Jefferson County Historic Landmarks Commission

Jefferson County Historic Landmarks Commission The Jefferson County Historic Landmarks Commission operates under the authority granted to landmarks commissions by the West Virginia legislature.

The primary mission of the Jefferson County Historic Landmarks Commission is to preserve historic sites, structures, and rural landscapes within the unincorporated areas of Jefferson County and to educate the public about the county’s heritage. Its primary mission is to preserve historic sites, structures, and rural landscapes within the unincorporated areas of Jefferson County, West Virginia, and

to educate persons about the county's heritage. As a branch of Jefferson County government, the Landmarks Commission focuses on heritage education, historic preservation, historic resource development, and research. Jefferson County was established on October 26, 1801 by an act of the Virginia General Assembly. It was named after Thomas Jefferson, President of the United States. 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.

The next meeting of the Jefferson County Historic Landmarks Commission will be on Thursday, June 11th, at 7:00 PM at the...
06/04/2026

The next meeting of the Jefferson County Historic Landmarks Commission will be on Thursday, June 11th, at 7:00 PM at the County Commission meeting room at 393 N. Lawrence Street in Charles Town. We would love to see you there!

We're excited to announce that we have moved to the new Jefferson County Commission building at 393 North Lawrence Stree...
06/03/2026

We're excited to announce that we have moved to the new Jefferson County Commission building at 393 North Lawrence Street in Charles Town!

We would love to welcome you into our new space. Whether you have questions about the historic fabric of Jefferson County, need guidance on preservation projects, or simply want to stop by and say hello, our door is open!

The William Grubb Farm helps tell the story of Jefferson County's earliest settlers, the growth of the local Quaker comm...
06/01/2026

The William Grubb Farm helps tell the story of Jefferson County's earliest settlers, the growth of the local Quaker community, and the ways historic homes changed over time.

The Grubb family settled along the South Fork of Bullskin Run around 1740 as Quaker families migrated south from Pennsylvania and New Jersey. By the mid-1700s, they owned more than 1,000 acres, and their farm became an important gathering place for local Friends. A meeting house and burial ground were established on the property, and Quaker meetings were being held there by the early 1760s.

At the heart of the farm stands a house that reflects centuries of change. The original section, likely built around 1763, was a two-story log dwelling constructed in the "stone-ender" tradition, with a massive stone chimney that still dominates the structure today. Around 1880, additions were built on both sides of the original house, creating the larger home seen today.

The property once included a mill, farm buildings, the Quaker meeting house, and a burial ground that survives today. Although the meeting house is gone, the cemetery remains as a reminder of the Bullskin Quaker community that flourished here during the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries.

Photograph from the National Register of Historic Places Nomination for the William Grubb Farm

Today we focus on a more unusual historic landmark, the Appalachian National Scenic Trail.First proposed more than 100 y...
05/27/2026

Today we focus on a more unusual historic landmark, the Appalachian National Scenic Trail.

First proposed more than 100 years ago and completed in 1937, the Appalachian Trail stretches over 2,000 miles from Georgia to Maine. In Jefferson County, it passes through Harpers Ferry, often considered the “spiritual midpoint” of the trail. It is also home to the headquarters of the Appalachian Trail Conservancy.

The trail was first envisioned in the 1920s by Benton MacKaye as a continuous footpath connecting wilderness areas, promoting conservation, and providing public access to the Appalachian landscape. Over time, it has become one of the most iconic long distance trails in the United States, maintained through a partnership of federal and state agencies and thousands of volunteers.

In Harpers Ferry, one of the most iconic sections of the trail is the Goodloe E. Byron Memorial Pedestrian Walkway, commonly called the Byron Bridge. The Byron Bridge runs parallel to the adjacent railroad truss bridge pictured here and carries the Appalachian Trail across the river from Maryland into Harpers Ferry.

In Harpers Ferry, the trail serves as a corridor that passes through a deeply layered historic landscape which was shaped by transportation history, industry, and national events, including John Brown’s Raid at Harpers Ferry and the preparation and supply of the Lewis and Clark Expedition.

With the days warming up, it is well worth exploring, not just for the natural beauty, but for the history you pass along the way and that can be found beneath your feet!

