to Berkeley County
West Virginia

Welcome to the Berkeley County, West Virginia, site for the WVGenWeb Project, part of the USGenWeb Project, a massive undertaking to provide free resources to genealogists.    Berkeley County is the second oldest county in West Virginia and was created (while part of the state of Virginia) in 1772 from the northern third of Frederick County, Virginia. The county seat was established in the colonial village of Martinsburg and was incorporated in 1778. During the Civil War, Berkeley County, still a part of Virginia, experienced conflict and much destruction, as did other areas, and families became divided. After November 1863, Berkeley County became part of the new state of West Virginia.    Many Quakers and Scotch-Irish Presbyterians, along with the English and Dutch, became residents here in the early 1700s. The county has a long history and many historic and architectually important buildings.    My name is Marilyn Gouge and I am the volunteer county coordinator for this site. It is always "under construction" and if you have any suggestions for, or comments about, this site, please feel free to contact me.    I'm not an expert on Berkeley County and cannot respond personally to queries, but there are other excellent resources (scroll down the page for options), including the Berkeley County WV mailing list, message boards, and other links for research. If you have books or other materials and would be willing to do lookups for those out of the area, please contact me and I'll add you to the list of "Lookup Volunteers." Check back with us often since new information and links are added to this site frequently! NOTE: It has been brought to our attention that archive information previously available here has been moved to another server, which has created a number of invalid links on these pages. Please bear with us as changes are being made to those links as well as to surnames and family pages. Thank you — Coordinator/Webmaster The Berkeley County West Virginia Mailing List is hosted by RootsWeb and is for anyone with a genealogical interest in Berkeley County.    To subscribe, send a plain-text email to: WVBERKEL-L-request@rootsweb.com with only the word subscribe in the subject and body of the email. If you would prefer the digest mode (where messages are grouped together and sent out once a day), send your email to WVBERKEL-D-request@rootsweb.com. To post to either list, send a query to: WVBERKEL@rootsweb.com after you register. This is a FREE service, but you must register to post. Browse or search the archives of the Berkeley County mailing lists. Berkeley County West Virginia Message Board    This board will allow you to post queries and search for obituaries, bible entries, wills, and other information regarding Berkeley County folks and connect with others researching in the same area. Messages on the current board are those posted since mid-1998 and are fully searchable.   Older queries are separate from the board and can be browsed through the following links. To respond to an individual query on the older boards, contact the poster of the message. WVGenWeb is not responsible for e-mail addresses that have been inactivated by the owners. 1998 queries (Jan-Apr) 1997 queries (Jan-Jun) 1997 queries (Jul-Dec) 1996 queries (Jun-Dec) Berkeley County Information Biographies and information about a number of Berkeley County's citizens. UPDATED 30 May 2009 Cemeteries Transcripts of some cemetery headstones in Berkeley County UPDATED 25 June 2009 Census Records — Coming Soon! Communities Past and present Berkeley County towns and cities Documents Deeds, land grants, military pensions, marriage indexes, wills and other files submitted by descendants of Berkeley County residents UPDATED 30 May 2009 Family pages Locate others who are researching ancestors in Berkeley County, West Virginia Lookup Volunteers Volunteers willing to do lookups in resources they own, Berkeley County, West Virginia Updated — 21 November!! Newspaper Extracts — Information about early area citizens appearing in various newspapers — A Work in Progress Queries — Coming soon! These are queries that were once in the Guestbook on this page. Once online, you can read what others have posted about their searches in Berkeley County Surnames Find others researching surnames in Berkeley County, West Virginia Vital Records Information, West Virginia Counties          Birth and Death records since 1917; Marriage records since 1921; and Divorce records since 1968. Send to individual counties for records earlier than those years maintained by the state offices. Vital Records          Berkeley County Vital Records Office          Berkeley County Clerk          100 West King Street          Martinsburg, WV 25401-3210          (304).267.3000          Vital Research Records Search Selection — The Vital Research Records Project of the West Virginia State Archives