Valley View Island

Valley was a populated place and post office on the South Branch line of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad in the U.S. state of West Virginia. It was centered near the intersection of West Sioux Lane and Depot Valley Road, now located within the present-day corporate boundaries of Romney. Valley developed in 1884 following the completion of the South Branch line when the rail line's original southern terminus and corresponding Romney Depot were built there. The United States Post Office Department established a post office at Valley on May 19, 1928, remaining in operation until its disestablishment on June 15, 1937. Following the closure of Valley's post office, its mail was routed through the post office in Romney.

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.

The Confederate Memorial (also referred to as the First Confederate Memorial) at Indian Mound Cemetery in Romney, West Virginia, commemorates residents of Hampshire County who died during the American Civil War while fighting for the Confederate States of America. It was sponsored by the Confederate Memorial Association, which formally dedicated the monument on September 26, 1867. The town of Romney has claimed that this is the first memorial structure erected to memorialize the Confederate dead in the United States and that the town performed the nation's first public decoration of Confederate graves on June 1, 1866. The idea to memorialize the Confederate war dead of Hampshire County was first discussed in the spring of 1866. Following the decoration of the graves that summer, the Confederate Memorial Association engaged in fundraising for construction of the memorial, and by 1867 the necessary funds were raised. The inscription The Daughters of Old Hampshire Erect This Tribute of Affection to Her Heroic Sons Who Fell in Defence of Southern Rights was selected, and the contract for the memorial's construction was awarded to the Gaddes Brothers firm of Baltimore. The memorial's components were delivered to Indian Mound Cemetery on September 14, 1867, and the memorial was dedicated on September 26 of that year. The construction of the Confederate Memorial marked the beginning of an era of post-war revitalization for Hampshire County following the American Civil War. The memorial comprises a base with obelisk and capstone, standing on a raised mound. The list of 125 names engraved on the monument includes four captains, seven lieutenants (one of which was a chaplain), three sergeants, and 119 privates. The memorial underwent a restoration in 1984, and is decorated annually with a handmade evergreen garland and wreath on Hampshire County Confederate Memorial Day.

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.

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.

Valley View is a mid-19th-century Greek Revival residence and farm overlooking the South Branch Potomac River northwest of Romney, West Virginia. The house is atop a promontory where Depot Valley joins the South Branch Potomac River valley. The Valley View property was part of the South Branch Survey of the Northern Neck Proprietary, a large tract that was inherited by Thomas Fairfax, 6th Lord Fairfax of Cameron, in 1719. It was settled by John Collins and his family in 1749, and acquired by the Parsons family before 1772. The Valley View house was built by James Parsons Jr. in 1855. After the Civil War, Parsons' widow sold the farm to Charles Harmison. His wife, Elizabeth Harmison, inspired by her childhood Virginia home, Western View, and the scenic South Branch Potomac River views, named the farm Valley View. The most recent of a series of owners, the Mayhew family, bought the property in 1979. Valley View's current proprietors, Robert and Kim Mayhew, have restored the historic residence and grounds. The house at Valley View is a two-story brick structure with a rectangular architectural plan. The front entrance is covered by a small portico, topped with a pediment supported by wooden Doric columns. The rear of the house, with a two-story wood porch stretching across it, faces the South Branch Potomac River valley and Mill Creek Mountain. Each of the original eight large rooms of the 1855 structure contains a fireplace framed by a wooden mantelpiece with classical elements. The original windows, wooden trim, and materials in the main section of the house are intact. The house was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2012 as a locally significant example of Greek Revival architecture.

Romney is a town in and the county seat of Hampshire County, West Virginia, United States. The population was 1,722 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Winchester, Virginia metropolitan area. Established in 1762 along with Shepherdstown, they are the oldest towns in West Virginia.

Romney Presbyterian Church is a historic Presbyterian church in Romney, West Virginia.

