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Harrison County is a county in the U.S. state of West Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 65,921. Its county seat is Clarksburg. Harrison County is part of the Clarksburg, WV Micropolitan Statistical Area.
[edit] History
Indigenous peoples lived in the area that would become Harrison County for thousands of years. The Oak Mounds outside Clarksburg were built by the Hopewell culture mound builders during the first millennium CE. [edit] 18th centuryWhite trappers visited the area that is now Harrison County as early as the 1760s. Some traded with the Native Americans of the area. The Virginia Colony claimed the area as part of its vast Augusta County. The first permanent settler in the area was hunter and trapper John Simpson, who erected a cabin at the mouth of Elk Creek on the West Fork River in 1763 or '64. Simpson's name remains on "Simpson's Creek" (its mouth is about 9 miles downstream from present Clarksburg). Settler Daniel Davisson (1748-1819), from New Jersey, claimed the land upon which present-day Clarksburg, Harrison County, was formed in 1773; the area was re-designated as part of Monongalia County, Virginia three years later. Simpson's story did not end well. According to a 19th-century local historian, he ... ... continued to hunt and trap for a year without encountering any other human being. In 1765, he went to the South Branch to dispose of a stock of skins and furs, and returning to his camp, remained until permanent settlements were made in the vicinity. ... Simpson's cabin was located about one mile from Clarksburg, on the west side of the West Fork River ... Simpson became indebted to a man named Cottrial[1] to the amount of "one quart of salt" (a precious article at the time), which he agreed to pay, either in money or salt, upon his return from Winchester, whither he was going to dispose of a stock of skins and furs. Upon his return, a dispute arose between them, regarding the payment, and Cottrial, in the heat of passion, hastened from the house, and grasping Daniel Davisson's gun, which stood leaning against the cabin, took aim through the space between the logs, and attempted to shoot Simpson. The latter, however, was too quick for him, and springing outside, grasped the gun from Cottrial's hands and killed him. This was the first tragedy of this nature in the vicinity. Harrison County was organized in 1784, with territory partitioned from Monongalia County. It was named for Benjamin Harrison V, who had recently retired as the Governor of Virginia. (He was the father of William Henry Harrison, 9th President of the United States and great-grandfather of Benjamin Harrison, 23rd president.) Over the next 72 years, all of eight present-day West Virginia counties and parts of ten others were formed from this original Harrison County. The first meeting of the Harrison County court was held on July 20, 1784, at the home of George Jackson. The group designated the county seat as Clarksburg. The town, named for explorer General George Rogers Clark (1752–1818), was chartered by the Virginia General Assembly in October 1785, and it was incorporated in 1795.[2] [edit] 19th centuryClarksburg's first newspaper, The By-Stander, began publication in 1810. Construction of the Northwestern Turnpike connecting Winchester and 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 in 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 townships, with the intention of encouraging local government. This proved impractical in the heavily rural state, and in 1872 the townships were converted into magisterial districts. Harrison County was divided into ten districts: Clark, Clay, Coal, Eagle, Elk, Grant, Sardis, Simpson, Tenmile, 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. [edit] Timeline
[edit] Population History
[edit] Research Tips[edit] Text from Harrison County, Virginia Page[Harrison County, Virginia was redirected here in conformance to the WeRelate "1900 rule".] Harrison County, Virginia was established in 1784 from part of Monongalia County, Virginia. Harrison County became part of West Virginia when it became the 35th state admitted to the Union. From Preface of History of Harrison County, West Virginia:
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