| West Virginia (Hampshire County), Bloomery — “Caudys Castle” |
| | Named for James Caudy, pioneer and Indian fighter, who took refuge from the Indians on a mass of rocks overlooking Cacapon River during the French and Indian War (1754–1763). From his position on the Castle of Rocks, he defended himself by pushing the Indians, one by one with the butt of his rifle, over the precipice as they came single file along the narrow crevice of rocks. They fell 450–500 ft. to the base along the edge of the Cacapon. — Map (db m20850) |
| West Virginia (Hampshire County), Bloomery — Bloomery Iron Furnace / Bloomery Gap Skirmish |
| | (North Facing Side):Bloomery Iron Furnace The furnace was built, 1833, by Thomas Pastly and later was owned by Lewis Passmor. He placed a Mr. Cornwell in charge who operated it until 1848 when it was sold to S. A. Pancost. He and his heirs operated it until 1875 when the furnace was closed down. It was operated for a short time in 1880-1881. Annual capacity was 8500 tons. The iron was carried on rafts and flatboats down the Cacapon River. (South Facing Side):Bloomery Gap . . . — Map (db m11019) |
| West Virginia (Hampshire County), Capon Bridge — Fort Edwards |
| | Troops from this fort under Captain Mercer were ambushed in 1756 and many were killed. The French and Indians later attacked the fort but the garrison, aided by Daniel Morgan and other frontiersmen, repulsed the assault. — Map (db m4556) |
| West Virginia (Hampshire County), Capon Bridge — Northwestern Turnpike |
| | In 1784, Washington proposed the Northwestern Turnpike as an all-Virginia route to the Ohio. Authorized in 1827 and started in 1831, it remains a monument to the skill of its engineers, Charles Shaw and Colonel Claudius Crozet. — Map (db m4623) |
| West Virginia (Hampshire County), Hanging Rock — Ice Mountain |
| | Huge natural refrigerator, five miles north along North River, where ice is found for several hundred yards on the hottest summer days. Raven Rock, on North Mountain, overs one of the finest views in West Virginia. — Map (db m25085) |
| West Virginia (Hampshire County), Mechanicsburg — Abandonment of Fort Mill Ridge |
| | The Union troops at Fort Mill Ridge continued their duties until June 14, 1863. Then, in response to Lee's invasion of Pennsylvania, Campbell's command was ordered to concentrate with the rest of their division at New Creek (Keyser). Confederate General Imboden's Northwestern Brigade had left the Shenandoah Valley on June 9th, occupied Romney on June 16th, and freely roamed through the countryside taking an unoccupied Cumberland on June 17th before moving east, destroying the railroad as they . . . — Map (db m25438) |
| West Virginia (Hampshire County), Mechanicsburg — An Outpost in Enemy Territory |
| | From the protection of the fort and their encampment along Mill Creek, Union soldiers were stationed at picket posts throughout adjacent valleys at key junctions, fords, and approaches. Patrols were sent through the country-side to feel for the enemy, investigate rumors of Confederate activity, and gather hay and other provisions for use at the camp. Eastern West Virginia was a hotly contested guerilla area during the Civil War, and Fort Mill Ridge was an isolated outpost. Surprise attack . . . — Map (db m25433) |
| West Virginia (Hampshire County), Mechanicsburg — Construction of Fort Mill Ridge |
| | On March 16, 1863, Col. Campbell ordered his command to move their encampment from Romney to the fields adjacent to Mill Creek immediately west of Mill Ridge. Sheltered between the mountain to the west and the ridge, the camp was less vulnerable to surprise attack, which could come from any direction at any time. The fort atop Mill Ridge was constructed by Campbell's troops between March and June, 1863 to protect the encampment and dominate the Valley and the Gap. Fort Mill Ridge consists of . . . — Map (db m25203) |
| West Virginia (Hampshire County), Mechanicsburg — Control of the Mechanicsburg Gap |
| | Federal Battery E, 1st (West) Virginia Volunteer Artillery was assigned to the command at Fort Mill Ridge. The Battery was armed with six 3-inch rifled cannons. It is believed that two of these cannons were positioned in the central redoubt. The 3-inch rifled cannon was an accurate field piece with a range of about a miles on level ground. This range was longer when the cannon was placed atop a ridge. From the elevation of the central redoubt, the cannon could fire into Mechanicsburg Gap to . . . — Map (db m25315) |
| West Virginia (Hampshire County), Mechanicsburg — Engagement with McNeill's Rangers |
| | In early April, 1863, a Confederate force led by Captain John H. McNeill's Rangers and four additional companies of Virginia cavalry left Rockingham County for West Virginia. At Moorefield, 20 miles south of Fort Mill Ridge, the force divided into several smaller units. On April 6th, McNeill's Rangers surprised a Union foraging train near Burlington, 10 miles west of Fort Mill Ridge, capturing 5 wagons and 11 soldiers. A contingent of 50 Union cavalrymen sent to assist the foraging party . . . — Map (db m25353) |
