The Oldest Cities in West Virginia Still in Existence
By Connect-Bridgeport Staff on July 04, 2025
Editor's Note: The partial article below is from our friend David Sibray's Web site wvexplorer.com and who also run West Virginia Explorer Magazine. We encourage you to take a click through to the rest of the piece to see the other old cities in West Virginia, including Clarksburg, which is shown, and one other North Central West Virginia city.
By Clyde Craig
wvexplorer.com
While parts of the mountainous interior of West Virginia weren't settled until the early 1900s, two of its present incorporated communities were established before the American Revolution, and 10 were bustling before the 1800s.
Particularly along the Ohio and Potomac rivers, settlement began early, often before indigenous residents had wholly retreated from what 
would become the state and well before they had established treaties that permitted colonization by France and England.
would become the state and well before they had established treaties that permitted colonization by France and England.
The first regions to be settled were those that accommodated farming or were located along east-west passages through the Appalachian Mountains. The last to be settled were those that were the most rugged and were challenging to farm and traverse. These sections were found chiefly in the southwestern mountains of the state.
Note that indigenous peoples had formerly established large communities throughout what would become the state. Still, by the time the first Europeans arrived, only a few were known to exist, chiefly along the Ohio River. Disease and an invasion by the Iroquois during the Beaver Wars had destroyed many long-established native villages.
Coming in at No. 8 is Clarksburg.
Clarksburg began as a frontier settlement and was incorporated in 1785. It played an essential role in the early development of what was then western Virginia and became a transportation hub with the arrival of the Baltimore & Ohio Railway. The town later gained significance as the birthplace of General Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson, a prominent Confederate general.
Click HERE for the rest of the story.
