Editing Wardensville, West Virginia

{{Use mdy dates|date=May 2024}}
{{Infobox settlement
| official_name            = Wardensville, West Virginia
| settlement_type          = [[Town]]
| nickname                 = 
| motto                    = 
| image_skyline            = Wardensville_West_Virginia_Main_Street.jpg
| imagesize                = 
| image_caption            = Historic structures along Main Street in Wardensville, West Virginia
| image_flag               = 
| image_seal               = 
| pushpin_map              = USA West Virginia
| mapsize                  = 
| map_caption              = Location of Wardensville in Hardy County, West Virginia
| subdivision_type         = [[List of sovereign states|Country]]
| subdivision_name         = United States
| subdivision_type1        = [[U.S. state|State]]
| subdivision_name1        = [[West Virginia]]
| subdivision_type2        = [[List of counties in West Virginia|County]]
| subdivision_name2        = [[Hardy County, West Virginia|Hardy]]
| government_footnotes     = Town Council is made up of five Councilors, a Mayor and a Recorder
| government_type          = Mayor/Council
| leader_title             = Mayor
| leader_name              = Betsy Orndoff-Sayers ([[Mountain Party|M]])
| leader_title1            = 
| leader_name1             = 
| established_title        = 
| established_date         = 
| area_footnotes           = <ref name="CenPopGazetteer2019">{{cite web|title=2019 U.S. Gazetteer Files|url=https://www2.census.gov/geo/docs/maps-data/data/gazetteer/2019_Gazetteer/2019_gaz_place_54.txt|publisher=United States Census Bureau|access-date=August 7, 2020}}</ref>
| area_magnitude           = 
| area_total_km2           = 0.85
| area_land_km2            = 0.84
| area_water_km2           = 0.01
| area_total_sq_mi         = 0.33
| area_land_sq_mi          = 0.32
| area_water_sq_mi         = 0.01
| population_as_of         = [[2020 United States census|2020]]
| population_est           = 267
| pop_est_as_of            = 2021
| population_footnotes     = <ref name="USCensusEst2020-2021">{{cite web |title=City and Town Population Totals: 2020-2021 |url=https://www.census.gov/data/tables/time-series/demo/popest/2020s-total-cities-and-towns.html |website=Census.gov |publisher=US Census Bureau |access-date=July 3, 2022}}</ref>
| population_total         = 265
| population_density_km2   = 307.00
| population_density_sq_mi = 796.30
| timezone                 = [[North American Eastern Time Zone|Eastern (EST)]]
| utc_offset               = -5
| timezone_DST             = EDT
| utc_offset_DST           = -4
| elevation_footnotes      = 
| elevation_m              = 308
| elevation_ft             = 1010
| coordinates              = {{coord|39|4|32|N|78|35|40|W|region:US_type:city|display=inline,title}}
| postal_code_type         = [[ZIP code]]
| postal_code              = 26851
| area_code                = [[Area code 304|304]]
| blank_name               = [[Federal Information Processing Standard|FIPS code]]
| blank_info               = 54-84580<ref name="GR2">{{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov|publisher=[[United States Census Bureau]]|access-date=January 31, 2008|title=U.S. Census website}}</ref>
| blank1_name              = [[Geographic Names Information System|GNIS]] feature ID
| blank1_info              = 1553382<ref name=GNIS>{{cite GNIS|1553382|Wardensville|December 10, 2016}}</ref>
| website                  = {{URL|https://wardensville.com/}}
| footnotes                = 
| pop_est_footnotes        = <ref name="USCensusEst2020-2021"/>
| unit_pref                = Imperial
| image_map                = File:Hardy County West Virginia Incorporated and Unincorporated areas Wardensville Highlighted.svg
| image_blank_emblem       = Logo of Wardensville, West Virginia.svg
| blank_emblem_type        = Logo
}}
'''Wardensville''' is a town in [[Hardy County, West Virginia|Hardy County]], [[West Virginia]], [[United States]]. The population was 265 at the [[2020 United States census|2020 census]].<ref name="USCensusEst2020-2021"/> Originally named '''Trout Run''', Wardensville was chartered in [[Virginia]] in 1832 and incorporated in West Virginia in 1879. Wardensville is located west of the [[Great North Mountain]] range, which separates it from the Shenandoah Valley. The town lies on the east bank of the [[Cacapon River]] at its confluence with Trout Run. The [[George Washington and Jefferson National Forests]] border the town to its east and south.

