Berkeley County Historical Society

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Berkeley County Historical Society

Preserving the history of Berkeley County, WV. MUSEUM HOURS: Berkeley County Museum in the Belle Boyd House is open daily 9 to 4 except major holidays.

Located at 126 East Race Street, Martinsburg. ARCHIVES: BCHS Archives is currently closed to visitors. Research requests can be made at [email protected] and at 304-267-4713. The Berkeley County Historical Society began in the late 1920’s. Citizens, interested in preserving the diverse history of the county joined to do their best to keep their families, friends and neighbors mindful of

where they all came from and how the area came to have such a rich and diverse background. When the Great Depression struck, through the hardships of World War II, the society fell inactive. The cause was taken up again in the 1950’s being organized into a formal Society in 1963. The Society has met regularly since that time.

05/30/2026

Approximately one hundred years ago, Kilmer’s Grove, just off Dry Run Road near Martinsburg, was the community’s informal recreational park. The grove provided a popular setting for leisure and social gatherings, where visitors could relax beneath the shade of the trees while enjoying a picnic and watermelon chilled in the waters of Tuscarora Creek. Some women, embracing the recreational opportunities afforded by the setting, would remove their high-laced shoes and wade in the creek, lifting their skirts to knee height.
Rosemont Park, a privately operated commercial recreation enterprise, opened in 1921 and served as a local entertainment venue until financial difficulties led to its bankruptcy in 1935. The park featured a variety of amenities, including a pavilion, a swimming pool, and several athletic fields. Among these facilities was a baseball field that hosted games involving the Martinsburg Blue Sox. Despite its initial popularity and community significance, the park experienced a gradual decline following its closure. By the conclusion of World War II, it had fallen into considerable disrepair.
In 1946, a coalition of Berkeley County citizens, led by Martinsburg Mayor Paul Buxton Martin, established the Berkeley County War Memorial Park Association with the objective of creating a lasting memorial to honor local servicemen and women who sacrificed their lives during World War II. Through a broad community fundraising effort, the association secured financial contributions from both private individuals and civic organizations, including the American Legion, Veterans of Foreign Wars, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, Moose International, Lions Clubs International, Kiwanis International, and local women’s civic groups. These collective efforts enabled the association to acquire the former Rosemont Park property for $15,000, thereby establishing the foundation for what would become Berkeley County’s principal war memorial and public recreational facility.
Following the acquisition of the property, extensive repairs and improvements were undertaken. Maple trees were planted throughout the site, with each tree dedicated to a Berkeley County resident who had died in military service during World War II. An individually engraved bronze plaque placed at the base of each tree identified and commemorated the fallen service member. The scope of the memorial was expanded to include those who had lost their lives during World War I and, in later years, those who died in the Korean Conflict.
War Memorial Park operated as a nonprofit organization from its establishment until 1987, when responsibility for its day-to-day management was transferred to the Berkeley County Parks and Recreation Board. Although the park has evolved into a major recreational facility serving the community, its original purpose remains rooted in remembrance and commemoration. The park stands as a living memorial to the men and women of Berkeley County who sacrificed their lives in military service, and its landscape continues to reflect the community’s enduring commitment to honoring their legacy and preserving the memory of their contributions for future generations.