| West Virginia (Hampshire County), Mechanicsburg — Fort Mill Ridge General Information |
| | Fort Mill Ridge is a Union fortification constructed between March and June, 1863, to defend the Mechanicsburg Gap and South Branch Potomac Valley. The remains of the fortification have been undisturbed over the past 135 years and are among the most intact and best preserved Civil War earthworks. The Fort Mill Ridge Foundation in partnership with the West Virginia Department of Natural Resources has undertaken the preservation and interpretation of Fort Mill Ridge. A trail system with . . . — Map (db m25084) |
| West Virginia (Hampshire County), Mechanicsburg — Interior of the Central Redoubt |
| | The central redoubt consists of a square earthen platform or rampart, and earthen walls, or parapets. Cuts in the parapets, or embrasures, provided openings through which cannons could fire. The remains of the embrasures can be seen on the southern and western parapets. Military earthworks were constructed to predetermined design standards that were adjusted to field conditions. During the course of the war, these design standards were refined through experience, as the . . . — Map (db m25300) |
| West Virginia (Hampshire County), Mechanicsburg — Mechanicsburg Gap/Col. Claudius Crozet |
| | Mechanicsburg Gap
Scenic canyon cut through Mill Creek Mountain by Mill creek. Here an old Indian trail was the pathway from the Valley of Virginia to the Alleghenies, then the Northwestern Turnpike, now the George Washington Highway Col. Claudius Crozet Col. Crozet, born in France, 1790; came to America, 1816. He taught mathematics at West Point six years. named chief engineer of Virginia (1824); surveyed Northwestern Turnpike, 1825. died, 1864; buried in Shockee Hills, Richmond. — Map (db m19355) |
| West Virginia (Hampshire County), Mechanicsburg — The Central Redoubt |
| | The central redoubt house the fort's artillery. The square structure is approximately forty feet wide inside. The fort's entrance was located on the north, its least vulnerable side. Two artillery positions were constructed on each of the other three sides. There is no evidence of a magazine or any other structure having been located within the redoubt. A redoubt is a small enclosed earthwork used to fortify a position from attacks on all sides. The square is the most common form for a redoubt . . . — Map (db m25244) |
| West Virginia (Hampshire County), Mechanicsburg — The Civil War in the South Branch Valley |
| | At the time of the Civil War, the South Branch Valley was comprised of many small, independent farms. The mid-19th century was a golden age of agriculture in the eastern United States, and the valley was among the most agriculturally productive areas in Virginia. With the coming of war the valley found itself part of the newly created northern state of West Virginia. However sympathies of the people of the valley were mostly with Virginia and the South, and many of their husbands and sons . . . — Map (db m25186) |
| West Virginia (Hampshire County), Mechanicsburg — The Ditch as a Second Line of Defense |
| | Around the outside of the central redoubt is the ditch, a significant obstacle attackers would have to climb through to assault the redoubt. At Fort Mill Ridge, the ditch also appears to have been used as a trench from which defending infantry could fire. From the two southern corners of the redoubt, extensions, or covered ways, connect the ditch to the outer ring of entrenchments. The east-west line created by the covered ways and the ditch of the redoubt provided a second line . . . — Map (db m25324) |
| West Virginia (Hampshire County), Mechanicsburg — The Great Raid |
| | In late April 1863, the Confederates launched a major raid from Rockingham County into West Virginia. A primary goal of the raid was the destruction of the Cheat River Bridge of the B&O Railroad near the Northwestern Turnpike crossing the Cheat River, 50 miles west of Fort Mill Ridge. The Confederates divided into two forces of 3000 troops. One force under General William E. "Grumble" Jones which included McNeill's Rangers, reached Moorefield on April 24th. From Moorefield, the force marched . . . — Map (db m25436) |
| West Virginia (Hampshire County), Pinoak — Pinoak Fountain |
| | Built by State Road Comm. and local artisans in 1932; land given by H.R. Edeburn. Crystal quartz quarried from behind nearby Bloomery iron furnace, and stone from hillside behind the fountain. Spring water, gravity fed from hill above, supplied area residents and travelers. Fountain was popular site for picnics, dances, courting, & auctions. Restored in 1988 and maintained by Pinoak Extension Homemakers Club. — Map (db m391) |
| West Virginia (Hampshire County), Romney — Fort Forman |
| | Frontier outpost, Capt. William Forman (Foreman), in 1777, led a company from this county to the relief of Fort Henry at Wheeling. He, two sons, and others were killed in an ambush by Native Americans at the "Narrows" near Moundsville. — Map (db m19357) |
| West Virginia (Hampshire County), Romney — Fort Pearsall 1754 |
| | “Fort Pearsall was on or in view of this site.”