is placing Birth, Death, and Marriage certificates on-line. Users can search the records and view scanned images of the original records. Not all of Berkeley County records are scanned, but do check back with theis site frequently since this is an ongoing project. West Virginia Birth and Death Certificates — West Virginia Health Statistics Center — Additional information on who can obtain birth and death certificates from the state. Social Security Death Index at Ancestry.com (free database) Repositories, Libraries, and Societies          Berkely County Historical Society          P.O. Box 1624          Martinsburg, WV 25402       West Virginia State Archives — This site lists a number of repositories in Berkeley County, including itemized listings of some. It is recommended that you contact the individual repository for up-to-date information on their holdings. Links to individual repositories are provided if available. Otherwise, addresses and telephone numbers are listed on the West Virginia Archives and History pages.       Berkeley County court records, Martinsburg. Itemized listing of birth, death, marriage, will, land and miscellaneous records, according to the West Virginia Archives. Please check with the county for complete information.       Martinsburg — Berkeley County Public Library Itemized listing of some records available.       Naylor Memorial Library, Hedgesville.       Musselman-South Berkeley Branch Library, Inwood       North Berkeley Public Library, Falling Waters.       Eastern Panhandle (West Virginia) Libraries — Guide to location of libraries in Berkeley, Morgan, Jefferson, Hampshire, Mineral, Hardy, Grant and Pendleton counties of West Virginia       Belle Boyd House and Museum, Martinsburg, West Virginia — the headquarters for the Berkeley County Historical Society and Berkeley County Landmarks Commission, and the Ben Boyd Book Store. The Belle Boyd house is owned and operated by Berkeley County Historical Society. Built in 1853 by Ben Boyd, father of the famous Confederate spy and the only house standing in Martinsburg known to have been lived in by Belle Boyd. The museum, archives, and book shop are open 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Monday through Saturday. Archives open each Wednesday evening 6:00 p.m.-9:00 p.m. No admission fee. Open year round except Christmas holidays. Located on 126 E. Race Street in Martinsburg. (See link above for the Berkeley County Historical Society and please call for hours of operation as they could change.)             Morgan Cabin, Bunker Hill — Colonel Morgan Morgan, the first white settler in West Virginia, built this cabin between 1731-34. The cabin was restored as a Bicentennial project in 1976, using many of its original logs. It is a historically furnished museum and is the home of the Morgan Cabin Committee. On Rt. 26, 3.5 miles West of Rt. 11. For times of operation or more information, call (304) 267-4713. Washington Heritage Trail, Martinsburg, West Virginia — Map and information about Martinsburg's nine historic districts: Baltimore & Ohio Roundhouse Complex; Belle Boyd House; Berkeley County Archives and Research Center; Berkeley County Courthouse; General Adam Stephen (founder of Martinsburg) House; Green Hill Cemetery Historic District; Summer-Ramer School; and The Triple Brick Museum. Martinsburg Newspaper, The Journal Handley Regional Library, Winchester, Virginia — has a collection of books pertaining to West Virginia and Berkeley County, WV. Frederick County, Virginia, GenWeb page. Since Berkeley County was formed from part of Frederick County, Virginia, in 1772, browse through this site to possibly locate information about your ancestors. 1895 Historical West Virginia Map — includes Berkeley County Berkeley County Chamber of Commerce, Martinsburg. Schools Berkeley's Neighboring Counties Jefferson County, West Virginia (east) Morgan County, West Virginia (west) Frederick County, Virginia (south) Washington County, Maryland (north) West Virginia Links State of West Virginia The official state page. West Virginia Chronology West Virginia Facts More facts and links about West Virginia. West Virginia Tourism Places and things to see and do throughout the state. The Martinsburg/Berkeley County Convention and Visitors Bureau. Genealogy Links Migrations Project    If your ancestors traveled to West Virginia and settled in Berkeley Co., or were just passing through, you can honor them by placing their names in the Migrations database. All information that is submitted can be searched for by name or location so anyone will be able to find their ancestors and make a connection with you!    Check your weather       Enter a City or US Zip:       Thanks for visiting & y'all come back!      Marilyn Gouge, County Coordinator Your comments and suggestions are always welcome!   Last updated 25 June 2009 Copyright © 2002-2009 by Marilyn Gouge; 2000-2002 by Peggy Tebbetts