|
Jefferson
County, West Virginia
Jefferson
County was established on October 26, 1801, from a portion of Berkeley
County by an act of the Virginia General Assembly. It was named
after Thomas Jefferson, vice-president of the
United States and president elect. Years earlier, Jefferson had stood on a rock high above the confluence of the Shenandoah and Potomac Rivers at Harpers Ferry. In his Notes on the State of Virginia, he remarked that this view was "worth a trip across the Atlantic."
The view is still breathtaking, and Jefferson County is still worth the trip.
Located in the Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia, Jefferson is
the easternmost county in the state, being bounded by the Potomac
River and Maryland on the north, the Blue Ridge Mountains and Loudoun
County, Virginia, on the east, Clarke County, Virginia, on the south,
and Opecquon Creek and Berkeley County, West Virginia, on the West.
The county occupies 212.41 square miles, being 24 miles from north
to south and 12 miles from east to west.
Municipalities include Charles Town, the county seat (established
in 1789 by George Washington’s brother, Charles), Ranson (1910),
Harpers Ferry (1851), Bolivar (1825), and Shepherdstown (1762).
Two other municipalities, Virginius (1827) and Smithfield or Middleway
(1798), were not rechartered after the Civil War.
|