Photograph courtesy of the Carol M. Highsmith Archive, Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division

Long before modern roads crossed the Shenandoah Valley, the river itself powered the region’s growth. Mills lined the Sh...
05/22/2026

Long before modern roads crossed the Shenandoah Valley, the river itself powered the region’s growth. Mills lined the Shenandoah River, grinding grain, sawing timber, processing iron, and producing woolen cloth for nearby communities. Hopewell and the nearby woolen mill are part of that larger story of settlement, industry, and architecture in our county.

The Hopewell farmhouse began around 1765 as a three-story log dwelling built by William Little, who operated a grist mill and sawmill along the Shenandoah. The structure preserves important elements of early German building traditions, including v-noch construction and its “bank House” design, which were brought to the Valley by settlers from Pennsylvania and Maryland.

By the late 1700s, Little’s mills had become important enough that the nearby stretch of river was known as “Little’s Falls.” In 1802, the Potowmack Company constructed a canal and lock around the falls as part of a larger transportation project first promoted by George Washington. The canal allowed boats to dock directly at the mills and helped transform the area into an important industrial center along the Shenandoah.

During the 1800s, Hopewell expanded along with the milling operation. A large stone woolen mill stood nearby and became one of the largest mills of its kind on the river. The property remained connected to local history through the Civil War era and into the 20th century, when the mill continued producing textiles, including military uniforms during World War II.

The Old Charles Town Historic District preserves the history and architecture that surround Charles Town’s downtown core...
05/20/2026

The Old Charles Town Historic District preserves the history and architecture that surround Charles Town’s downtown core. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the district reflects centuries of change, with buildings and stories dating from 1745 to 1945.

Charles Washington, the youngest brother of George Washington, officially laid out Charles Town in 1786–1787, creating the street plan that still defines the community today. But the area’s history began even earlier, with mills, inns, and homes already established along what are now Water, West, and Washington Streets. Some of Charles Town’s oldest surviving buildings can still be found there.

The district is significant not only for its architecture, but also for its connections to Civil War history, education, religion, and the evolving African American community in Charles Town. Together, these buildings tell the story of a town that grew and changed over generations.

Historic districts became an important part of the preservation movement in the mid-20th century, especially after the passage of the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966. Rather than protecting only individual landmarks, historic districts recognize the importance of preserving entire neighborhoods and streetscapes that reflect a community’s shared history and character.

If you would like to take advantage of the beautiful weather and learn more about Old Charles Town, consider taking the walking tour linked below created by Dr. Kathleen Thompson.

Photo of the Gibson-Todd House by John Hanneken.

Aspen Hill in Charles Town is a valuable example of the changing social landscape of the lower Shenandoah Valley during ...
05/18/2026

Aspen Hill in Charles Town is a valuable example of the changing social landscape of the lower Shenandoah Valley during the antebellum period. Built around 1840 by James G. Hurst, the home reflects the aspirations of a growing middle class that emerged in western Virginia during the early 19th century.

In the 1700s, much of the region was dominated by wealthy Tidewater and Piedmont families who controlled enormous landholdings and constructed grand stone mansions that symbolized their status and influence. By the early 1800s, however, westward expansion and the subdivision of large estates created new opportunities for smaller planters, merchants, and moderate farmers. By the 1840s, society in Jefferson County had developed into a clear three-tiered structure: wealthy landowners at the top, an emerging middle class of aspiring farmers and merchants in the middle, and tenant farmers, laborers, and enslaved people at the bottom.

Aspen Hill embodies this transitional period. The house itself appears to combine two earlier structures: an L-shaped brick farmhouse and a 1½-story log dwelling, later joined by a frame addition. Its architecture reflects vernacular Greek Revival influences, incorporating features associated with elite homes such as formal room arrangements, while maintaining the simpler finishes and restrained decoration typical of middle-class households.

The Hurst family even referred to Aspen Hill as their “mansion house,” revealing the desire for social respectability and refinement that characterized many upwardly mobile families of the era. Though less grand than the great estates nearby, Aspen Hill demonstrates how architecture could express ambition, identity, and class in rural Virginia before the Civil War.

The property remained in the Hurst family until 1918 and was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1980 for its importance as an example of middle-class antebellum architecture and its connection to the evolving social structure of the region.

