The Potomac River is a major river in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States that flows from the Potomac Highlands in West Virginia to the Chesapeake Bay in Maryland. It is 405 miles (652 km) long, with a drainage area of 14,700 square miles (38,000 km2), and is the fourth-largest river along the East Coast of the United States and the 21st-largest in the United States. More than 5 million people live within its watershed.
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.
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 lies east of Green Spring, Hampshire County, West Virginia, where it meets the North Branch Potomac River to form the Potomac.
The Northwestern Turnpike is a historic road in West Virginia, important for being historically one of the major roads crossing the Appalachians, financed by the Virginia Board of Public Works in the 1830s. In modern times, west of Winchester, Virginia, U.S. Route 50 follows the path of the Northwestern Turnpike into West Virginia, whose major Corridor D project follows the western section of the original Northwestern Turnpike.
Green Spring is a census-designated place (CDP) and railroad town in Hampshire County, West Virginia, United States. As of the 2010 census, its population was 218. Green Spring is located north of Springfield on Green Spring Road near the confluence of the North and South Branches of the Potomac River. Green Spring is also the location of the South Branch Valley Railroad's terminus with the old Baltimore & Ohio Railroad mainline. Green Spring is the site of a one-lane low-water toll bridge that connects Green Spring Road to Maryland Route 51 in Oldtown, Allegany County, Maryland. This bridge is one of only 17 privately owned toll bridges in the United States. The toll for the bridge is currently US$1.50.
Hanging Rocks are perpendicular cliffs rising nearly 300 feet (91 m) above the South Branch Potomac River in Hampshire County in the U.S. state of West Virginia. Hanging Rocks are located four miles (6 km) north of Romney at Wappocomo on West Virginia Route 28. Hanging Rocks has also been known throughout its history as Painted Rocks and Blue's Rocks. When distinguished from the "Lower Hanging Rocks" along the South Branch at Blues Beach to the north, Hanging Rocks is referred to as Upper Hanging Rocks.
West Virginia Route 28 is a north–south route through the Potomac Highlands of the U.S. state of West Virginia. The southern terminus of the route is at West Virginia Route 39 in Huntersville. The northern terminus is at the Maryland state line in Wiley Ford, where the route continues into Cumberland as Canal Parkway upon crossing the North Branch Potomac River.
The South Branch Valley Railroad is a 52.4-mile-long (84.3 km) railroad in the Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia. The branch line, which parallels the South Branch Potomac River, runs north from Petersburg to Green Spring, where it connects to the national rail network at a junction with the CSX Cumberland Subdivision.
Indian Mound Cemetery is a cemetery located along the Northwestern Turnpike on a promontory of the "Yellow Banks" overlooking the South Branch Potomac River and Mill Creek Mountain in Romney, West Virginia, United States. The cemetery is centered on a Hopewellian mound, known as the Romney Indian Mound. Indian Mound Cemetery is also the site of Fort Pearsall, the Confederate Memorial, Parsons Bell Tower, and reinterments from Romney's Old Presbyterian Cemetery. The cemetery is currently owned and maintained by the Indian Mound Cemetery Association, Inc.
Fort Pearsall was an early frontier fort constructed in 1756 in Romney, West Virginia to protect local settlers in the South Branch Potomac River valley against Native American raids. The area around present-day Romney had been settled as early as 1725 by hunters and traders in the valley.
Mill Creek Mountain is a continuous mountain ridge that runs northeast through Hampshire and Hardy counties in the Eastern Panhandle region of the U.S. state of West Virginia. Rising to its greatest elevation of 2,650 feet (808 m) at High Knob, Mill Creek is a folded mountain ridge, belonging to the Ridge-and-Valley Appalachians. Mill Creek Mountain forms the western edge of the South Branch Potomac River Valley and is named for Mill Creek that carves through it at Mechanicsburg Gap allowing the Northwestern Turnpike to pass through as well. Along with Sawmill Ridge, Mill Creek Mountain forms the Trough along the South Branch.
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.
Piss Pot Island is an island on the South Branch Potomac River west of Romney in Hampshire County, West Virginia. Piss Pot Island received its name before 1755, the year it was included on Joshua Fry's and Peter Jefferson's Carte de la Virginie et du Maryland. Uncommon for islands of its size and geologic nature, Piss Pot Island has remained approximately the same size since the eighteenth century. The island is forested primarily with American sycamores and silver maples. It continues to be popular with fishermen and canoers on the South Branch Potomac River. Mill Creek empties into the South Branch to its western shore and Wergman Run enters the river to its northeast.
Big Run is a 4.4-mile-long (7.1 km) tributary stream of the South Branch Potomac River, belonging to the Potomac River and Chesapeake Bay watersheds. Big Run flows through the city of Romney and the campus of the West Virginia Schools for the Deaf and Blind in Hampshire County, West Virginia. The stream is known by local residents as Town Run and Town Creek.
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 Potomac Eagle Scenic Railroad is a heritage railroad based in Romney, West Virginia.
Wappocomo is a late 18th-century Georgian mansion and farm overlooking the South Branch Potomac River north of Romney, Hampshire County, West Virginia, USA. It is located along Cumberland Road and the South Branch Valley Railroad.
Moorefield and North Branch Turnpike was a turnpike in the U.S. state of Virginia built to facilitate travel and commerce between the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad at Green Spring on the North Branch Potomac River and Moorefield. Today, Green Spring Road, Harriott-Wappocomo Road, and West Virginia Route 28 encompass most of the Moorefield and North Branch Turnpike's original route.
Valley View is a mid-19th-century Greek Revival residence and farm overlooking the South Branch Potomac River northwest of Romney, West Virginia. The house is atop a promontory where Depot Valley joins the South Branch Potomac River valley.
Valley was a populated place and post office on the South Branch line of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad in the U.S. state of West Virginia. It was centered near the intersection of West Sioux Lane and Depot Valley Road, now located within the present-day corporate boundaries of Romney. Valley developed in 1884 following the completion of the South Branch line when the rail line's original southern terminus and corresponding Romney Depot were built there. The United States Post Office Department established a post office at Valley on May 19, 1928, remaining in operation until its disestablishment on June 15, 1937. Following the closure of Valley's post office, its mail was routed through the post office in Romney.
