Berkeley County Courthouse
As I walked around Martinsburg, I tried to stop and capture the landmarks that would have been familiar to my father. One such building was the impressive Berkeley County Courthouse, with its stately columns, red brick exterior and distinctive dome. It stands as one of the architectural treasures of the city.
Completed in 1908 in the Beaux-Arts style, the courthouse has served as the center of county government for more than a century. Rising above downtown Martinsburg, it has witnessed world wars, economic depressions, and the changes of this community during the twentieth century.
During the years between 1920 and 1940, the years of my father’s youth, the courthouse stood at the center of daily life in Berkeley County. These were years marked by prosperity, the hardships of the Great Depression and the approach of another world war. Farmers, merchants, railroad workers and ordinary citizens passed through its doors to conduct business, settle disputes, record deeds and participate in civic life.
My grandfather practiced law in Martinsburg, and my grandmother worked as a court stenographer. Though I cannot say with certainty, I suspect that both crossed the threshold of this building many times. Looking at this courthouse, it is a tangible connection to my grandparents and to the professional lives they built in the town that shaped my father’s early years.
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Shenandoah Valley Company Building
Walking the historic downtown of Martinsburg, I found myself searching for the buildings that would have been familiar to my father during his youth. Many storefronts have changed but some of the city’s grand commercial buildings remain much as they appeared when he walked these streets. One structure that caught my attention was the Shenandoah Valley […]
106 South St.
This house at 106 South Street in Martinsburg, West Virginia, was the first place I wanted to visit. 106 South was the address of so many of the letters I have read between my father and his mother. Long before I ever visited the town. This address was familiar. This represented my father’s beginnings and the home […]
Jackson’s Great Train Raid of 1861
Established, 1778, by Gen. Adam Stephen. Named for Col. Thomas Martin, nephew of Lord Fairfax. Home of Admiral Charles Sterling and Admiral Charles B. Caldwell. In Jackson’s raid, 1861, captured 8,500 locomotives and 300 miles of railway. This marker is referring to a remarkable railroad operation of the Civil War, commonly known as Stonewall Jackson’s […]