Photograph from the Aspen Hill National Register Nomination, prepared by James E. Harding

Established before the American Revolution, the tract of land Beverley was built on was first purchased from Lord Fairfa...
05/15/2026

Established before the American Revolution, the tract of land Beverley was built on was first purchased from Lord Fairfax in 1750 by Richard Stephenson, a friend of George Washington. Around 1760, Stephenson built the original stone house and several outbuildings on the fertile land along the Shenandoah Valley.

During the French and Indian War, the farm supplied flour and beef to Washington’s troops. The Stephenson family also became closely tied to the Revolutionary War. Richard Stephenson’s sons John and Hugh both rose to the rank of Colonel, with Hugh Stephenson famously leading the 1775 “Bee Line March,” traveling more than 600 miles in just 24 days to join the Continental Army.

In 1795, the property was purchased by Beverley Whiting, a wealthy planter and local political figure. The current main house was constructed around 1800, replacing the earlier stone residence. Like many large farms in the Shenandoah Valley, Beverley’s success depended heavily on enslaved labor. Tax records from 1798 show Whiting enslaved at least 24 people at Bullskin, and by 1820 the number had risen to 31 enslaved men, women, and children. While the names and stories of many of those individuals have been lost to history, some of the quarters where enslaved people lived still stand on the property today.

The property was officially renamed Beverley around 1845 in honor of Beverley Whiting. Beverley remained in the Whiting family until 1870, when it was sold to the Burns family, who still own and operate the farm today.

Photographs from the Library of Congress Historic American Building Survey collection.

Wheatland Farm, near Rippon, was one of the earliest large farms in the area around present-day U.S. 340 and remained co...
05/13/2026

Wheatland Farm, near Rippon, was one of the earliest large farms in the area around present-day U.S. 340 and remained connected to the Turner family for much of the 19th century. The oldest part of the stone house was likely built by Robert Baylor before 1798. At the time, Baylor’s home was valued at $2,100 which made it one of the most valuable homes in what was then Berkeley County.

In 1804, Robert Baylor sold 765 acres, including the farm where he lived, to Henry Smith Turner. Wheatland later became one of the largest farms in the area, and in 1821 it was praised in the national agricultural publication The American Farmer. That success, however, was built through the labor of enslaved people. Census records from 1830 show that Turner enslaved 66 men, women, and children at Wheatland, whose forced labor sustained and expanded the farm.

After Henry Turner’s death in 1834, the property was divided among his children. Wheatland eventually passed to his son, George Washington Turner, a graduate of West Point and later a victim of John Brown’s Raid in Harpers Ferry in 1859.

In his 1972 book Historic Jefferson County, historian Millard Bushong described Wheatland as a stone house built in two sections, with a large front addition supposedly added by George Turner in 1833. Bushong also wrote that the exterior was coated with a mixture of oyster shells, lime, and sand that hardened almost like cement.

Wheatland remained in the Turner family until 1880. Although the historic home survived well into the 20th century, it was ultimately demolished in the 1960s.

Photographs from the Library of Congress Historic American Building Survey collection

Located in historic Harpers Ferry, the Tearney Building was constructed in 1844 by Edward Tearney, Peter Lytle, and Patr...
05/11/2026

Located in historic Harpers Ferry, the Tearney Building was constructed in 1844 by Edward Tearney, Peter Lytle, and Patrick Kelly as a duplex mercantile and residential structure on Shenandoah Street.

The two-story brick building originally featured two storefronts on the first floor with duplex residences above, connected by a central alley providing access to the rear of the property.

Over the years, the building housed a variety of businesses including grocery and dry goods stores, a to***co shop, clothing merchants, a butcher shop, a restaurant, and later a pool room operated by Charles K. Grubb.

Historical records show the upper floors continued to serve as residences from 1844 through 1953, while the storefronts adapted to the changing needs of Harpers Ferry’s commercial life. A smaller stone structure known as Building No. 39 once stood behind the property and likely served as a warehouse or kitchen.

Today, the Tearney Building continues to preserve and share local history through its use as the Restoration Museum.

Photograph courtesy of the Library of Congress

Address

116 E Washington Street
Charles Town, WV
25414

Opening Hours

Monday 9am - 5pm
Tuesday 9am - 5pm
Wednesday 9am - 5pm
Thursday 9am - 5pm
Friday 9am - 5pm

Telephone

+13047283195

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