Editing Martinsburg, West Virginia (section)

==History==
Martinsburg was established by an act<ref>{{cite web|title=An act for establishing the town of Martinsburg, in the County of Berkeley, and for other purposes|url=http://vagenweb.org/hening/vol09-26.htm|website=VAGenWeb|access-date=March 4, 2017|location=Vol. 9, Chapter XXXII}}</ref> of the Virginia General Assembly that was adopted in December 1778<ref>{{cite web|url=https://archive.org/details/journalofsenateo00invirg|title=Journal of the Senate of the Commonwealth of Virginia|year=1828|website=The Online Books Page|page=71|access-date=March 4, 2017}}</ref> during the American Revolutionary War. Founder Major General [[Adam Stephen]] named the gateway town to the [[Shenandoah Valley]] along [[Tuscarora Creek (Opequon Creek)|Tuscarora Creek]] in honor of Colonel [[Thomas Bryan Martin]], a nephew of [[Thomas Fairfax, 6th Lord Fairfax of Cameron]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Gannett|first=Henry|title=The Origin of Certain Place Names in the United States|url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_9V1IAAAAMAAJ|year=1905|publisher=U.S. Government Printing Office|page=[https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_9V1IAAAAMAAJ/page/n200 201]}}</ref>

[[Aspen Hall (Martinsburg, West Virginia)|Aspen Hall]], a Georgian mansion, is the oldest house in the city.{{citation needed|date=March 2023}} Part was built in 1745 by Edward Beeson, Sr. Aspen Hall, and its wealthy residents had key roles in the agricultural, religious, transportation, and political history of the region. Significant events related to the [[French and Indian War]], the Revolution, and the Civil War took place on the property. Three original buildings are still standing, including the rare blockhouse of Mendenhall's Fort.

The first United States post office in what is now West Virginia was established at Martinsburg in 1792. At that time, Martinsburg and the larger territory were still part of [[Virginia]].

The [[Baltimore and Ohio Railroad]] (B&O) reached Martinsburg in 1842. The [[Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Martinsburg Shops]] were constructed in 1849 and rebuilt after the American Civil War.{{Citation needed|date=March 2020}}

According to [[William Still]], "The Father of the [[Underground Railroad]]" and its historian:  Mr Robert Brown, alias Thomas Jones, escaped from slavery in Martinsburg on Christmas night in 1856. He rode a horse and had it swim across the freezing Potomac River. After riding forty miles, he walked in cold wet clothes for two days, to [[Harrisburg, Pennsylvania]]. He received assistance there from the Underground Railroad and traveled by train to [[Philadelphia]], and the office of William Still with the [[Pennsylvania Anti-Slavery Society]]. Brown's wife and four children had been sold; he sought help to find them. He had a likeness of his wife, and locks of hair from each of them.{{citation needed|date=February 2015}} <!--Still wrote a history of the Underground Railroad -->

===Civil war===
{{More citations needed section|date=March 2020}}
[[File:Baltimore and Ohio employees magazine (1912) (14575208137).jpg|thumb|left|The [[Baltimore and Ohio Railroad]]'s Martinsburg Shops three years before the Civil War]]
In 1854, ten-year-old [[Belle Boyd|Isabelle Boyd]], known as "Belle" and later a noted spy for the Confederacy, moved to Martinsburg with her family, where her father Benjamin operated a general merchandise store. After the Civil War began, Benjamin joined the Second Virginia Infantry, which was part of the Stonewall Brigade. His wife Mary was thus in charge of the Boyd home when Union forces under General [[Robert Patterson]] took Martinsburg. When a group of Patterson's men tried to raise a Union flag over the Boyd home, Mary refused. One of the soldiers, Frederick Martin, threatened Mary, and Belle shot him. She was acquitted.

She soon became involved in espionage, sending information to Confederate generals [[Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson]] and [[J.E.B. Stuart|J.E.B. "Jeb" Stuart]]. Often she was helped by Eliza Corsey, a Boyd family slave whom Belle had taught to read and write. In 1863, Belle was arrested in Martinsburg by the Union Army and imprisoned. Boyd's Greek Revival home, which he had built in 1853 and sold in 1855, had numerous owners over the decades. In 1992 it was purchased by the Berkeley County Historical Society. The historical society renovated the building and now operates it as the Berkeley County Museum. It is also known as the Belle Boyd House.

===Reconstruction===
Residents of West Virginia were split in their allegiance during the war, with half of its soldiers serving in the Confederate army.<ref>Snell, Mark A., ''West Virginia and the Civil War'', History Press, 2011, pg. 28, {{ISBN|978-1-59629-888-0}}</ref> The vote to create a new state in western Virginia was very low, but statehood was approved by Congress and President Lincoln, and the new state was admitted to the Union on June 20, 1863.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.wvculture.org/history/statehood/statehood10.html |title=Chapter Ten Statehood Referendum |access-date=March 3, 2020 |archive-date=May 18, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120518153656/http://www.wvculture.org/History/statehood/statehood10.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>

The city of Martinsburg was incorporated by an act of the new [[West Virginia Legislature]] on March 30, 1868.
[[File:Harpers 8 11 1877 Blockade of Engines at Martinsburg W VA.jpg|thumb|Blockade of engines during the [[Great Railroad Strike of 1877]]]]
Martinsburg became a center of the railroad industry and its workers. The [[Great Railroad Strike of 1877]] began July 14, 1877, in this city at the [[Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Martinsburg Shops]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://martinsburgroundhouse.com/|title=Martinsburg Roundhouse – 304-260-4141|website=martinsburgroundhouse.com|language=en-US|access-date=March 5, 2017}}</ref> After several unsuccessful attempts to quell the protests, Governor [[Henry M. Mathews]] called for federal troops. By the time these troops had restored order, the protest of the rail company had spread across the country.<ref name="Bellesiles">{{Cite book |last=Bellesiles |first=Michael A. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rf4q5LjLbHIC&pg=PA149 |title=1877: America's Year of Living Violently |date=2010 |publisher=New Press |isbn=978-1-59558-441-0 |language=en}}</ref>

Telephone service was established in Martinsburg in 1883. In 1889, electricity began to be furnished to Martinsburg as part of a franchise granted to the United Edison Manufacturing Company of New York.{{Citation needed|date=March 2020}}

The Interwoven Mills began operations in Martinsburg in 1891.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.wvencyclopedia.org/articles/863|title=Interwoven Mills|last=Jenrette|first=Jerra|website=e-WV}}</ref>

Construction of the Apollo Civic Theatre was completed in 1913.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.apollocivictheatre.org/about/|title=About|website=Apollo Civic Theatre|language=en-US|access-date=March 30, 2020}}</ref>

===World War I and beyond===
{{More citations needed section|date=March 2020}}
[[File:3 B&O Freight Train Photos at Martinsburg, W. VA. (27437398010).jpg|thumb|An engineer waves from a passing B&O freight train in 1969. The B&O's shops employed many locals throughout its 130 years of operation.]]
Over one thousand (1,039) men from Berkeley County participated in World War I. Of these, forty-one were killed, and twenty-one were wounded in battle. A monument to those who fell in battle was erected in Martinsburg in 1925.

During World War II, the Newton D. Baker Hospital in Martinsburg treated thousands of soldiers wounded in the war. In 1946 this military hospital became a part of the [[Veterans Administration]] (VA). The VA Medical Center in Martinsburg still provides care to United States veterans.

Due to restructuring beginning in the late 1940s and continuing through the 1970s, many of the mills and factories operating in Martinsburg shut down and went out of business, dealing a major blow to the local economy. Jobs were moved to the Deep South and later offshore.