- Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia
The Eastern Panhandle of
West Virginia is a narrow stretch of territory in the northeast of the state, borderingMaryland andVirginia ,United States and comprises eight counties.History
Berkeley, Hampshire, Hardy, Jefferson, and Morgan Counties were forced to reluctantly join the new Unionist state of West Virginia in 1863 so that the
Baltimore & Ohio Railroad along thePotomac River would remain safely in Union hands.Fact|date=August 2008 Shortly after West Virginia gained statehood, Mineral and Grant counties were created from Hampshire and Hardy in 1866.The Eastern Panhandle includes West Virginia's oldest chartered towns (1762) of Romney and Shepherdstown. The Panhandle also includes West Virginia's two oldest counties: Hampshire (1753) and Berkeley (1772).
Geography
The Eastern Panhandle also includes both West Virginia's highest and lowest elevations above sea level:
Spruce Knob , 4,863 feet (1,482 m), in Pendleton and Harpers Ferry, 240 feet (73 m), in Jefferson on the Potomac River.The eight counties in the eastern panhandle are:
*Berkeley
*Grant
*Hampshire
*Hardy
*Jefferson
*Mineral
*Morgan
*PendletonPopulation
According to the 2000 Census, the eight counties of the Eastern Panhandle had a combined population of 212,483 giving the region 11.75% of West Virginia's population. Berkeley County is the Panhandle's most populous county with an estimated 99,734 residents (2007). Berkeley also includes the Panhandle's largest city, Martinsburg, with a 2007 estimated population of 16,450. [ [http://www.census.gov/popest/cities/tables/SUB-EST2007-04-54.xls Table 4: Annual Estimates of the Population for Incorporated Places in West Virginia, Listed Alphabetically: April 1, 2000 to July 1, 2007. 2008-07-10. Retrieved 2008-07-10] ]
Population growth
County information
Potomac Highlands
Grant, Hampshire, Hardy, Mineral, and Pendleton Counties also belong to another geographical region of West Virginia known as the
Potomac Highlands of West Virginia .Notes
See also
*
List of historic sites in Berkeley County, West Virginia
*List of historic sites in Hampshire County, West Virginia
*List of historic sites in Hardy County, West Virginia
*List of historic sites in Morgan County, West Virginia
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.