West Virginia's oldest town
There has been a long-running dispute over which town in
West Virginia is the oldest. The dispute between
Shepherdstown and
Romney goes back well before West Virginia even became a state.
Shepherdstown was originally established as
Mecklenburg by
Thomas Shepherd, who laid out 50 acres (202,000 m²) of his land into lots and streets. In late
1762, he presented a bill of incorporation to the
Virginia House of Burgesses just 6 days before Romney's bill was introduced. The house approved both bills and, on
December 23,
1762, the governor of Virginia signed them.
Even though there was a settlement at present-day Shepherdstown several years before there was one at Romney, the dispute centers on the order in which the towns' bills of incorporation were signed. Of the group of bills signed on
December 23, Romney's preceded Mecklenburg's. This technicality appears to give Romney the distinction of being West Virginia's oldest town.
The name Mecklenburg eventually ceased to exist. For years, the townspeople had used the name Shepherdstown in honor of Thomas Shepherd and, in
1798, Virginia's General Assembly made the name official.