05/23/2026

After the conclusion of the American Civil War in 1865, communities across the United States sought to commemorate and honor soldiers who had died in the conflict through local ceremonies conducted at burial sites. On May 30, 1868, the first national observance of this kind was held and became known as “Decoration Day.”
Southern women had begun decorating the graves of soldiers before the conclusion of the Civil War. Records maintained by the Library of Congress indicate that by 1865, communities in Virginia, Mississippi, and South Carolina had already established precedents for what would later become Memorial Day observances. Early Southern commemorations were characterized by their simplicity and solemnity, with cemetery maintenance and the decoration of soldiers’ graves serving as central elements of the occasion.
John Logan, commander in chief of the Grand Army of the Republic, a Union Veterans Organization, called upon Americans to honor fallen Civil War soldiers by adorning their graves with “springtime’s choicest blooms.” He proclaimed that May 30 should be “designated for the purpose of strewing with flowers or otherwise decorating the graves of comrades who died in defense of their country.”
Approximately 5,000 individuals assembled at Arlington National Cemetery to participate in the commemoration. Each grave was decorated with a small American flag and floral tributes to honor the fallen. By the 1890s, Decoration Day ceremonies were widely observed throughout the United States, and the holiday increasingly came to be known as “Memorial Day.”
Official recognition of the holiday began when New York formally adopted it in 1873. By 1890, every Union state had established the observance. Although the term “Memorial Day” emerged after World War I, the designation did not receive official congressional recognition until 1967. The following year, Congress enacted the Uniform Monday Holiday Act, which mandated that several federal holidays be observed on Mondays, including Memorial Day, now commemorated annually on the last Monday in May.
Today, Memorial Day serves as a national occasion for visiting cemeteries and memorials to honor and mourn Americans who have died in military service. As part of these commemorative practices, volunteers place American flags on the graves of military personnel in both national and local cemeteries throughout the United States.
Photo is not Berkeley County.

05/20/2026

Members of the Berkeley County Historical Society honored longtime historian and preservationist Don Wood this week, remembering the man many called “Mr. Berkeley County” for his decades of work preserving local landmarks, archives and family histories. Read more online ⬇

05/16/2026

Berkeley County History Heroes
“Mr. Berkeley County”
Don C. Wood was born May 13, 1933 in Berkeley County, son of Noble and Nannie May Miller Wood. He attended schools in Berkeley County and often mentioned attending Hooge Street School. He had a passion for gardening, having planted a rose garden at the Belle Boyd House and also laid out an herb garden.
Mr. Wood studied flower arrangements and worked at a florist in Washington, DC, then returned to the family dairy farm in Swan Pond. He remained in this capacity until his parents' passing. During this time, he took photography and genealogy classes and began studying and researching historic properties in the county and thus his research career began.
He was instrumental in the formation of the Adam Stephen Museum, the restoration of the Morgan Cabin, Belle Boyd House and Archives building. Mr. Wood, in fact, lived in the Belle Boyd House for a time.
Getting Berkeley County Historical properties listed in the National Register was a priority, to help preserve them for future generations. He was with the Berkeley County Landmarks Commission for fifteen years, many of them as chairman. He was active with Main Street Martinsburg as well.
Mr. Wood was a member of the Berkeley County Historical Society for more than forty years, more than twenty of those years as president. During this time, he wrote a number of books and provided research for many of the society's other books. All his genealogy records were donated to the society at his death.
He wrote articles about many aspects of Berkeley County's history for the Martinsburg Journal for forty years. Don C. Wood passed away in September, 2012. He was an ardent source of Berkeley County's historical knowledge and his work remains a pillar of county history.

05/09/2026

Early on the morning of New Year’s Day 1957, B&O train number 245 was traveling eastbound toward Martinsburg while B&O train number 6498 was westbound from Martinsburg. The two trains were on the same track.
Westbound 6498 consisted of two locomotives, 160 empty cars and a caboose. The train was traveling at 33 miles per hour. Eastbound 245, consisting of three locomotives, 154 cars and a caboose was traveling at 21 miles per hour.
A dispatcher in Cumberland discovered the impending accident. Making desperate efforts to contact railroad men in the vicinity to get the trains stopped, he contacted Martinsburg firemen to send ambulances.
On a straight stretch of track near North Mountain, the two trains collided head-on at about 2:15 a.m. The location's inaccessibility made it difficult for ambulances to reach the scene.
The locomotive of 245 East stopped at an angle of about 45 degrees to the track. The second and third locomotives stopped upright. The first locomotive of 6498 West stopped with the front end on the front end of the first locomotive of 245 East. The second unit stopped upright and approximately in line with the track.
The engineer, fireman, and front brakeman of 245 East were killed. The engineer, fireman, front brakeman, and conductor of 6498 West, the conductor of 245 East, and a fireman on the rear locomotive of 245 East were injured.
The impact derailed 43 cars, 13 of them loaded with sand and the others empty. The force of impact welded the two locomotives together and resulted in an indescribable mass of twisted wreckage.
Volunteer rescue workers immediately tried to get to the trapped men. Their task was impossible without heavy moving equipment. The Red Cross set up an emergency canteen service for the rescue crews.
It was one of the worst accidents in B&O Railroad history, three men lost their lives and five others were injured. It is believed that the three dead were killed on impact, but it was also an example of the people of Berkeley County coming together in a time of tragedy.

