Morgan County is a county located in the U.S. state of West Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 17,063. Its county seat is Berkeley Springs. The 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. The county and town of Bath are considered an excellent jumping off point for exploring the Potomac and Cacapon Rivers valleys just to the north and west. Along with also being a tourist destination hosting numerous local artists, mineral water spas, and a large amount of outdoor recreation that includes fishing, boating, wildlife, hunting, and mountain scenery. The region is known for the famed Apple Butter Festival held annually in October. Morgan County is also the home of an important silica mine, part of U.S. Silica.
Hampshire County is a county in the U.S. state of West Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 23,093. Its county seat is Romney, West Virginia's oldest town (1762). The county was created by the Virginia General Assembly in 1754, from parts of Frederick and Augusta Counties (Virginia) and is the state's oldest county. The county lies in both West Virginia's Eastern Panhandle and Potomac Highlands regions.
Berkeley Springs is a town in, and the county seat of, Morgan County, West Virginia, United States, in the state's Eastern Panhandle. Berkeley Springs is also commonly used to refer to the area in and around the Town of Bath. In 1776, the Virginia Legislature incorporated a town around the springs and named it Bath. Since 1802, it has been referred to by the name of its original post office, Berkeley Springs. The population was 758 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Hagerstown–Martinsburg metropolitan area.
The South Branch Potomac River has its headwaters in northwestern Highland County, Virginia near Hightown along the eastern edge of the Allegheny Front. After a river distance of 139 miles (224 km), the mouth of the South Branch lies east of Green Spring in Hampshire County, West Virginia where it meets the North Branch Potomac River to form the Potomac.
The Cacapon River, located in the Appalachian Mountains of West Virginia's Eastern Panhandle region, is an 81.0-mile-long (130.4 km) shallow river known for its fishing, boating, wildlife, hunting, and wilderness scenery. As part of the Potomac River watershed, it is an American Heritage River.
Frenchburg is an unincorporated community in Hampshire County in the U.S. state of West Virginia. Frenchburg is located along the Northwestern Turnpike where the Little Cacapon River is formed by the confluence of the North and South forks of the Little Cacapon east of Shanks. Frenchburg is also the location of the southern terminus of Little Cacapon River Road on U.S. Route 50. Frenchburg is primarily known for the events that took place there during the American Civil War.
The Little Cacapon River is a 25.1-mile-long (40.4 km) free-flowing tributary of the Potomac River in the center of Hampshire County, West Virginia. Via the Potomac River, its waters are part of the Chesapeake Bay watershed, leading to the Atlantic Ocean. The Little Cacapon enters the Potomac at an elevation of 499 feet (152 m) near the community of Little Cacapon. For the majority of its course the Little Cacapon is a shallow non-navigable stream. It has been historically referred to as both Little Cacapehon and Little Capecaphon. The name is pronounced kə-KAY-pən or KAY-pən.
Little Cacapon is an unincorporated community in Hampshire County in the U.S. state of West Virginia. Little Cacapon is located at the mouth of the Little Cacapon River on the Potomac, east of Okonoko. Okonoko-Little Cacapon Road and Spring Gap-Neals Run Road converge south of Little Cacapon. Because of its key location at the mouth of the Little Cacapon and on the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, Little Cacapon played important roles in both the French and Indian and American Civil Wars. Generally pronounced kə-KAY-pən. Sometimes, despite the current spelling of the word some locals say KAY-pən.
West Virginia Route 127 is an east–west state highway located in northeast West Virginia. The western terminus is at West Virginia Route 29 near Forks of Cacapon in Hampshire County. The eastern terminus is at the Virginia state line west of U.S. Route 522 and east of Good, where WV 127 continues eastward as State Route 127.
West Virginia Route 259 is a state highway in the U.S. state of West Virginia. The state highway runs 45.6 miles (73.4 km) from the Virginia state line near Mathias north to the Virginia state line at High View. At both termini, the road continues as Virginia State Route 259. WV 259 passes through Hardy and Hampshire counties and runs concurrently with WV 55 on Corridor H between Baker and Wardensville.
West Virginia Route 29 is a north–south state highway located in the Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia. The southern terminus of the route is at West Virginia Route 55 and West Virginia Route 259 in Baker, Hardy County. The northern terminus is at West Virginia Route 9 three miles (5 km) south of Paw Paw in Hampshire County.
Neals Run is an unincorporated community in Hampshire County in the U.S. state of West Virginia. Neals Run is located south of Little Cacapon near the confluence of the Little Cacapon River and Neals Run on Spring Gap-Neals Run Road. The community derives its name from the stream.
Dillons Run is a 12.9-mile-long (20.8 km) tributary stream of the Cacapon River, belonging to the Potomac River and Chesapeake Bay watersheds. The stream is located in Hampshire County in the U.S. state of West Virginia's Eastern Panhandle.
Largent is an unincorporated community village located chiefly in Morgan County and partly in Hampshire County in the U.S. state of West Virginia. Largent is located on the Cacapon River, approximately 18 miles southwest of Berkeley Springs along Cacapon Road. It is located by Old Enon Cemetery, Stony Creek, and the Cacapon River. Largent's original town name was Enon. It was most likely renamed when Postal Service found another town of Enon elsewhere in the state. The Enon name is found in local church and cemetery names. The Enon school is found on USGS maps from 1914 through 1923. The school has been open at least since the 1930s. The Baileys bought the building in 1958 and it has been a residence since.
Tearcoat Creek is an 18.3-mile-long (29.5 km) free-flowing tributary stream of the North River, itself a tributary of the Cacapon River, making it a part of the Potomac River and Chesapeake Bay watersheds. The creek is located in central Hampshire County, West Virginia. Its name is believed to have been derived from the tearing of the coats of British soldiers by low-hanging branches as they forded the stream during either the French and Indian or the American Revolutionary Wars.
Mill Creek is a 14.0-mile-long (22.5 km) tributary stream of the South Branch Potomac River, belonging to the Potomac River and Chesapeake Bay watersheds. The stream is located in Hampshire County in West Virginia's Eastern Panhandle. Mill Creek flows into the South Branch west of Romney Bridge near Vanderlip along the Northwestern Turnpike.
U.S. Route 50 in West Virginia runs from the border with Ohio to Virginia, passing briefly through Garrett County, Maryland, and following the Northwestern Turnpike. Prior to the U.S. Highway System it was West Virginia Route 1 and in the 1930s, the road was not finished in Maryland. Today the section of US 50 from Clarksburg to Parkersburg on the Ohio River is part of Corridor D of the Appalachian Development Highway System.
The North River is a tributary of the Cacapon River, belonging to the Potomac River and Chesapeake Bay watersheds. The river is located in Hampshire and Hardy counties in the U.S. state of West Virginia's Eastern Panhandle. The mouth of the North River into the Cacapon is located at Forks of Cacapon. From its headwaters to its mouth, the North River spans 52.4 miles (84.3 km) in length.
James Caudy was an American frontiersman, settler, and landowner in the Ridge-and-Valley Appalachians of the Colony of Virginia—present-day West Virginia. Caudy was born in the Netherlands, immigrated to the Thirteen Colonies in the 1730s, and settled within the Cacapon River valley near present-day Capon Bridge in Hampshire County. As early as 1741, Caudy was associated with the arrangement and development of transportation routes throughout present-day Hampshire County. Caudy twice hosted George Washington; first during his surveying expedition in 1748 and again upon Washington's 1750 return to the Cacapon River valley.
