Editing Harrison County, West Virginia (section)

===19th century===
[[File:SWJ1015.JPG|thumb|upright|Statue of [[American Civil War|Civil War]] Confederate General Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson, in front of the Harrison County Courthouse]]

Clarksburg's first newspaper, ''The By-Stander'', began publication in 1810. Construction of the [[Northwestern Turnpike]], connecting [[Winchester, Virginia|Winchester]] and [[Parkersburg, West Virginia|Parkersburg]], reached the town in 1836, stimulating development by connecting it to other markets. Clarksburg's economic development was also helped by the arrival of the [[Baltimore and Ohio Railroad]] in 1856. The railroad was instrumental to the development of the local coal mining industry during the late 1800s and early 1900s.

In 1863, West Virginia's counties were divided into [[civil township]]s, with the intention of encouraging local government. This proved impractical in the heavily rural state, and in 1872 the townships were converted into [[minor civil division|magisterial districts]].<ref>Otis K. Rice & Stephen W. Brown, ''West Virginia: A History'', 2nd ed., University Press of Kentucky, Lexington (1993), p. 240.</ref>  Harrison County was divided into ten districts: Clark, Clay, Coal, Eagle, Elk, Grant, Sardis, Simpson, Tenmile,{{efn-lr|Originally spelled "Ten-Mile", and later both "Tenmile" and "Ten Mile", before the present spelling stuck in the early 1900s.}} and Union. These districts remained stable for a century, but in the 1970s they were consolidated to form six new districts: North Clarksburg, South Clarksburg, Suburban, Northern, Southeast, and Southwest. In the 1980s, North and South Clarksburg districts became North Urban and South Urban. In the 1990s, the Southeast and Suburban districts were discontinued, and replaced by the Eastern and Southern districts.<ref>[[United States Census Bureau]], [[United States Census|U.S. Decennial Census]], Tables of Minor Civil Divisions in West Virginia, 1870–2010.</ref>