Job Pearsall built a fort as protection against the Indians in 1754 on Lot 16, granted by Fairfax in 1749 containing 323 acres, including part of Indian Mound Cemetery.
On May 14, 1756, Gen. Washington assigned 45 men and 5 officers and later 94 soldiers to defend Pearsalls fort during the French and Indian War. — Map (db m2101) |
| West Virginia (Hampshire County), Romney — Hampshire County World War I Memorial |
| | In honor of Hampshire's sons who gave their lives and their service in the World War "We are the dead, Short days ago we lived, Felt dawn, saw sunset glow, Loved and were loved." Lieut. Robert W. Gilkeson Corp. James Cleveland Lee Corp. Joshua Davis Slonaker John Frederick Abe Arthur C. Bean Edward Leslie Brown Thomas Franklin Ewers Ferman Lee Fultz Jesse Jones Haines William Lee Horn Harry Myron Jackson Harry Guy Leith Arthur Sylvester nelson Ova Truman Parrill . . . — Map (db m19345) |
| West Virginia (Hampshire County), Romney — Indian Mound |
| | The Indian Mound Cemetery which is 7 feet high and about 15 feet in diameter, is one of the largest remaining mounds in the Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia. This mound has never been excavated but similar mounds of area dug by Smithsonian Institution suggest this mound might date between A.D. 500 and 1000, and have been constructed by Hopewellian peoples. — Map (db m19346) |
| West Virginia (Hampshire County), Romney — Old Literary Hall |
| | Literary Society of Romney organized in 1819, oldest in the state and one of the first in America. A splendid Public Library was accumulated which by 1850 was the largest in West Virginia. Destroyed during the War Between the States in 1862. Cornerstone of original building dated 1825. Restored by Attorney Ralph W. Haines for law offices and historic museum. — Map (db m462) |
| West Virginia (Hampshire County), Romney — Romney / Early Memorial |
| | Romney. Incorporated as a town, 1762. Owned and laid off as a town by Lord Fairfax. Named for one of the five English Channel ports. Not far away was Fort Pearsall, built, 1756, as Indian defense. Town changed military control 56 times, 1861-1865.
Early Memorial. In 1866, Confederate Memorial Association was formed here, which on September 26, 1867, dedicated a monument to Confederate soldiers, one of the first erected anywhere. This was site of Indian cemetery long before white men came. — Map (db m463) |
| West Virginia (Hampshire County), Romney — Romney in 1861–1865 / “Stonewall” Jackson |
| | Romney in 1861–1865. Sitting astride the natural invasion route from the Shenandoah Valley to the Potomac and the B&O Railroad, Romney was scourged by both armies. No great battles were fought here, but during the War the town changed hands 56 times.
“Stonewall” Jackson. Jackson arrived here Jan. 13, 1862, after capturing Bath (Berkley Springs). Leaving Gen. Loring, he returned to Winchester. Loring's protest caused Jackson to resign but he reconsidered and his Valley Campaign followed. — Map (db m464) |
| West Virginia (Hampshire County), Romney — W. Va School for the Deaf and Blind |
| | Established, 1870. The Classical Institute was donated by the Romney Literary Society as the initial building unit. Co-educational school giving academic and vocational training to the State's deaf and blind youth. — Map (db m459) |
| West Virginia (Hampshire County), Three Churches — Mount Bethel Church |
| | The Presbyterians established a church near here in 1792. At first called the Mountain Church in 1808, it became the nucleus of Presbyterian work in Hampshire County under the auspices of the Rev. John Lyle. The Rev. James Black reorganized the congregation in 1812 and the newly formed congregation was named Mount Bethel. The present church, built of logs in 1837, is the oldest house of worship in this county. — Map (db m19356) |
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