Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia - History

History

Berkeley, Hampshire, Hardy, Jefferson, and Morgan counties joined the new Unionist state of West Virginia in 1863. Shortly after West Virginia gained statehood, Mineral and Grant counties were created from Hampshire and Hardy in 1866.

The Eastern Panhandle includes West Virginia's oldest chartered towns (1762) of Romney and Shepherdstown. The Panhandle also includes West Virginia's two oldest counties: Hampshire (1753) and Berkeley (1772).

The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad runs through the panhandle, and was a key transportation link to Washington, D.C. during the Civil War. Harper's Ferry was the site of a U.S. Armory until 1861. The strategic nature of the area influenced its inclusion in West Virginia by the Union Congress.

The question of the constitutionality of the formation of the new state was brought before the Supreme Court of the United States in the following manner: Berkeley and Jefferson counties, West Virginia, counties lying on the Potomac east of the mountains, in 1863, with the consent of the Reorganized Government of Virginia, had supposedly voted in favor of annexation to West Virginia. But, many voters were absent in the Confederate Army when the vote was taken, and they refused to accept the transfer upon their return. The Virginia General Assembly repealed the Act of Secession and in 1866 brought suit against West Virginia, asking the Supreme Court to declare the counties still part of Virginia. The Republican-controlled Congress, on March 10, 1866, passed a joint resolution recognizing the transfer. The Supreme Court, in 1871, also decided in favor of West Virginia.