Berkeley County



Martinsburg

Founded by Gen. Adam Stephen and laid out in 1773, the town, named for Thomas Bryan Martin, was chartered in 1778 by the Virginia Burgesses.

Population 2010 Census: 17,227
Median Age: 37 years

Courthouse: Completed ca. 1855, 1880, 1908
Architect: Albert Fink (first), George D. Whitson (second), and Milburn, Heister, and Co.


Hover mouse over the dot on the map for details on Martinsburg.

Formed: 1772
Named: For Norborne Berkeley (Baron de Botetort), colonial governor of Virginia from 1768 to 1770
County Seat: Martinsburg
Land in Square Miles: 321.14
Population 2010 Census: 104,169
Persons per Square Mile 2010: 324.4

Primary Sources Online
Transfer of Berkeley and Jefferson Counties to West Virginia
Newton Diehl Baker born in Martinsburg
B&O Railroad Strike in Martinsburg
Strike at Perfection Garment Company
1960 Presidential Campaign in Berkeley County

Civil War
Union Meeting in Berkeley, 1861
Union troops under General Robert Patterson and Confederate troops under Colonel Thomas J. Jackson fought in Berkeley County, 1861
From Bunker Hill, 1861
Re-issue of the Martinsburg (Va.) Republican, 1861
Arrest of Teter French and Harley Miller, 1862
Court at Martinsburg, 1862
Belle Boyd, 1862
Skirmishes at Bunker Hill and Darkesville, 1862
Reconnaissance from North Mountain to Bunker Hill, 1862
Destruction of German Evangelical Church at Martinsburg, 1863
Rebels at Martinsburg, 1863
Union troops skirmished with Hampton's brigade near Martinsburg, 1863
Letter from Martinsburg, 1863
Union Expedition into Back Creek Valley, Berkeley County, 1863
Union Meeting at Martinsburg, 1864
Letter from Martinsburg, 1864
An Incident of Guerilla Warfare, 1865
Legislative Act Making Berkeley County a Part of West Virginia

Photographs
Photographs of Schools in Berkeley County
Home of Revolutionary War general and Martinsburg founder Adam Stephen
Christ Church at Bunker Hill
Tuscarora Presbyterian Church, Martinsburg
Rebel Troops arriving at Martinsburg
Belle Boyd

Secondary Sources Online
List of Berkeley County Legislators
"Labor-Management Conflict in the Eastern Panhandle: Perfection Garment Company Battles the ILGWU," by Jerra Jenrette (West Virginia History)
J. R. Clifford
Charles Faulkner

West Virginia Veterans Memorial Biographies
James Clarence Adams
Mitchell Woods Bacon
Wayne Douglas Boyer
Charlotte Agnes Cox
Lewis Alexander Holley
Marion Ellsworth Kees
Woodrow Wilson Smith

History of the American Negro Biographies
Edward Thomas Johnson
Frederick Randolph Ramer



Teacher Resources

West Virginia Archives and History