated at an altitude of 1,400 metres and is 127km from Beirut; 41km from Tripoli and 12km from the Cedars.

It lays on a hill, which overlooks the monastery of St. Anthony and the Kadisha (Holy) Valley - a deep gorge resembling the shape of a 'V' linking the Cedars and the Mediterranean Sea.

History of Morh

The fact that Kfarsghab is situated in the high mountains covered in snow in winter led the Kfarsghabians to purchase land near the coast so that people and their livestock could spend the winter months more comfortably.

The land was called "MORH'' and subsequently became the winter village for the Kfarsghabians.

Inhabitants

The first inhabitant ever recorded was Deeb El Bahri. Deeb came from the coast of Batroun and established himself in the district. He  married Maureena El Saliba and had three Sons that are the origins of the three families - Abou Mansour, Khoury Youssef and Abou Abraham.

The family of Abou Youssef was a descendant of Elias who came to Kfarsghab from the Coast and married a granddaughter of Deeb El Bahri. In his book "A Concise History of the Maronites'' Archbishop Darian mentioned that Amir Youssef El Shehabi declared them Sheiks of Kfarsghab and neighboring districts.

The first members of Khoury Jerjis family came to Kfarsghab originally from Jeitta in the Kisrwan region about 300 years ago. These five families mentioned are the forefathers of all Kfarsghabians.

Historical Places in and around Kfarsghab

Kfarsghab lies in a triangular area, which links it to the Maronite history. On one corner is the old church of St. Augustine, the site of the first Maronite Episcopal conference, on the second is the Church of Our Lady of Hawka, the first Maronite seminary. and on the third, the renowned monastery of Kozhaya.

Kfarsghab contains remnants of ruins of historical importance. Among these is St. Awtel's Church which was once a temple for Idols and then became a church when St. Awtel, once Godless, was converted to Christianity. The finest architectural feature of the Church is the hand-carved wooden grille, which divides the women and men sections. It is the only one of its kind still in existence in Mafonite churches. It was built by the master-craftsmen El Dimiaty in 1795. The site of the church resembles that of St. Raymond's of Hadchit and Madinet ElRas, 

History of Kfarsghab Migration

The Kfarsghab migration commenced in 1880 when Karam Abou Arab and his wife Hala arrived in Philadelphia, USA.

Migration to Australia began in 1887, when Youssef Nahnie, his brother Simon, Hanna Doumit, Saba Daniel, Youssef Joubeir, Moussa Jabour Moussa and Tannous Daoud disembarked in Adelaide and went to settle in Broken Hill in New South Wales.

The first immigrants spent only enough time overseas to save sufficient money to build a home or to buy a special lot of ground, and then returned home to  hard work.  However as they started to enjoy the life and freedom they did not and could not have in Lebanon, they chose to stay abroad and made it their new home. Their descendants reached the number of 12,000 in Australia, 2,000 in the USA. and 500 distributed among other countries in the world.  Sadly, The  the migration has left only 1,000 inhabitants in our beloved Kfarsghab.