Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Hedgesville

We’ll email a one-tap link to publish your post. No password, and nothing is public until you click it.
Already a member? Sign in
–Not graded
History · Hedgesville

Hedgesville was first counted by the census in 1880, and 28% of its homes were built before 1940

5 places in town are on the National Register, among them two historic districts with 68 buildings between them. Below: 2 old photos and papers, maps from 1979 on, and the census since 1880.

1880first census
5on the National Register
28%homes built before 1940
2old photos & papers
4famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Hedgesville’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Hedgesville began

When was Hedgesville founded?

1880

Hedgesville first appears in the census in 1880.

First census: 383 in 18802020 census: 300146 years
Founding year: the first census.The full story ↓

What stands out about Hedgesville’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.A historic districtThe Hedgesville Historic District takes in 55 historic buildings.Boom and bustPeaked at 448 in 1890; 300 people lived here in 2020.Landmarks on the Register5 places on the National Register.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Hedgesville’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Hedgesville’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Date a photo1 archive item has no date. Guess the decade.+2Retake an old viewRev. William Thomas Leavell: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
On the National Register

5 listings protect 76 historic buildings

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

places listed
5
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
76
each building in a district counts
first listed
1973
Snodgrass Tavern
Hedgesville Historic District
BuildingsDistricts

Architectural styles listings

Greek Revival3
Victorian Gothic Revival1
Carpenter Gothic1
Federal1
Gothic Revival1
Colonial Revival1
Snodgrass TavernBuilding
Hedges-Robinson-Myers HouseVictorian Gothic Revival · Built 1880
Hedgesville Historic DistrictGreek Revival
Hedges-Lemen HouseFederal
Clary's Mountain Historic DistrictGothic Revival

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

People over time

Hedgesville, census by census

010020030040050018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 448

Peaked at 448 in 1890; 300 people lived here in 2020.

15 censuses, 1880–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Hedgesville’s Wikipedia page.

The story

How Hedgesville came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Hedgesville.

Read it all →

Until the 18th century, the area was home to the Tuscarora people. The Hedgesville area was subsequently settled by William Snodgrass, who arrived in the American colonies in 1700. Snodgrass was buried in the cemetery of Tuscarora Presbyterian Church in what is now Berkeley County, West Virginia.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Hedgesville, 1880 to 1979

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1880BuiltHedges-Robinson-Myers House is built
  3. 1890Born hereAnn Henshaw Gardiner is born here
  4. 1890CensusPopulation peaks at 448
  5. 20th century
  6. 1902In the archiveRev. William Thomas Leavell
  7. 1902Born hereJames G. Leyburn is born here
  8. 1913Born hereGrace Snively is born here
  9. 1940Born hereGale Catlett is born here
  10. 1979On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Hedgesville, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1900s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1900s1 item
Rev. William Thomas Leavell1902Rev. William Thomas Leavell
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 album
Date unknown1 to date
Dam No. 5 Hydroelectric Plant, On Potomac RiverDate?Dam No. 5 Hydroelectric Plant, On Potomac River
Today10 recent
Pleasant View Elementary School Morgan Co WV 2022-08-07 10-05-472022Pleasant View Elementary School Morgan Co WV 2022-08-…Hedgesville Public Library Berkeley Co WV 2022-08-06 13-51-57 12022Hedgesville Public Library Berkeley Co WV 2022-08-06 …Hedgesville Elementary School Berkeley Co WV 2022-08-06 13-43-522022Hedgesville Elementary School Berkeley Co WV 2022-08-…Third snow this week - Flickr - Steven-L-Johnson2012Third snow this week - Flickr - Steven-L-JohnsonTETER MYERS FRENCH HOUSE, BERKELEY COUNTY, WV2009TETER MYERS FRENCH HOUSE, BERKELEY COUNTY, WVSTRODE-MORRISON-TABLER HOUSE AND FARM; BERKELEY COUNTY, WV2009STRODE-MORRISON-TABLER HOUSE AND FARM; BERKELEY COUNT…OWEN TUDOR HEDGES HOUSE, BERKELEY COUNTY, WV2009OWEN TUDOR HEDGES HOUSE, BERKELEY COUNTY, WVHUGHES-CINNINGHAM HOUSE, BERKELEY COUNTY, WV2009HUGHES-CINNINGHAM HOUSE, BERKELEY COUNTY, WVHEDGES-LEMEN HOUSE, BERKELEY COUNTY, WV2009HEDGES-LEMEN HOUSE, BERKELEY COUNTY, WVWVMap-doton-Hedgesville2004WVMap-doton-Hedgesville
On the map

Hedgesville on the map, 1979 to 1997

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Hedgesville. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Hedgesville on the 1979 USGS mapHedgesville on the 1997 USGS map1979Hedgesville sheet · 1:24,000

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Hedgesville.

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.

Rev. William Thomas Leavell
Retake this viewRev. William Thomas Leavell, 1902

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Hedgesville’s page.

Retake this view · +15
Famous people

4 famous people were born in Hedgesville

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →
G
Gale CatlettAmerican basketball player-coach · b. 1940
J
James G. LeyburnAmerican writer · b. 1902
A
Ann Henshaw Gardinerb. 1890
G
Grace SnivelyMedical educator, civil rights and voter's righ… · b. 1913

Questions about Hedgesville’s history

What year was Hedgesville founded?

The Hedgesville post office opened in 1880, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

What is on the National Register in Hedgesville?

5 listings: 3 buildings, among them the Snodgrass Tavern (listed 1973, the first), and 2 historic districts, the Hedgesville Historic District and the Clary's Mountain Historic District, with 68 contributing buildings. 76 historic buildings in all.

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
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). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikimedia Commons (11), the Library of Congress (1), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (5), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.