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Hampshire County

Hampshire, West Virginia’s oldest county, is located in the Eastern Panhandle west of the Blue Ridge and Shenandoah River and east of the Allegheny Mountains, in the geological region known as the Ridge and Valley Province.

Mapped Points

• Romney

  Romney, the seat of Hampshire County, changed hands at least 56 times during the Civil War. Romney and Shepherdstown are the oldest towns in the state. The West Virginia Schools for the Deaf and Blind are located in Romney. Romney is also home to Indian Mound Cemetery.
  

  

• Capon Springs Resort

  Capon Springs Resort, and associated farms, is a 5,000-acre retreat near the community of Capon Springs in Hampshire County. Managed by the same family since 1932, the resort is ‘‘one of the best-preserved 19th-century spring resorts in the state,’’ according to research nominating it to the National Register of Historic Places.

• Potomac River

  The Potomac River forms the boundary between West Virginia and Maryland from the Fairfax Stone to Harpers Ferry. From Harpers Ferry to the Chesapeake Bay it is the boundary between Maryland and Virginia.

• North Branch

  The North Branch of the Potomac River is one of two branches of the Potomac and usually thought of as the river’s main stem.

• South Branch

  The South Branch of the Potomac River, with its two major tributaries, the North Fork and South Fork, drains all of Pendleton County and parts of Grant, Hardy, Hampshire, and Morgan counties.

• Cacapon River

  The Cacapon River flows north-northeasterly for 112 miles through Hardy, Hampshire, and Morgan counties.
  

  

• Ice Mountain

  Ice Mountain, a National Natural Landmark, has an extensive area of boulders and rock debris within which water freezes in the winter. The protective layer of rocks allows the ice to melt slowly through the spring and early summer.

• Caudy's Castle

  Also known as Castle Rock, Caudy’s Castle is a geologic formation located near the Forks of Cacapon, west of Bloomery. The cone-shaped megalith gained its name during the French and Indian War when pioneer settlers, led by frontiersman James Caudy, purportedly took refuge in its craggy recesses.
  

  

• The Trough

  The Trough is a narrow canyon where the South Branch of the Potomac River runs between Sawmill Ridge and River Ridge. The Trough is popular with canoeists and kayakers today, with fishermen, and with sightseeing tourists on the Potomac Eagle excursion train.

• Battle of Ford Edwards

  The Battle of Fort Edwards was the largest battle of the French and Indian War in Virginia. It occurred on April 18, 1756.