Editing Clarksburg, West Virginia (section)

==History==
Indigenous peoples have lived in the area for thousands of years. The [[Oak Mounds]] outside Clarksburg were created by the [[Hopewell culture]] [[mound builders]] between A.D. 1 and 1000

The first known European  visitor to the area that later became Clarksburg was  [[John Simpson (trapper)|John Simpson]],<ref name="genealogytrails.com">{{cite web |url=http://genealogytrails.com/wva/harrison/clarksburg.html |title=History of Clarksburg, WV |publisher=Genealogytrails.com |date=April 10, 2008 |access-date=June 2, 2011 |archive-date=September 18, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160918024745/http://genealogytrails.com/wva/harrison/clarksburg.html |url-status=live }}</ref> a [[Animal trapping|trapper]], who in 1764 located his camp on the [[West Fork River]] opposite the mouth of [[Elk Creek (West Virginia)|Elk Creek]] at approximately {{coord|39.28128|-80.35145|type:city_region:US|format=dms|display=inline}} (39.28128, -80.35145)<ref name="GR1">{{cite web |url=https://www.census.gov/geographies/reference-files/time-series/geo/gazetteer-files.html |publisher=[[United States Census Bureau]] |access-date=April 23, 2011 |date=February 12, 2011 |title=US Gazetteer files: 2010, 2000, and 1990 |archive-date=August 24, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190824085937/https://www.census.gov/geographies/reference-files/time-series/geo/gazetteer-files.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

===Settlement and early history===
[[File:Waldomore, a lavish home built in 1839 for state senator Waldo P. Goff in Clarksburg, West Virginia LCCN2015631633.tif|thumb|left|The [[Waldomore]] estate of the [[Waldomore#Goff Family|Goff political family]]]]
As early as 1772, settlers began claiming lands near where Clarksburg now stands, and building cabins. In 1773, Major Daniel Davisson (1748–1819) took up {{convert|400|acre|km2}}, upon which the principal part of the town is now located. By 1774, people settling near present Clarksburg included: Daniel Davisson, Obadiah Davisson (Daniel's father), Amaziah Davisson (Daniel's uncle), Thomas, John, and Matthew Nutter, Samuel and Andrew Cottrill (brothers), Sotha Hickman, and Samuel Beard. Undoubtedly, others located on these public lands, of which no official records were made.<ref name="genealogytrails.com"/>
The [[Virginia General Assembly]] authorized the town of Clarksburg in 1785. Now a city, it is named for [[General]] [[George Rogers Clark]], a Virginian who conducted many expeditions against the British and Indians during the [[Indian Wars]] and the war of the [[American Revolution]], including the strategically critical capture of the [[Forts of Vincennes, Indiana|Forts of Vincennes]], now in the State of [[Indiana]], in 1778.<ref name="autogenerated1">[http://www.clarksburg.com/a_brief_historical_tour_of_clark.htm] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070205170900/http://www.clarksburg.com/a_brief_historical_tour_of_clark.htm|date=February 5, 2007}}</ref>

As now-President [[George Washington]] had proposed years earlier, the General Assembly also authorized a road from [[Winchester, Virginia]] to [[Morgantown, West Virginia|Morgantown]] in 1786, and a branch from this road (which decades later became the [[Northwestern Turnpike]]) would soon begin through Clarksburg toward the [[Little Kanawha River]] (which flows into the [[Ohio River]] at [[Parkersburg, West Virginia|Parkersburg]]). In 1787, the Virginia General Assembly authorized the Randolph Academy at Clarksburg, a private school led by Rev. George Towers and the first west of the Alleghenies.<ref name="wvencyclopedia.org">{{cite web |url=http://www.wvencyclopedia.org/articles/1204 |title=e-WV - Clarksburg |access-date=June 22, 2015 |archive-date=February 3, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210203031536/http://www.wvencyclopedia.org/articles/1204 |url-status=live }}</ref> However, although many here as the 19th century began wanted the [[National Road]] westward to follow [[McCulloch's Path]] (improvements beginning after the [[Northwestern Turnpike]] company's formal incorporation by the Virginia General Assembly in 1827), Congress instead authorized construction on an easier route ([[Nemacolin's Path]]) through Maryland and [[Wheeling, West Virginia|Wheeling]], which opened in 1818.

Construction of the first Harrison County courthouse began in Clarksburg in 1787. That building was followed by four increasingly larger courthouses; the most recent one completed in 1932. The first Court House stood on what is now the North East Corner of Second and Main Streets; the jail stood on the opposite side of Main Street near where the Presbyterian church now stands.<ref name="wvencyclopedia.org"/>

Relatively poor transportation slowed northwestern Virginia's development, so subscribers in Winchester, [[Romney, West Virginia|Romney]], [[Kingwood, West Virginia|Kingwood]], Clarksburg, Parkersburg and other towns en route caused the [[Northwestern Turnpike]] to be built. While the toll road increased development around Clarksburg in the 1830s, it also used a relatively anachronistic model. Nonetheless, the Randolph Academy was razed and replaced by the Northwestern Academy in 1841, a year after stage coach service began between Clarksburg and Parkersburg on the Ohio River. Clarksburg's development increased more a decade later due to new technology and further subscriptions. The [[Baltimore and Ohio Railroad]] reached Clarksburg from [[Grafton, West Virginia|Grafton]] in 1856.