==History==
The land which Wardensville occupies was originally part of the [[Northern Neck Proprietary]], a 5 million acre tract granted by England's [[Charles II of England|King Charles II]] and formally established after the [[Restoration (England)|restoration]] of the English monarchy in 1660. In 1719, the land was inherited by [[Thomas Fairfax, 6th Lord Fairfax of Cameron]] who administered many of the land grants to the early European settlers who began arriving in the Capon Valley in the second quarter of the eighteenth century. William H. Warden is believed to be the first settler within the present town. He received a parcel of land from Thomas Fairfax, reportedly surveyed by George Washington, on November 11, 1749.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Kenny|first1=Hamill Thomas|title=West Virginia place names, their origin and meaning, including the nomenclature of the streams and mountains|date=1945|publisher=Place Name Press|location=Piedmont, WV|page=657}}</ref>

During the [[French and Indian War]], hostilities between the English settlers and the Native American populations in the South Branch and Capon Valleys led to the construction of a string of fortified outposts including Fort Warden or "Warden's Fort," erected by William Warden at a place called Trout Run (later the town of Wardensville). According to historian Samuel Kercheval, the fort was attacked in 1758 when it was burned.<ref name=Kercheval>{{cite book|last1=Kercheval|first1=Samuel|title=A History of the Valley of Virginia|date=1833|publisher=Samuel H. Davis|location=Winchester, Virginia|page=115}}</ref> Warden and a man only known by the name Mr. Taff did not survive the attack.<ref name=Kercheval/>

The town of Wardensville was established in 1832 when the [[Virginia General Assembly]] granted a charter declaring "that the town of Wardensville, in the county of Hardy, as the same has been heretofore laid off into lots, streets and alleys, or as the same may be hereafter further laid off and extended into lots, streets and alleys, shall be, and the same is hereby made a town corporate, to be known and distinguished by the name of Wardensville."<ref name=acts>{{cite book|title=Acts passed at a General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Virginia, begun and held at the capitol, in the city of Richmond|date=1832|publisher=Thomas Ritchie|location=Richmond|page=278}}</ref> The first trustees of the town were James Scanting, Samuel Fry, John Pierce, Simon Switzer, and James W. Baker.<ref name=acts/> The town was incorporated by the West Virginia Legislature in 1879.

In the [[1820 United States census]], the population center of the United States was recorded as being about 3 miles northeast of the town.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nationalatlas.gov/articles/history/a_popcenter.html|access-date=September 27, 2014|title=2000 U.S. Population Centered in Missouri|publisher=[[National Atlas of the United States]]|date=April 2, 2001}}</ref>

Historic structures in the town include the '''Cline Blacksmith Shop/Town Jail''', a stone structure on Main Street erected around 1830. Two generations of the Cline family operated a blacksmith shop in the structure until 1895. In the earl twentieth century, the structure was converted for use as a town jail.<ref>{{cite web|title=Wardensville Jail|url=https://heritageweekend.com/th_gallery/wardesnville-jail/|website=Hardy County Heritage Weekend}}</ref> '''St. Peter's Lutheran Church''' was founded in 1840 by Rev. John Hamilton and erected its first church on the site in 1870. After this building collapsed in 1934, the present stone church, designed by A. Hensel Fink in Gothic Revival style.<ref>{{cite web|title=St. Peters Lutheran Church|url=https://heritageweekend.com/th_gallery/st-peter-lutheran-church/|website=Hardy County Heritage Festival}}</ref> The '''Old Presbyterian Church''' was constructed in the latter half of the nineteenth century and is a rare example of Italianate style in Wardensville. The '''Odd Fellows Hall''' was erected in 1856 on the southern edge of town near the intersection of Main Street and Trout Run Road.

Two properties near Wardensville are listed on the National Register of Historic Places: the [[Francis Kotz Farm]] and the [[Nicholas Switzer House]].

===Gallery===
<gallery>
Image:Blacksmith_Jail_Wardensville.jpg
Image:St_Peters_Lutheran_Church_Wardensville.jpg
Image:Former_Presbyterian_Church_Wardensville.jpg
Image:Odd_Fellows_Hall_Wardensville.jpg
</gallery>

==Transportation==
[[File:2019-05-14 16 40 00 View west along U.S. Route 48 and West Virginia State Route 55 and south along West Virginia State Route 259 (Main Street) between Carpenters Avenue and Rosebud Lane in Wardensville, Hardy County, West Virginia.jpg|thumb|right|US 48, WV 55 and WV 259 along Main Street in Wardensville]]
Three highways technically serve Wardensville, though they all run concurrently through the town, which in effect makes them one single highway. [[U.S. Route 48 in West Virginia|U.S. Route 48]] is the most prominent of these. Long range plans have this road and its state highway companions, [[West Virginia Route 55]] and [[West Virginia Route 259]], slated for a realignment around Wardensville. At present, however, all three roads run through downtown Wardensville along Main Street. U.S. Route 48 and WV 55 continues west to [[Moorefield, West Virginia|Moorefield]] and east to [[Strasburg, Virginia|Strasburg]]. WV 259 heads southwest and northeast, but serves virtually no significant population centers.

