Jefferson County



Charles Town

Chartered in 1832.

Population 2010 Census: 5,259
Median Age: 35.5 years

Courthouse: Completed 1836; remodeled and enlarged 1872; wing added 1916
Architect: S. N. Lackland, T. N. Douglas & Andrew Kennedy; Phillips & Cockrill (remodel)

Hover mouse over a dot on the map for for details on Charles Town.

Formed: 1801
Named: For Thomas Jefferson, author of the Declaration of Independence and 3rd President
County Seat: Charles Town
Land in Square Miles: 209.64
Population 2010 Census: 53,498
Persons per Square Mile 2010: 255.2

Primary Sources Online
John Brown Papers held by the Jefferson County Circuit Clerk's Office
"His Soul Goes Marching On": The Life and Legacy of John Brown, Online Exhibit
John Brown/Boyd B. Stutler Collection Database
William Lyne Wilson
Execution of John Yates Beall
Transfer of Berkeley and Jefferson Counties to West Virginia
First Meeting of Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia in Charles Town
Niagara Movement Meeting at Harpers Ferry
Bill Blizzard Trial in Charles Town
Announcement of Federal Fish Hatchery
Opening of Race Track in Charles Town
Strike at Perfection Garment Company plants in Martinsburg and Ranson
1960 Presidential Campaign in Jefferson County

Civil War
Meeting of Citizens of Harpers Ferry and Bolivar, 1861
Destruction of Buildings and Property at Harpers Ferry, 1861
Letter from Harpers Ferry, 1861
Affairs at Harpers Ferry, 1861
Letter from Harpers Ferry, 1861
Invasion of Charles Town, 1861
Affair in Jefferson County, 1861
Skirmish at Harpers Ferry, 1861
Letter from Shepherdstown, 1861
Skirmish at Prichard's Mill, 1861
Raid on Harpers Ferry, 1861
Battle Near Harpers Ferry, 1861
Another Lincoln Outrage in Jefferson County, 1861
Burning of Harpers Ferry, 1862
Harpers Ferry as It Now Is, 1862
Fight at Harpers Ferry, 1862
Surrender of Harpers Ferry, 1862
Surrender of Harpers Ferry, 1862
News from Harpers Ferry, 1862
Reconnaissance from Shepherdstown, 1862
Fight Near Shepherdstown, 1862
Occupation of Charles Town, 1862
Reconnaissance, 1862
Report of Brig. Gen. John W. Geary, 1862
Skirmishes Near Smithfield and Charles Town, 1863
Reports of Skirmish Near Harpers Ferry, 1863
Raid on the Baltimore and Ohio, 1864
Skirmishes Near Charles Town and Kabletown, 1864
Skirmishes at Charles Town and Duffield's Station, 1864
Instituting Proceedings for the Removal of John W. Kennedy, 1865
Legislation Moving County Seat, 1865
Execution of John Yates Beall, 1865

Photographs
Photographs of Schools in Jefferson County
William Darke
General Darke's house near Duffields
Horatio Gates
Smith's Tavern at Middleway
Strider cabin
Mordington, mansion built by Charles Washington near Charles Town
St. George's Chapel ruins near Charles Town
John Brown and Harpers Ferry photos
"Destruction of the Railroad Bridge over the Potomac, at Harper's Ferry, by the Rebels," 1861
"The Philadelphia Corn Exchange Regiment Fording the Potomac Near Shepherdstown," 1862
"Ford Near Shepherdstown, on the Potomac - Picket Firing Across the River," 1862
"Charlestown, Virginia, From the Tower of the Episcopal Church, Now Used as a Signal Station by the National Troops," 1862
"Campaign in Virginia - the Reconnoissance to Charlestown - Scene at the Railroad Station - Chivalrous Behavior of Secesh Lady," 1862
"View of Harpers Ferry from the Maryland side of the Potomac," 1862
"General View of Harpers Ferry and the Maryland Heights," 1862
"The Main Street, Harper's Ferry, Va. - Zouaves on Mules - Contrabands Hauling Guns - Officers Lounging, &c," 1862
"Campaign in Virginia - a Street in Harper's Ferry During the Passage of the Potomac by the National Troops from Maryland," 1862
"Campaign in Virginia - General Geary's Division Crossing the Shenandoah from Harper's Ferry to Take Possession of Loudon Heights," 1862
"The War in Virginia - General Banks's Division of the Army of the Potomac Crossing the Potomac River, at Harper's Ferry," 1862
"A Sutler's Store, Harper's Ferry, Virginia," 1862

Secondary Sources Online
List of Jefferson County Legislators
Proposal of Shepherdstown as U.S. Capital
"Legal Phases of the Trial of John Brown," by Daniel C. Draper (West Virginia History)
"The Martyrdom of John Brown," by Charles A. Jellison (West Virginia History)
"John Brown at Harpers Ferry: A Contemporary Analysis," by Lawrence F. Barmann, S. J. (West Virginia History)
"Re-evaluating John Brown's Raid at Harpers Ferry," by Karen Whitman (West Virginia History)
"John Brown's Raid At Harpers Ferry and Governor Henry Alexander Wise's Letter to President James Buchanan Concerning the Invasion," by Isaiah A. Woodward (West Virginia History)
"John Brown's Fort," by Clarence S. Gee (West Virginia History)
"A Nineteenth-Century Mill Village: Virginius Island, 1800-60," by Mary Johnson (West Virginia History)
"An 'Ever Present Bone of Contention': The Heyward Shepherd Memorial," by Mary Johnson (West Virginia History)
"John Brown: Road of an Abolitionist," by Rebecca McPhail Samples (West Virginia Historical Society Quarterly)
Martin Delany
Storer College

West Virginia Veterans Memorial Biographies
Wayne Douglas Boyer
Ralph Gerald Henretty
James Edward Mason Jackson
Solomon Johnson
Joseph Gordon Kime III
Charles Chipley Wetzel

History of the American Negro Biographies
Jared Maurice Arter
James William Drew
Hamilton Hatter
William Allen Saunders
Chester Dunlap Wainwright
Henry H. Winters



Teacher Resources

West Virginia Archives and History