Editing Morgan County, West Virginia (section)

===19th century===
Morgan County was one of fifty Virginia counties that were admitted to the Union as the state of West Virginia on June 20, 1863. Later that year, the 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> Morgan County was divided into six districts: Allen, Bath, Cacapon,{{efn-lr|Also called "Great Cacapon" before 1900.}} Rock Gap, Sleepy Creek, and Timber Ridge. Except for minor adjustments, the historic magisterial districts remained unchanged until the 1980s, when they were consolidated into three new districts: District 1, District 2, and District 3. A District 4 was created in the 1990s, but subsequently discontinued.<ref>[[United States Census Bureau]], [[United States Census|U.S. Decennial Census]], Tables of Minor Civil Divisions in West Virginia, 1870–2010.</ref>