Two of the modern city's historic buildings date from this prewar era. The [[Stealey-Goff-Vance House]], now owned by the Harrison County Historical Society, was originally constructed in 1807, expanded in 1891 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1979. [[Waldomore]] was built beginning in 1839, served as the Clarksburg Public Library from 1931 to 1976 (when a new building was built next door for the majority of the collection), and added to the National Register in 1978.

===Civil War===
[[File:Clarksburg, West Virginia 1898. LOC 75696677.jpg|thumb|left|1898 bird's-eye view of Clarksburg]]
During the [[Virginia Secession Convention of 1861]], Harrison county had two delegates, [[John S. Carlile]] and [[Benjamin Wilson (congressman)|Benjamin Wilson]]. Carlile became a leader of the [[Wheeling Convention]] which led to creation of the [[Restored Government of Virginia]] during the [[American Civil War]]. Carlile was appointed to the U.S. Senate by the convention. Though he had been a strong advocate for statehood for West Virginia he later opposed the bill in the senate.<ref>Rice, Otis K. and Stephen W. Brown, ''West Virginia, A History'', Univ. Press of Kentucky, 1993, pgs. 147-48</ref> Wilson had abstained in the April 17 vote on Virginia's secession ordinance, but signed the ordinance later in April. He was arrested by Union forces in June and later released. In 1862 he named his son after Stonewall Jackson, who had been born in Clarksburg. Wilson later became a U.S. senator from West Virginia.<ref>Hall, Granville Davisson, ''The Rending of Virginia, A History'', Univ. of Tennessee Press, 2000, pg. 155</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.virginiamemory.com/docs/votes_on_secession.pdf?_ga=2.20612024.1801777395.1578592816%E2%80%9393862292.1577732683 |title=How Virginia Convention Delegates Voted on Secession, April 4 and April 17, 1861, and Whether They Signed a Copy of the Ordinance of Secession |author=<!--Not stated--> |date= |website= |publisher=Library of Virginia |access-date=May 29, 2024 |quote=}}</ref>

Clarksburg's citizenry also reflected this divide. Union General McClellan established his headquarters near Clarksburg until the [[First Battle of Bull Run]]. The B&O line made Clarksburg an important Union supply base throughout the war, with at one point more than 7000 troops in the city. It became a target of Confederate raiders, but none actually reached the city, instead striking surrounding areas with fewer defenders. The closest, most famous (and materially successful) raid, the [[Jones-Imboden Raid]] of April and May 1863, was designed to impede recognition of West Virginia (which became the 35th state of the Union anyway in June 1863).

The influx of Union troops and the increased demand for goods and services stimulated the city's economy. Many new businesses were established to cater to the needs of the military, and existing businesses experienced a boom in trade. The war also heightened political tensions in the city, as residents debated the issues of slavery and secession.<ref>{{Citation |title=Prelims |date=January 1, 2019 |url=https://doi.org/10.1108/S2055-537720190000013001 |work=European Origins of Library and Information Science |volume=13 |pages=i–xv |access-date=December 2, 2023 |series=Studies in Information |publisher=Emerald Publishing Limited |doi=10.1108/S2055-537720190000013001 |isbn=978-1-78756-718-4}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Home |url=http://www.harrisoncowvhistoricalsociety.org/ |access-date=December 2, 2023 |website=Harrison County WV Historical Society |language=en}}</ref>

===Postwar industrialization===
In 1877, Clarksburg became one of three cities from which West Virginia voters would select their new state capital. Despite its relatively central location and an early lead, it came in second; [[Charleston, West Virginia]] became and remains the state capital.<ref>Clarksburg Downtown Historic District NRIS, item 8, p. 3 available at http://www.wvculture.org/shpo/nr/pdf/harrison/82004794.pdf {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210204002627/http://www.wvculture.org/shpo/nr/pdf/harrison/82004794.pdf |date=February 4, 2021 }}</ref>

Around that time Clarksburg gained some industry and manufacturing, particularly involving glass and coal.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.clarksburgvisitorswv.com/history.aspx |title=Clarksburg Visitors Bureau |website=www.clarksburgvisitorswv.com |access-date=July 17, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160327070152/http://www.clarksburgvisitorswv.com/history.aspx |archive-date=March 27, 2016 |url-status=dead}}</ref> The city grew slowly but steadily, and services increased apace. The still-functional Despard Building was built in 1870. Telephone service, the first in the state, began in Clarksburg in the mid-1880s. Native son [[Edwin Maxwell (attorney general)|Edwin Maxwell]] was the [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] nominee for [[Governor of West Virginia]] in the [[1884 West Virginia gubernatorial election|1884 election]], though he lost narrowly to [[Emanuel Willis Wilson]]. In 1887, Clarksburg laid its first six miles of water lines; downtown streets were lit by electricity in 1889. Nonetheless, in the late 1890s, a visitor called Clarksburg a "sleepy, moss-covered town."<ref>NRIS item 8 p. 3</ref>

