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Jefferson County

Located in the Eastern Panhandle, Jefferson County is the easternmost county of West Virginia, 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 Berkeley County on the west.

Mapped Points

• Charles Town

  Established in 1786 by Charles Washington, brother of George Washington, Charles Town became the county seat when Jefferson County was formed from Berkeley in 1801. The house known as Happy Retreat is located in Charles Town. It was built and occupied by Col. Charles Washington, the founder and namesake of Charles Town and brother of George Washington. The town is also home to the Charles Town Opera House and Charles Town Races.
  

  

• Shepherdstown

  Shepherdstown, the oldest town in the state (along with Romney) was settled heavily by German immigrants and once known as Mechlenburg. Shepherdstown is home to Shepherd University and the Freshwater Institute.
  

  

• Harpers Ferry

  Harpers Ferry is the easternmost place in West Virginia and, at 247 feet, the lowest point in the state. Harpers Ferry was the site of John Brown’s raid in 1859. Harpers Ferry is home to the Harpers Ferry National Historical Park that commemorates important events and issues of the Civil War era, as well as African-American history, industry, and transportation. Storer College, a college established for African-Americans, was founded in Harpers Ferry in 1867. Jefferson Rock, a prominent outcropping of the sedimentary stone known as Harpers shale, is on the southern hillside of Harpers Ferry, just above St. Peter’s Church. The headquarters for the Appalachian Trail Conservancy is in Harpers Ferry.
  

  

• Shannondale Springs

  Shannondale Springs was home to a health spa that attracted the rich and influential in the 19th century. The site is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

• Claymont Court

  Jefferson County is home to several houses that were owned by members of the Washington family. The largest is Claymont Court, built in 1820 by a grand-nephew of George Washington.
  

  

• Potomac River

  The Potomac River forms the boundary between West Virginia and Maryland from the Fairfax Stone to Harpers Ferry.
  

  

• Shenandoah River

  The Shenandoah River and its main tributaries flow northeastward for almost 150 miles, chiefly through the Shenandoah Valley in Virginia between the Blue Ridge and the Allegheny mountains. The two forks of Shenandoah meet at Front Royal, Virginia, and from there the Shenandoah mainstream continues for 55 more miles, joining the Potomac River at Harpers Ferry.
  

  

• Harewood

  Harewood is the oldest and most famous of Jefferson County’s Washington estates and the only one that remains in family ownership.
  

  

• Blakeley

  The historic house known as Blakeley was constructed in 1820 by John A. Washington II.
  

  

• Peter Burr House

  The Peter Burr House near Bardane was constructed about 1751. The house is an extremely rare example of a very early family homestead and is considered to be the oldest standing wood frame structure in West Virginia.
  

  

• Traveller's Rest

  Traveller’s Rest was once the home of General Horatio Gates. Gates purchased a 659-acre farm in Berkeley County (now Jefferson), and began building Traveller’s Rest in 1773.
  

  

• Prato Rio

  Prato Rio is one of West Virginia’s most eccentric houses. Gen. Charles Lee bought the original log house and built a limestone addition. He gave it a unique arrangement. Instead of constructing partitions, he drew chalk lines on the floor to indicate various rooms.

• Virginius Island

  Virginius Island, located in the Shenandoah River adjacent to Harpers Ferry, was a thriving industrial area in the decades before the Civil War.

• Shenandoah Bloomery

  Shenandoah Bloomery, also known as Vestal’s Bloomery, was the first ironworks west of the Blue Ridge Mountains and the first in present West Virginia.