05/02/2026

Miller Tower
Why did the railroad need a tower? Quick answer, to help keep the switches synchronized and keep the traffic moving. Railroad switches are mechanical devices that allow trains to move from one track to another. They are essential for routing trains through sidings, junctions, etc. When a train approaches the switch, its wheels push the switch into the correct position and the train's weight aligns the track and creates a continuous path, therefore altering the path of the locomotive.
Railroad towers were historically used to control train movements at busy junctions. Inside the tower, operators used mechanical or electrical levers to set signals and switches so trains could move without collisions.
The tower's controls were linked to signals and switches so the train could only proceed when the path was clear. Levers were moved or controls activated in a specific sequence to set the correct route. Before modern computerized systems, towers centralized control of a section of the rail line. This reduced the need for multiple local signal boxes.
With the advent of centralized traffic control and computerized signaling, many of these towers have been closed. However, a few have remained in service, but there is now one fewer tower remaining.
Miller tower was constructed between 1910 and 1912 at Cherry Run and was decommissioned in 2000. It was later relocated at the Roundhouse complex in Martinsburg. On April 18, 2026, the historic Miller Tower was essentially destroyed by a fire of unknown origin.
Photo: Miller Tower, far right, in its original location at Cherry Run, WV.

04/25/2026

Fishing in the Potomac River.
In 1932, the state of West Virginia initiated legal proceedings against the state of Maryland to contest fishing rights in the Potomac River, which serves as the boundary between the two states.
L.G. Smith, Executive Secretary of the West Virginia Game, Fish, and Forestry Commission, addressed a letter to Attorney General Howard B. Lee. In this correspondence, Smith reported that, less than a week earlier, the Commission had issued an order requesting the initiation of legal proceedings to determine fishing rights in the Potomac River. The letter concluded by authorizing further action, stating that Lee should proceed with the necessary legal steps to ensure that the matter would be adjudicated in the courts.
The local chapter of the Izaak Walton League, together with the Shepherdstown chapter, submitted a petition endorsed by numerous local and regional businesses and professionals, urging judicial intervention. Attorney General Lee transmitted the petition to the Game Commission, which subsequently returned it to the Attorney General’s office with its formal approval of the proposed course of action.
At present, fishing in the Potomac River along West Virginia adheres to Maryland’s regulatory framework for the river segment adjacent to West Virginia. The Potomac is designated as a reciprocal waterway under the Ohio River Reciprocal Agreement. Accordingly, the West Virginia Division of Natural Resources enforces Maryland’s creel, possession, and size limits for fish species in the river, and licensed anglers from both Maryland and West Virginia are permitted to fish from either bank.

