The story
Read it all →How Martinsburg came to be
From Wikipedia’s history of Martinsburg.
The community was named after John Martin, a pioneer citizen.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Photo: Doug Kerr · CC BY-SA 2.0B+History
History · Martinsburg
Martinsburg dates to 1815, and 32% of its homes were built before 1940
More historic than 71% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Below: 2 old photos and papers, maps from 1902 on, and the census since 1840.
1815founded
0on the National Register
32%homes built before 1940
2old photos & papers
1famous people
Quick answers
How Martinsburg began
When was Martinsburg founded?
1815
Martinsburg dates its founding to 1815 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1840.
First census: 442 in 18402020 census: 1,876211 years
How historic is Martinsburg?
B+
What drives the grade ↓More historic than 71% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1821.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Martinsburg’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Martinsburg is more historic than 71% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
B+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Martinsburg’s overall grade.
Founding era1815, from Wikidata: founded 1776–1849, an older era than 75% of U.S. townsA−Homes built before 194031.6% of homes (±7.0) · typical PA town 17.7% · U.S. 8.4%ANational RegisterNo listings counted · typical PA town 2.1 per 10,000 · U.S. 2.4C−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 71%
NewerOlder
Pennsylvania towns list about as much on the Register as the country (a typical Pennsylvania town has 2.1 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Martinsburg’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (25% of Pennsylvania towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from B− to A. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±7.0 points). Two sources give 1815.
Founding year: Wikidata (other dates in Quick answers). Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →
What stands out about Martinsburg’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
A history waiting to be writtenOnly 2 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 19023 editions of the USGS map, 1902 to 1972. Watch Martinsburg change.Deep rootsEstablished in 1815: 211 years of Martinsburg.Old housesHalf of Martinsburg’s homes were built before 1958.
★ What stands out · Help out
Start Martinsburg’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Martinsburg’s history is told.
Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.On the map
Martinsburg on the map, 1902 to 1972
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Martinsburg. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1902Hollidaysburg sheet · 1:62,500U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Martinsburg.
Timeline
Martinsburg, 1815 to 1907
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
- 19th century
- 1815FoundingMartinsburg is established
- 1821Post officeThe Martinsburg post office opens
- 1877
In the archiveThe great strike--Blockade of engines at Martinsburg, West Virginia - 1894
Born hereD. Emmert Brumbaugh is born here - 20th century
- 1902
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey - 1907
In the archiveLutheran Church - Martinsburg, PA
From the old history books
What they wrote about Martinsburg, 1896–1911
Passages that mention Martinsburg, cut from the printed page as they were published.
Twentieth century history of Altoona and Blair County, Pennsylvania1911 · page 274Read the page →
Read the text
About three miles east of Martinsburg, near Clover Creek, is the small village of Frederisckburg, otherwise known as Clover Creek postoffice, southward from the latter place the hamlet known as Millerstown, and in the southeastern part of the township is Henrietta, also a postoffice station, and the terminus of the Morrison’s cove branch of the Penn-
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Twentieth century history of Altoona and Blair County, Pennsylvania1911 · page 130Read the page →
Read the text
R. R. from McKee’s Gap to Martinsburg. The completion of the Morrison’s Cove railroad from the Gap to Martinsburg was celebrated by an excursion on the part of the citizens of Martinsburg, together with some few others from this place and Altoona, who were invited to participate. The remaining portion of the Morrison’s Cove railroad be-
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
A history of Blair county, Pennsylvania. From its earliest settlement, and more particularly from its organization, in 1846 to June 1896 ..1896 · page 112Read the page →
Read the text
The country in the vicinity of Martinburg was settled before the Revolution, but Martinsburg town was not laid out until 1815. The first plot was by Daniel Camerer and John Soyster built the first house. Abraham Stoner laid out a plot adjoining Camerer 's in 1820, and James McCra}^ plotted an extension to the borough in 1871.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
By decade
Martinsburg, decade by decade
2 decades in the archive, from the 1870s to the 1900s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
1870s–1900s2 items
1910s–1990snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your albumToday24 recent
20212021-10-27 11 54 33 View north along Pennsylvania Sta…
2015Martinsburg
2015Martinsburg - panoramio (6)
2015Martinsburg - panoramio (5)
2015Martinsburg - panoramio (4)
2015Martinsburg - panoramio (3)
2015Martinsburg - panoramio (2)
2015Martinsburg - panoramio (1)
2012Martinsburg, Pennsylvania
2012Martinsburg, Pennsylvania
2012Martinsburg, Pennsylvania
2012Martinsburg, Pennsylvania
2012Martinsburg, Pennsylvania
2012Martinsburg, Pennsylvania
2012Everett Railroad 1712, Martinsburg, PA, May 2012
20081761 - Martinsburg - PA164 approaching Highland Ave
20081760 - Martinsburg - PA164 approaching Bassler St
20081759 - Martinsburg - PA164 approaching Nicodemus St
20081758 - Martinsburg - PA164 approaching Railroad St
20081757 - Martinsburg - PA866 at PA164
20081756 - Martinsburg - PA164 approaching Market St
20081755 - Martinsburg - PA164 approaching Wall St
20081754 - Martinsburg - PA164 approaching Walnut St
20081751 - North Woodbury Twp - PA164 WBEvery building
Martinsburg, building by building, 1905–1910
Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.
1905Sheet 1 of 3Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Then & now
Stand where they stood
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.
Retake this viewThe great strike--Blockade of engines at Martinsburg, West Virginia, 1877
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Martinsburg’s page.
Retake this view · +15People over time
Martinsburg, census by census
Between 442 and 2,236 people in every census since 1840.
19 censuses, 1840–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Martinsburg’s Wikipedia page.
Stories next door
History across the town line
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
Questions about Martinsburg’s history
What year was Martinsburg founded?
In 1815, according to Wikidata. Martinsburg’s post office opened in 1821, and the census of 1840 counted 442 people here.
How does Martinsburg rank for history?
Martinsburg is more historic than 71% of U.S. towns. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.
How old are the homes in Martinsburg?
32% of Martinsburg’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±7.0 points), against a typical 18% for a Pennsylvania town; the median home was built in 1958.
Memory lane
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
Start a conversation
Sources
Where this page comes from
Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
From Wikimedia Commons (24), the Library of Congress (2), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System, Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress) and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.