Morgan County, West Virginia

Morgan County, West Virginia
Location in the state of West Virginia
West Virginia's location in the U.S.
Founded	1820
Seat	Berkeley Springs
Area  - Total  - Land  - Water	230 sq mi (596 km²) 229 sq mi (593 km²) 1 sq mi (3 km²), 0.30%
Population  -  Density	17,541 65/sq mi (25/km²)
Website	www.morgancountyeda.com/

Morgan County is a county located in the U.S. state of West Virginia. As of 2010, it's population was 17,541.^[1] Its county seat is Berkeley Springs^[2]. The county is one of three in Hagerstown-Martinsburg, MD-WV Metropolitan Statistical Area. Morgan County was formed in 1820 from parts of Hampshire and Berkeley Counties and named in honor of General Daniel Morgan, prominent soldier of the American Revolutionary War. It is the home of an important mine producing special sand for the glass industry.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 230 square miles (595 km²), of which 229 square miles (593 km²) is land and 1 square mile (2 km²) (0.30%) is water.

Major highways

• U.S. Highway 522
• West Virginia Route 9

Adjacent counties

• Washington County, Maryland (north)
• Berkeley County (east)
• Frederick County, Virginia (southeast)
• Hampshire County (southwest)
• Allegany County, Maryland (northwest)

Rivers and streams

• Potomac River
• Cacapon River
• Cherry Run
• Sir Johns Run
• Sleepy Creek
• Meadow Branch
• Warm Spring Run

Magisterial districts

• Allen
• Bath
• Cacapon
• Rock Gap
• Sleepy Creek
• Timber Ridge

Demographics

As of the census^[3] of 2000, there were 14,943 people, 6,145 households, and 4,344 families residing in the county. The population density was 65 people per square mile (25/km²). There were 8,076 housing units at an average density of 35 per square mile (14/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 98.30% White, 0.60% Black or African American, 0.17% Native American, 0.12% Asian, 0.01% Pacific Islander, 0.23% from other races, and 0.57% from two or more races. 0.83% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

Historical populations
Census year	Population
1820	2,500
1830	2,694
1840	4,253
1850	3,557
1860	3,732
1870	4,315
1880	5,777
1890	6,744
1900	7,294
1910	7,848
1920	8,357
1930	8,406
1940	8,743
1950	8,276
1960	8,376
1970	8,547
1980	10,696
1990	12,128
2000	14,943
2010	17,541

There were 6,145 households out of which 28.70% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 57.90% were married couples living together, 8.20% had a female householder with no husband present, and 29.30% were non-families. 24.50% of all households were made up of individuals and 10.20% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.40 and the average family size was 2.84.

The age distribution is 22.40% under the age of 18, 6.80% from 18 to 24, 27.30% from 25 to 44, 26.90% from 45 to 64, and 16.60% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 41 years. For every 100 females there were 96.60 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 95.00 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $35,016, and the median income for a family was $40,690. Males had a median income of $29,816 versus $22,307 for females. The per capita income for the county was $18,109. About 8.00% of families and 10.40% of the population were below the poverty line, including 11.60% of those under age 18 and 8.80% of those age 65 or over.

History

Morgan County was created by an act of the Virginia General Assembly in March 1820 from parts of Berkeley and Hampshire counties. It was named in honor of General Daniel Morgan (1736–1802). He was born in Hunterdon County, New Jersey, and moved to Winchester, Virginia as a youth. He served as a wagoner in Braddock's Army during the campaign against the Native Americans in 1755. During the campaign, a British Lieutenant became angry with him and hit him with the flat of his sword. Morgan punched the Lieutenant, knocking him unconscious. Morgan was court-martialed for striking a British officer and was sentenced to 500 lashes. Morgan later joked that the drummer who counted out the lashes miscounted and he received only 499 lashes. For the rest of his life he claimed the British still owed him one.

Early European settlers

The first English settlers in present-day Morgan County arrived during the 1730s. Because most of these early pioneers were squatters, there is no record of their names. Historians claim that the first cabin in the county was built around 1745. As word of the county's warm springs spread eastward, Thomas Fairfax, 6th Lord Fairfax of Cameron decided that the county needed to be surveyed. In 1748, George Washington, then just 16 years old, was part of the survey party the surveyed the Eastern Panhandle region for Lord Fairfax. He later returned to Bath (Berkeley Springs) several times over the next several years with his half-brother, Laurence, who was ill and hoped that the warm springs might improve his health. The springs, and their rumored medicinal benefits, attracted numerous Indians as well as Europeans to the area.

18th century Morgan County

As mentioned previously, George Washington visited present-day Berkeley Springs several times with his half-brother, Laurence. When he vacationed in the area in 1767, he noted how busy the town had become. Lord Fairfax had built a summer home there and a "private bath" making the area a popular destination for Virginia's social elite. As the town continued to grow, the Virginia General Assembly decided to formally recognize it. In October 1776, the town was officially named Bath, in honor of England's spa city called Bath. The town's main north-south street was named Washington and the main east-west street was named Fairfax. Also, seven acres (28,000 m²) were set aside for "suffering humanity." When West Virginia gained statehood, that area became West Virginia's first state park.

