Mechanicsburg Gap

Mechanicsburg, also known as Mechanicsville, is an unincorporated community in Hampshire County, West Virginia, United States. It is located on the Northwestern Turnpike (U.S. Route 50) west of Romney at Mill Creek Gap (sometimes referred to as Mechanicsburg Gap). Mechanicsburg is the site of "The Burg" (c. 1769), used as a headquarters by both armies during the American Civil War. Along Fox Hollow Road (County Route 50/4) lies the 19th-century Fox's Hollow Baptist Church and the old Mechanicsburg School. The Fox's Hollow area of Mechanicsburg is currently experiencing major residential development, including Silver Leaf, a community of wooded five and 10-acre (40,000 m2) lots.

The Fort Mill Ridge Civil War Trenches are battle trenches in West Virginia that were originally dug between 1861 and 1862 to be later used in 1863 for the civil war. These trenches lined with chestnut logs by the Confederate artillery during the American Civil War to defend the approaches to Romney on the Northwestern Turnpike and the South Branch Potomac River. The trenches were then refurbished between March and June 1863 by the 54th Pennsylvania Infantry and the 1st West Virginia Infantry. When Colonel Jacob M. Campbell (54th PVI) garrisoned Union forces at Romney, camps were set up at nearby at Mechanicsburg Gap. The Confederates might have created these trenches but all throughout the war the Union had control of these trenches.The Fort Mill Ridge trenches are believed to be the best preserved battle trenches dating from the Civil War in existence. The trenches are located three miles southwest of Romney adjacent to the Fort Mill Ridge Wildlife Management Area off of the Northwestern Turnpike (U.S. Route 50/West Virginia Route 28). A Civil War museum relating to the construction and use of the Fort Mill Ridge trenches is located within the Taggart Hall Civil War Museum & Visitors Center on the corner of High Street and Gravel Lane in downtown Romney. This place is significant not only because of battle that was being taken place but for the military and engineering. The engineering style the Confederates used is an excellent example of a rammed earth fortification" to protect the transportation routes as well. Also, this brought a new age to wars and a new fighting style of fighting in trenches rather than an open field. It provided more protection and defense than the offensive strategy of fighting. The defensive method was used so the transports can pass by safely. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2014.

The Fort Mill Ridge Wildlife Management Area is located on 217 acres (0.88 km2) two miles (3 km) southwest of Romney in Hampshire County, West Virginia. Fort Mill Ridge WMA is owned by the West Virginia Division of Natural Resources. The Fort Mill Ridge Civil War Trenches are located at the top of the Fort Mill Ridge access road. Fort Mill Ridge WMA is located atop Mill Creek Mountain's Fort Mill Ridge and is bound to its west by Mill Creek and its tributary Core Run and bound to its east by the South Branch Potomac River. The South Branch Valley Railroad runs along the WMA's eastern side, parallel to the South Branch. Fort Mill Ridge WMA ranges in elevation from 680 feet (210 m) to 1,100 feet (340 m). Its forests consist primarily of various oaks and Virginia pines. The primary game species are deer and squirrel. Fishing for warmwater species is available on the South Branch via an access road on the eastern side of the WMA. Camping is not permitted.

Mill Creek is a 14.0-mile-long (22.5 km) tributary stream of the South Branch Potomac River, belonging to the Potomac River and Chesapeake Bay watersheds. The stream is located in Hampshire County in West Virginia's Eastern Panhandle. Mill Creek flows into the South Branch west of Romney Bridge near Vanderlip along the Northwestern Turnpike (U.S. Route 50).

Vanderlip is an unincorporated community in Hampshire County in the U.S. state of West Virginia. Vanderlip is located west of Romney along the Northwestern Turnpike (U.S. Route 50) and the South Branch Valley Railroad. At times the community was referred to as West Romney Station, while its post office used the name Vanderlip, after a Baltimore and Ohio Railroad executive. The "heart" of Vanderlip is centered between Vanderlip Drive and Ozark Hill Road. The community was named after Frank A. Vanderlip, a railroad banker.

Piss Pot Island is an island on the South Branch Potomac River west of Romney in Hampshire County, West Virginia. Piss Pot Island received its name before 1755, the year it was included on Joshua Fry's and Peter Jefferson's Carte de la Virginie et du Maryland. Uncommon for islands of its size and geologic nature, Piss Pot Island has remained approximately the same size since the eighteenth century. The island is forested primarily with American sycamores and silver maples. It continues to be popular with fishermen and canoers on the South Branch Potomac River. Mill Creek empties into the South Branch to its western shore and Wergman Run enters the river to its northeast. Piss Pot Island is currently owned by the Williams family of Sycamore Dale, the historic brick plantation house located to its east on South Branch River Road (County Route 8). It is easily viewed from the Northwestern Turnpike (U.S. Route 50) in Vanderlip and the Romney Bridge.

Hickory Grove is a historic home located near Romney, Hampshire County, West Virginia. It was built in 1849, and is a three-story, red brick dwelling. It sits on a stone foundation and has a hipped, standing-seam metal roof with four large brick chimneys. The front facade features a Greek Revival style trabeated entrance. The north section was built in 1892, and replaced an earlier log structure.It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2012.

