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Information About

Eastern Panhandle




The Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia is a narrow stretch of territory in the northeast of the state, bordering Maryland and Virginia , USA . It comprises the following counties:




HISTORY



POPULATION

According to the 2000 Census , the eight counties of the Eastern Panhandle had a combined population of 212,483 giving the region 11.75% of West Virginia's population. Berkeley County is the Panhandle's most populous county with 89,362 residents ( 2004 ). Berkeley also includes the Panhandle's largest city, Martinsburg , with a population of 15,635 ( 2004 ).


Population growth



Housing growth

The Eastern Panhandle is West Virginia's fastest growing region in terms of population and housing growth. In July 2005 , the United States Census Bureau released a list of the top 100 counties according to housing growth. Berkeley County grew 3.95 percent, from 36,365 housing units in 2003 to 37,802 units in 2004 . That growth rate was 86th in the nation among the 3,141 United States counties. Jefferson County was not far behind at 88th in the nation. It grew 3.94 percent from 19,381 housing units in 2003 to 20,144 units in 2004 .


Largest cities

The majority of the Eastern Panhandle's growing residential developments are located outside of city and town boundaries and therefore not included in the city or town's official population.


Statistical areas

Several counties in the Eastern Panhandle are part of Metropolitan , Micropolitan , and Consolidated Metropolitan Statistical Areas defined by the United States Office Of Management And Budget .


COUNTY INFORMATION



PANHANDLE TRIVIA

  • The Eastern Panhandle includes West Virginia's ( 1753 ) and Berkeley ( 1772 ).

  • The Eastern Panhandle also includes both West Virginia's highest and lowest elevations above sea level: Spruce Knob , 4,863 feet (1,482 m), in Pendleton and Harpers Ferry , 240 feet (73 m), in Jefferson on the Potomac River.

  • West Virginia's only natural Lake , Trout Pond , is located in the Panhandle's Hardy County near Wardensville.

  • Berkeley, Hampshire, Hardy, Jefferson, and Morgan Counties were forced to reluctantly join the new Unionist state of West Virginia in 1863 so that the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad along the Potomac River would remain safely in Union hands. Shortly after West Virginia gained statehood, Mineral and Grant counties were created from Hampshire and Hardy in 1866 .

  • As of September 2005 , the Eastern Panhandle has 245 (27.07%) of West Virginia's 905 properties listed on the National Register Of Historic Places . Berkeley County has the most at 106 properties listed.



POTOMAC HIGHLANDS

Grant, Hampshire, Hardy, Mineral, and Pendleton Counties also belong to another geographical region of West Virginia known as the Potomac Highlands Of West Virginia .


PANHANDLE COMMUNITIES AND SITES