Bath's population increased during and immediately after the American Revolutionary War as wounded soldiers and others came to the area believing that the warm springs had medicinal qualities. Bath gained a reputation as a somewhat wild town where eating, drinking, dancing and gambling on the daily horse races were the order of the day.

Bath later became known as Berkeley Springs, primarily because the town's post office took that name (combining Governor Norborne Berkeley's last name with the warm springs found there) to avoid confusion with another post office, located in southeastern Virginia, which was already called Bath. Because the mail was sent to and from Berkeley Springs, that name slowly took precedence.

Sites on the National Register of Historic Places

Main article: National Register of Historic Places listings in Morgan County, West Virginia

Site	Year Built	Address	Community	Listed
Ambrose Chapel	mid-19th century	Winchester Grade Road (CR 13)	Stotlers Crossroads	1998
Berkeley Springs State Park	mid-18th century	South Washington & Fairfax Streets	Berkeley Springs	1976
Berkeley Springs Train Depot	1900–1924	504 North Washington Street (US 522)	Berkeley Springs	2001
Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historical Park	early 19th century	Chesapeake & Ohio Canal	Paw Paw	1966
Clarence Hovermale House (Allen Mendenhall House)	late 19th century	167 Wilkes Street	Berkeley Springs	2003
John Herbert Quick House (Coolfont Manor House)	1913	Cold Run Valley Road	Berkeley Springs	1984
Judge John W. Wright Cottage	1872	305 South Green Street	Berkeley Springs	1986
Morgan County Courthouse	1923	202 Fairfax Street	Berkeley Springs	2005
Samuel Taylor Suit Cottage (Berkeley Castle)	1885	WV 9	Berkeley Springs	1980
Sloat-Horn-Rossell House (The Manor)	late 19th century	415 Fairfax Street	Berkeley Springs	1984
T.H.B. Dawson House	1880	300 South Green Street	Berkeley Springs	1983
Western Maryland Railroad Right-of-Way	20th century	Milepost 126 to Milepost 160	Jerome	1981

Cities and towns

Incorporated cities and towns

• Town of Bath (Berkeley Springs)
• Town of Paw Paw

Unincorporated communities

Berryville Burnt Factory Campbells Cherry Run Doe Gully Duckwall

Great Cacapon Green Ridge Greenwood Hancock Hansrote Holton

Jerome Jimtown Johnsons Mill Largent Lineburg Magnolia

Mount Trimble New Hope North Berkeley Oakland Omps Orleans Cross Roads

Redrock Crossing Ridersville Ridge Rock Gap Sir Johns Run Sleepy Creek

Smith Crossroads Spohrs Crossroads Stotlers Crossroads Unger Woodmont Woodrow

See also

• Berkeley Springs State Park
• Cacapon Resort State Park
• List of routes in Morgan County, West Virginia
• USS Morgan County (LST-1048)

References

1. ^ Table 1: Annual Estimates of the Resident Population for Counties of West Virginia: April 1, 2000 to July 1, 2008, U.S. Census Bureau, 2009. Retrieved 23 April 2009.
2. ^ "Find a County". National Association of Counties. http://www.naco.org/Counties/Pages/FindACounty.aspx. Retrieved 2011-06-07. 
3. ^ "American FactFinder". United States Census Bureau. http://factfinder.census.gov. Retrieved 2008-01-31. 

Further reading

• Fowler, Virginia G. 2002. Brigadier General Daniel Morgan, Washington, D.C.: National Park Service^[1].
• Morgan County Historical and Genealogical Society. 1981. Morgan County, West Virginia and Its People. Berkeley Springs: Morgan County Historical and Genealogical Society.
• Cartmell, Thomas Kemp. 1909. Shenandoah Valley Pioneers and Their Descendants: A History of Frederick County, Virginia. Winchester, VA: The Eddy Corporation.
• Newbraugh, Frederick T. 1967. Warm Springs Echoes: About Berkeley Springs and Morgan County. Part 1: To 1860. Hagerstown, MD: Automated Systems Corporation.
• Dr. Robert Jay Dilger, Director, Institute for Public Affairs and Professor of Political Science, West Virginia University.

Morgan County links

• MorganCountyUSA
• Berkeley Springs-Morgan County Chamber of Commerce
• Morgan Arts Council
• Morgan County Community Organizations
• Morgan County Public Library
• Morgan County Schools
• The Morgan Messenger
• Morgan County Solid Waste Authority
• WVU Extension Service - Morgan County

Coordinates: 39°34′N 78°16′W / 39.56°N 78.26°W / 39.56; -78.26