Mill Run is a 9.1-mile-long (14.6 km) tributary stream of the South Branch Potomac River, belonging to the Potomac River and Chesapeake Bay watersheds. The stream is located in Hampshire County in the Eastern Panhandle of the U.S. state of West Virginia. Mill Run rises on Nathaniel Mountain and flows northeast, then northwest into the South Branch south of Romney near Hampshire Park on South Branch River Road (West Virginia Secondary Route 8).

Sycamore Dale (also known as the Gibson-Wirgman-Williams House) is a 19th-century Greek Revival plantation house overlooking the South Branch Potomac River southwest of Romney, West Virginia. Sycamore Dale is one of several historic estates along South Branch River Road (County Route 8). It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on December 2, 1980.

Mount Pisgah Benevolence Cemetery is an African-American cemetery in Romney, West Virginia, United States. The cemetery is located along the Northwestern Turnpike (U.S. Route 50) below Indian Mound Cemetery overlooking Sulphur Spring Run. Historically known as the Romney Colored Cemetery and more recently as the Romney African-American Cemetery, the cemetery was created for African-Americans in the South Branch Valley who were not permitted to be interred in the city's Indian Mound Cemetery. The cemetery has been in use since the early 19th century and continues to serve Romney's African-American community. The cemetery is the final resting place of Alfred Whiting Sr. A marker on his grave claims that he served in the Confederate States Army, although Historic Hampshire website notes his obituary states that he was a body servant, and no evidence exists to suggest that he had any formal position in the CSA. The cemetery is currently maintained by the Mount Pisgah United Methodist Church, from which it takes its name. The town council of Romney has reportedly sought to secure the deed of the cemetery, as of November 2023.

Fort Pearsall was an early frontier fort constructed in 1756 in Romney, West Virginia (then known as Pearsall's Flats, Virginia) to protect local settlers in the South Branch Potomac River valley against Native American raids. The area around present-day Romney had been settled as early as 1725 by hunters and traders in the valley. Fort Pearsall was originally erected as a log house with a stockade by Job Pearsall (Pearsal or Pearsoll) and his brother John on their plantation in an area between Indian Mound Cemetery and the South Branch Potomac River near the river crossing of the old Fort Loudoun Road (Northwestern Turnpike) to Winchester in 1738, according to tradition. However, a look at when forts were built in the region indicates that the fort was likely built when a fort was really needed; in 1755 in the aftermath of the failed Braddock campaign in the opening days of the French and Indian War. Possibly, Job Pearsall and his brother John constructed the stockade to protect the settlers of Pearsall's Flats and the South Branch Potomac Valley. The brothers also constructed a number of homes for settlers that same year. Pearsall’s stockade was provisioned as a fort for the Virginia Regiment, a bona fide military force raised by the colony, by George Washington in 1755 and garrisoned in 1756. The fort came under the command of Captain Robert McKenzie during the French and Indian War. Fort Pearsall was garrisoned at various times during the war until 1758. At around 1758, there were at least 100 people living in the general area of Pearsall's Flats, though this can't be verified by historical records. The number seems suspect unless the "general area" includes the South Branch River Valley eight miles south to The Trough and some 15 miles to the north at the confluence with the North Branch Potomac River. After the hostilities in the area, Thomas Fairfax, 6th Lord Fairfax of Cameron recognized the fact that more settlers would be interested in moving into the South Branch Potomac Valley and that he would gain substantial revenue from the sales of plots of land in the Pearsall's Flats vicinity. Lord Fairfax sent a survey party to Pearsall's in 1762 to formally lay out the town into 100 lots. Lord Fairfax then renamed the town Romney in honor of the Cinque Ports city on the English Channel. Some confusion ensued for several decades concerning the ownership of land within the town as counterclaims were made by the original settlers and those who purchased lots laid out by Lord Fairfax's surveyors. According to oral tradition, Pearsall's Fort was garrisoned again in 1774 for Lord Dunmore's War, however, it cannot be documented in the historical records. Today, a marker stands in Indian Mound Cemetery by the "Yellow Banks" overlooking the South Branch commemorating Fort Pearsall. Alongside the marker is a pile of what are thought to be remnants of the old fort.

Indian Mound Cemetery is a cemetery located along the Northwestern Turnpike (U.S. Route 50) on a promontory of the "Yellow Banks" overlooking the South Branch Potomac River and Mill Creek Mountain in Romney, West Virginia, United States. The cemetery is centered on a Hopewellian mound, known as the Romney Indian Mound. Indian Mound Cemetery is also the site of Fort Pearsall, the Confederate Memorial, Parsons Bell Tower, and reinterments from Romney's Old Presbyterian Cemetery. The cemetery is currently owned and maintained by the Indian Mound Cemetery Association, Inc.Indian Mound Cemetery is the burial site of two governors of West Virginia, a United States House Representative, a United States Secretary of the Army, an owner of the Washington Redskins, and descendants of the family of George Washington.Days before the 150th anniversary of the Confederate Monument's dedication was to be observed, it was vandalized. The vandalism read "reparations now", and was done using black spray paint. The damage to the monument has since been repaired.