04/18/2026

Throughout much of the mid Twentieth Century, many young boys and men dreamed of playing baseball for the New York Yankees. Of course, the chances of this happening were very slim, but occasionally, slim did happen, even in Martinsburg, West Virginia.
Ray “Buddy” Barker was born March 12, 1936 in Martinsburg. Buddy was a 1954 graduate of Martinsburg High School, where he played baseball, basketball, and ran track.
Buddy signed a contract with the Baltimore Orioles in 1955, but that, of course, did not mean he would don an Orioles uniform any time soon. He played in Canada in 1955, for the Columbus Foxes in 1956, and in 1957, he was named to the Sally League All-Star team, while playing with the Knoxville Smokies.
In 1958, Buddy played for in Vancouver, wher he would play for three seasons. That same season, Life Magazine featured Barker as one of the best in the Minor Leagues along with Brooks Robinson.
On September 13, 1960, Buddy Barker made his Major League debut against the Detroit Tigers as a pinch hitter against future Hall of Famer Jim Bunning. He grounded out to second base.
In 1961, the Orioles traded Buddy to the Cleveland Indians for Johnny Temple. In 1962 and 1963, he played for the Jacksonville Suns of the International League, and 1964 saw him playing with the Portland Beavers.
In 1965, He began the season with the Cleveland Indians, but on May 10, 1965, Buddy was traded to the New York Yankees for Pedro Gonzalez. He played in 98 games with the Yankees and batted .254 with 7 home runs and 31 RBIs.
Buddy got his first start with the Yankees on May 11th at Fenway Park against the Red Sox. He batted third and got his first Major League hit that game. It was a double off Earl Wilson in the 4th inning that drove in Bobby Richardson, giving Barker his first big league RBI. The following week he hit his first big league home run off Dave Morehead at Yankee Stadium against the Red Sox on May 18th.
In 1966 with the Yankees, Buddy played in 61 games, and in 1967 he played in only 17 games. His last game in the Major Leagues was May 21, 1967. The Yankees sent him to the triple A Syracuse Chiefs, and he was traded to the Orioles for Steve Barber on July 4. He finished his career with the Rochester Red Wings and retired at the end of the 1967 season.
After retirement from baseball, he coached youth baseball in the Martinsburg area for a number of years, winning several state championships. Buddy worked at General Motors until retirement. He died on May 29, 2018 and is buried in Rosedale Cemetery.

04/11/2026

Martinsburg Blue Sox.
From 1915 until 1929, the Martinsburg Blue Sox were a minor league baseball team in the Blue Ridge League. In 1914, the team had played in the Tri-City League, which had teams in Hagerstown, MD, Frederick, MD, and Martinsburg.
The Blue Ridge League included the three teams from the Tri-City League, and added teams in Chambersburg, Hanover and Gettysburg, PA. They petitioned the governing body of Minor League Baseball to establish the Class D Blue Ridge League. Class D was the lowest level of professional baseball.
In 1915, the Martinsburg team was called the Champs, because they were champions the previous season. From 1916 until 1921, the team played as the Mountaineers, and in 1922, became the Martinsburg Blue Sox.
Among the players who stood out for the team at this point were George “Reggie” Rawlings, a power hitter, and pitchers Marv Goodwin, with 19 wins; Frank Colley, with 17 wins; and Alan “Lefty” Clarke, with 14 wins. Martinsburg finished in second place.
By the 1920 season, Martinsburg was not playing as well as in seasons past. However, two future Hall of Fame players would spend time on the Martinsburg roster, Lefty Grove in 1920 and Hack Wilson in 1921 and 1922.
Beginning in 1922, Martinsburg won three consecutive championships. George “Reggie” Rawlings was the dominant Blue Sox player, leading the Blue Ridge League in batting all three seasons. In 1922, Hack Wilson set an all-time league record of 30 home runs.
In 1923 the Blue Sox won the league title by fifteen games over Waynesboro. In 1924, Martinsburg won the championship by a winning percentage of .002 over Hagerstown. Martinsburg would remain respectable, but was no longer dominant.
By 1928, in order to remain solvent, major league teams assumed control of Blue Ridge League teams. In 1929, the Martinsburg team was taken over by the Philadelphia Athletics. This became the last year for the Martinsburg franchise. The Great Depression was beginning and the Athletics pulled their sponsorship. As a result, Martinsburg folded, and the Blue Ridge League followed in 1930.
Pictured: Undated Martinsburg Champs team photo, possibly 1915, players identified in bottom margin.

Address

126 E Race Street
Martinsburg, WV
25401

Telephone

+13042674713

Website

http://www.historicberkeley.org/

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