Morgan County, West Virginia

Morgan County is a located in the  of. As of 2006, the population is 16,337. Its is. The county is one of three in. Morgan County was formed in 1820 from parts of and  Counties and named in honor of , prominent soldier of the. It is the home of an important mine producing special sand for the glass industry.

Geography
According to the, the county has a total area of 595 (230 ). 593 km² (229 sq mi) of it is land and 2 km² (1 sq mi) of it (0.30%) is water.

Major Highways

 * [[Image:US 522.svg|25px]]
 * [[Image:WV-9.svg|20px]]

Adjacent Counties

 * (north)
 * (east)
 * (southeast)
 * (southwest)
 * (northwest)

Magisterial districts

 * Allen
 * Bath
 * Cacapon
 * Rock Gap
 * Sleepy Creek
 * Timber Ridge

Demographics
As of the of 2000, there were 14,943 people, 6,145 households, and 4,344 families residing in the county. The was 25/km² (65/sq mi). There were 8,076 housing units at an average density of 14/km² (35/sq mi). The racial makeup of the county was 98.30%, 0.60% or , 0.17% , 0.12% , 0.01% , 0.23% from , and 0.57% from two or more races. 0.83% of the population were or  of any race.

There were 6,145 households out of which 28.70% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 57.90% were living together, 8.20% had a female householder with no husband present, and 29.30% were non-families. 24.50% of all households were made up of individuals and 10.20% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.40 and the average family size was 2.84.

The age distribution is 22.40% under the age of 18, 6.80% from 18 to 24, 27.30% from 25 to 44, 26.90% from 45 to 64, and 16.60% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 41 years. For every 100 females there were 96.60 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 95.00 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $35,016, and the median income for a family was $40,690. Males had a median income of $29,816 versus $22,307 for females. The for the county was $18,109. About 8.00% of families and 10.40% of the population were below the, including 11.60% of those under age 18 and 8.80% of those age 65 or over.

History
Morgan County was created by an act of the in March 1820 from parts of  and  counties. It was named in honor of General (1736-1802). He was born in, , and moved to , as a youth. He served as a wagoner in during the campaign against the  in 1755. During the campaign, a British Lieutenant became angry with him and hit him with the flat of his sword. Morgan punched the Lieutenant, knocking him unconscious. Morgan was court-martialed for striking a British officer and was sentenced to 500 lashes. Morgan later joked that the drummer who counted out the lashes miscounted and he received only 499 lashes. For the rest of his life he claimed the British still owed him one.

Early European settlers
The first English settlers in present-day Morgan County arrived during the 1730s. Because most of these early pioneers were squatters, there is no record of their names. Historians claim that the first cabin in the county was built around 1745. As word of the county's warm s spread eastward, decided that the county needed to be surveyed. In 1748,, then just 16 years old, was part of the survey party the surveyed the Eastern Panhandle region for Lord Fairfax. He later returned to Bath several times over the next several years with his half-brother, Laurence, who was ill and hoped that the warm springs might improve his health. The springs, and their rumored medicinal benefits, attracted numerous Indians as well as Europeans to the area.

18th century Morgan County
As mentioned previously, George Washington visited present-day Berkeley Springs several times with his half-brother, Laurence. When he vacationed in the area in 1767, he noted how busy the town had become. Lord Fairfax had built a summer home there and a "private bath" making the area a popular destination for Virginia's social elite. As the town continued to grow, the Virginia General Assembly decided to formally recognize it. In October 1776, the town was officially named Bath, in honor of England's spa city called. The town's main north-south street was named Washington and the main east-west street was named Fairfax. Also, seven acres (28,000 m²) were set aside for "suffering humanity." When gained statehood, that area became West Virginia's first state park.

Bath's population increased during and immediately after the as wounded soldiers and others came to the area believing that the warm springs had medicinal qualities. Bath gained a reputation as a somewhat wild town where eating, drinking, dancing and gambling on the daily horse races were the order of the day.

Bath later became known as Berkeley Springs, primarily because the town's post office took that name (combining Governor 's last name with the warm springs found there) to avoid confusion with another post office, located in southeastern Virginia, which was already called Bath. Because the mail was sent to and from Berkeley Springs, that name slowly took precedence.

Sites on the

 * Complete

Morgan County links

 * MorganCountyUSA
 * Berkeley Springs-Morgan County Chamber of Commerce
 * Morgan Arts Council
 * Morgan County Community Organizations
 * Morgan County Public Library
 * Morgan County Schools
 * The Morgan Messenger
 * Morgan County Solid Waste Authority
 * WVU Extension Service - Morgan County