==Geography==

Wardensville is located at {{coord|39|4|32|N|78|35|40|W|type:city}} (39.075573, -78.594534).<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}}</ref>

According to the [[United States Census Bureau]], the town has a total area of {{convert|0.33|sqmi|sqkm|2}}, of which {{convert|0.32|sqmi|sqkm|2}} is land and {{convert|0.01|sqmi|sqkm|2}} is water.<ref name ="Gazetteer files">{{cite web|title=US Gazetteer files 2010|url=https://www.census.gov/geo/www/gazetteer/files/Gaz_places_national.txt|publisher=[[United States Census Bureau]]|access-date=January 24, 2013}}</ref>

A whitewater stretch of the [[Lost River (Cacapon River)|Lost River]] flows just above the town from the southwest and once it reaches Wardensville is renamed the [[Cacapon River]].  The stream continues to flow northeasterly towards its eventual destination at the [[Potomac River]].

==Demographics==
{{US Census population
|1880= 123
|1890= 106
|1900= 152
|1910= 123
|1920= 745
|1930= 189
|1940= 195
|1950= 171
|1960= 289
|1970= 288
|1980= 241
|1990= 140
|2000= 246
|2010= 271
|2020= 265
|estyear=2021
|estimate=267
|estref=<ref name="USCensusEst2020-2021"/>
|footnote=U.S. Decennial Census<ref name="DecennialCensus">{{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/decennial-census.html|title=Census of Population and Housing|publisher=Census.gov|access-date=June 4, 2015}}</ref>
}}

===2010 census===
As of the [[census]]<ref name ="wwwcensusgov">{{cite web|title=U.S. Census website|url=https://www.census.gov|publisher=[[United States Census Bureau]]|access-date=January 24, 2013}}</ref> of 2010, there were 271 people, 126 households, and 67 families living in the town. The [[population density]] was {{convert|846.9|PD/sqmi|PD/km2|1}}. There were 154 housing units at an average density of {{convert|481.3|/sqmi|/km2|1}}. The racial makeup of the town was 96.3% [[White (U.S. Census)|White]], 1.8% [[African American (U.S. Census)|African American]], 1.1% [[Asian (U.S. Census)|Asian]], and 0.7% from [[Race (U.S. Census)|other races]]. [[Hispanic (U.S. Census)|Hispanic]] or [[Latino (U.S. Census)|Latino]] of any race were 2.2% of the population.

There were 126 households, of which 25.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 40.5% were [[Marriage|married couples]] living together, 10.3% had a female householder with no husband present, 2.4% had a male householder with no wife present, and 46.8% were non-families. 42.9% of all households were made up of individuals, and 19.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.15 and the average family size was 3.01.

The median age in the town was 45.3 years. 19.2% of residents were under the age of 18; 7.8% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 22.2% were from 25 to 44; 33.2% were from 45 to 64; and 17.7% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the town was 47.6% male and 52.4% female.

===2000 census===
As of the [[census]]<ref name="GR2" /> of 2000, there were 246 people, 104 households, and 63 families living in the town. The [[population density]] was 798.1 inhabitants per square mile (306.4/km<sup>2</sup>). There were 126 housing units at an average density of 408.8 per square mile (156.9/km<sup>2</sup>). The racial makeup of the town was 95.93% [[White (U.S. Census)|White]], 0.81% [[African American (U.S. Census)|African American]], 0.41% [[Native American (U.S. Census)|Native American]], 0.81% [[Asian (U.S. Census)|Asian]], 1.63% from [[Race (United States Census)|other races]], and 0.41% from two or more races.

There were 104 households, out of which 27.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 49.0% were [[Marriage|married couples]] living together, 8.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 38.5% were non-families. 35.6% of all households were made up of individuals, and 22.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.34 and the average family size was 3.05.

In the town, the population was spread out, with 25.2% under the age of 18 5.3% from 18 to 24, 31.7% from 25 to 44, 20.7% from 45 to 64, and 17.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females, there were 75.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 70.4 males. 
The median income for a household in the town was $28,864, and the median income for a family was $41,875. Males had a median income of $30,000 versus $22,143 for females. The [[per capita income]] for the town was $19,037. About 8.5% of families and 10.2% of the population were below the [[poverty line]], including none of those under the age of eighteen and 21.4% of those 65 or over.

==References==
{{reflist|30em}}
  
{{Commons category|Wardensville, West Virginia}}

{{Hardy County, West Virginia}}
{{Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia}}
{{West Virginia municipalities}}

{{authority control}}

[[Category:Towns in West Virginia]]
[[Category:Towns in Hardy County, West Virginia]]
[[Category:Populated places established in 1832]]
[[Category:1832 establishments in Virginia]]