The Wilson-Wodrow-Mytinger House is a complex of three structures, built between the 1740s and 1780s, in Romney, West Virginia. The clerk's office, dating from the 1780s, is the oldest surviving public office building in West Virginia. The kitchen building (c. 1750) is the oldest remaining component of the Wilson-Wodrow-Mytinger House and the oldest building in Romney. Throughout its history, the Wilson-Wodrow-Mytinger House has been known as the Andrew Wodrow House, the Mytinger Family Home, and the Mytinger House.The earliest person recorded residing on Lot Number 48 in Romney was Hugh Murphy. In 1763, Colonel George William Wilson received a patent to Lot Number 48 from Thomas Fairfax, 6th Lord Fairfax of Cameron, to purchase the lot from Murphy. Wilson served in the Hampshire County militia as a major during the French and Indian War. He relocated to Pennsylvania, and in 1770, George Washington spent the night in a log cabin on the northeastern corner of Lot Number 48. Andrew Wodrow arrived in Hampshire County near or after the end of the American Revolutionary War. In 1782, Wodrow became clerk of court for Hampshire County. He completed the clerk's office building in the 1780s, and the complex assumed its current configuration by 1790. Wodrow served as Clerk of Court for Hampshire County until his death in 1814, after which ownership passed to Wodrow's son-in-law, John McDowell; a Dr. McClinoch; and the Mytinger family, who retained the property for about 100 years. Manning H. Williams purchased the house and restored it in 1962. Dr. Herbert P. Stelling purchased the Wilson-Wodrow-Mytinger House in 1973, and it opened as a museum and an arts and handicrafts shop known as Colonial Craftsmen. While under the Stelling family's ownership, the house was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1977. Its current owners, Old Hampshire Ltd., purchased the Wilson-Wodrow-Mytinger House in 1985.

The Old Methodist District Parsonage is a 19th-century Italianate residence in Romney, West Virginia, United States. It is a two-story brick dwelling constructed between 1868 and 1882 to serve as the district parsonage for the area's Methodist churches. After it fell out of use by the church, the eight-room residence was purchased and restored by the Long family and currently features 18th and 19th century furnishings and folk art. The Old Parsonage was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2005.

Literary Hall is a mid-19th-century brick library, building and museum located in Romney, a city in the U.S. state of West Virginia. It is located at the intersection of North High Street (West Virginia Route 28) and West Main Street (U.S. Route 50). Literary Hall was constructed between 1869 and 1870 by the Romney Literary Society. Founded in 1819, the Romney Literary Society was the first literary organization of its kind in the present-day state of West Virginia, and one of the first in the United States. In 1846, the society constructed a building which housed the Romney Classical Institute and its library. The Romney Literary Society and the Romney Classical Institute both flourished and continued to grow in importance and influence until the onset of the American Civil War in 1861. During the war, the contents of the society's library were plundered by Union Army forces, and many of its 3,000 volumes were either scattered or destroyed. After a reorganization in 1869, the society commenced construction of the present Literary Hall in downtown Romney. It transferred ownership of its Romney Classical Institute campus to the West Virginia Schools for the Deaf and Blind in 1870 and in that year completed Literary Hall, where the society reconstituted its library collection and revived its literary activities. The Romney Literary Society's last meeting was held at Literary Hall in 1886. From that point to 1973 the building was used as a meeting space by the Clinton Lodge of Ancient Free and Accepted Masons and the Order of the Eastern Star. In 1973, the building was purchased by prominent Romney lawyer Ralph Haines, who used it as a law office and museum. From 1937 to the early 1940s the building also housed a community library. Literary Hall was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on May 29, 1979.

Taggart Hall is a late 18th-century residence that houses the Fort Mill Ridge Foundation and its Fort Mill Ridge Civil War Trenches museum, the Hampshire County Visitors Bureau, and the Hampshire County Chamber of Commerce. It is at 91 South High Street, Romney, West Virginia. Next to Taggart Hall on Gravel Lane is Romney's oldest structure, the Wilson-Wodrow-Mytinger House (c. 1760). Frances Taggart (Tygart), a Quaker, constructed Taggart Hall in the 1790s on a lot at the corner of High Street and Gravel Lane laid out in the original 1762 Romney survey conducted on behalf of Thomas Fairfax, 6th Lord Fairfax of Cameron. Taggart Hall was initially built as a clapboard "half-house". The original eighteenth-century structure was expanded to accommodate the Fort Mill Ridge Foundation, the Hampshire County Visitors Bureau, and the Hampshire County Chamber of Commerce.