Clarksburg's boom years began around the turn of the century, as coal and glass production increased. The population grew from 4,050 in 1900 to 27,869 in 1920, partly because in 1917 it annexed the previously independent surrounding communities of Adamston, Stealey, North View and Broad Oaks. The population may have reached 35,000 in 1929, before the [[Great Depression]].<ref name="auto">NRIS</ref>

[[File:Crescent Glass Works, Clarksburg , W. Va. At the Rolling Machine. LOC cph.3b10367.jpg|thumb|left|[[Child labor]] at the Crescent Glass Works, 1908]]
In 1894, the Traders' Hotel was constructed, the grandest structure to date. Many buildings in the [[Clarksburg Downtown Historic District]] date from that era. In 1900, the first sewer lines were installed, and Main and Pike streets were paved with brick. In 1901, the city's first trolley opened for business (it would cease operating in 1947). Merchants Smith, Brown and Company built an early department store beginning in 1890. The Northwestern Academy was razed in 1894 and the Towers School erected (which became the city's high school). Merchants National Bank built a building in 1894 which later became the Community Bank. Clarksburg's oldest bank, the Empire National Bank, built a seven-story headquarters in 1907. Other significant buildings include the Goff Building (1911), Municipal Building (1888), the Waldo Hotel (1901–1904), Robinson Grand (1912, 1940), Harrison County Courthouse (1931–1932), U.S. Post Office (1932), Masonic Temple (1911–1914), First United Presbyterian Church (1894), and First Methodist Church (1909, 1956).<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.clarksburgvisitorswv.com/historicbuildings.aspx |title=Clarksburg Visitors Bureau |website=www.clarksburgvisitorswv.com |access-date=July 17, 2017 |archive-date=November 30, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201130210246/http://clarksburgvisitorswv.com/historicbuildings.aspx |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="auto"/>

An automobile had reached Clarksburg in 1902, and that technology fostered further development. In 1928, [[U.S. Route 50]] was paved through Clarksburg. U.S. [[Interstate 79]] would open in 1979 and connect Clarksburg with Charleston as well as Pennsylvania. In 1924, Clarksburg hosted a parade for its "native son", [[John W. Davis]], who had become the "dark horse" Democratic presidential candidate (but lost) to Republican incumbent [[Calvin Coolidge]]. The following year, Republican and former U.S. Secretary of Agriculture [[Howard M. Gore]], became Governor of West Virginia. During the 1920s, Clarksburg's [[Melville Davisson Post]] (1869–1930) may have been the country's highest paid author, writing 17 novels including the characters of Randolph Mason and [[Uncle Abner]].<ref name="auto"/>

As the [[Great Depression]] began, the Farmers Bank closed in 1929, and the Bank of West Virginia (which had opened in 1869) failed in 1933. Clarksburg's population dropped to 30,579 by 1940, and further as the decade progressed. Former Gov. Gore served as state agricultural commissioner (1931–33) and later as Public Service Commissioner (1941–47).<ref>NRIS item 8 p. 4</ref>

However, Clarksburg managed to avoid urban blight and preserved much of the architecture it had gained during the "boom years". It is now West Virginia's tenth largest city. The West Virginia Preservation Alliance, the state's first, was created in Clarksburg in 1981.<ref name="auto"/>

===Mountaineer Militia===
On October 11, 1996, seven men having connections with the [[Mountaineer Militia]], a local anti-government [[paramilitary]] group, were arrested on charges of plotting to blow up the [[Federal Bureau of Investigation]]'s Criminal Justice Information Services Division complex in Clarksburg. While members of the group had been assembling large quantities of explosives and blasting caps, militia leader [[Floyd Raymond Looker]] obtained blueprints of the FBI facility from a Clarksburg firefighter. Plastic explosives were confiscated by law enforcement officials at five locations in West Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Ohio. Looker was taken into custody after arranging to sell the blueprints for $50,000 to an [[undercover]] FBI agent, whom he believed to be a representative of an international terrorist group. In 1998 Looker was sentenced to 18 years in prison. Two other defendants were sentenced on explosives charges, and the firefighter drew a year in prison for providing blueprints.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.adl.org/mwd/mountain.asp |title=Special Report #1: The Mountaineer Militia's Long, Slippery Slope |publisher=Adl.org |date=October 21, 1996 |access-date=June 3, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110604033041/http://www.adl.org/mwd/mountain.asp |archive-date=June 4, 2011 }}</ref>