Researching Historic Homes in the Eastern Panhandle--with examples of pre-1801 homes built in present-day Jefferson County.

SUMMIT POINT, WV, SEPTEMBER 1 2010. Between September 2009 and June 2010, the Jefferson County Historical Society and the Men's Club of Shepherdstown hosted a series of presentations by local experts on aspects of Jefferson County History. Beginning on September 20, 2010, the series will be re-energized and expanded geographically with a presentation entitled “Researching Historic Homes in the Eastern Panhandle--with examples of pre-1801 homes built in present-day Jefferson County,” by noted local historian Don Wood, co-hosted by the Society and the Charles Town Historic Landmarks Commission, sponsor of the Charles Town Heritage Festival. Mr. Wood’s presentation is free and open to the public and will begin at 7:00 p.m. in the upstairs courtroom of the Jefferson County Courthouse at the corner of George and Washington streets in Charles Town. The presentation will be preceded at 6 pm by a public reception for Mr. Wood at the courthouse.

TONI MILBOURNE – Spirit Staff

CHARLES TOWN – Officials hope for an even bigger and better turn out than last year for the second annual Charles Town Car Show to be held Saturday, September 4. The event enjoyed unprecedented success last year when, according to Charles Town Mayor Peggy Smith, the group expected 25 vehicles and had a turnout of nearly 150.

Harpers Ferry, WV
By: The Jex Collection Board of Trustees

Garnet Jex was a member of the Washington Landscape Club and particularly enjoyed painting the beautiful scenery in the Harpers Ferry area. In 1960, he decided to donate a group of his paintings "to the community". Mr. Jex came to Harpers Ferry and supervised the hanging of the paintings in the Camp Hill Wesley United Methodist Church and established a self perpetuating Board of Trustees to oversee the paintings. The first Board of Trustees of the collection consisted of Mr. Jex, Mae Ramey, wife of the then mayor of Harpers Ferry, and a member of the Camp Hill Church, and Mr. John N. Newcomer, a resident of Jefferson County. The Board was expanded to five members in 1999.

After several fish kills, the upper reaches of the Potomac River seem to be bouncing back to life -- and once more providing great smallmouth action. Read on for hotspots to try this season. (February 2008).

Every summer for the past four years, various friends and I have float-fished a different section of the South Branch of the Potomac and the West Virginia section of the upper Potomac. This past June, fellow schoolteachers Doak Harbison, Tim Wimer and I navigated a three-day float from Hancock/Berkeley Springs to Shepherdstown.

West Virginia Game & Fish Magazine

THE SHENANDOAH RIVER
Interestingly, the main stem of the Shenandoah is not known for being a whitewater river, nor, in reality, should it be. For the most part, the "Daughter of the Stars" meanders through farmland, riverside communities and rural reaches of the Eastern Panhandle. But the last three miles of the Shenandoah, before it commingles with the Potomac at Harpers Ferry, flaunts some of the most intense rapids in West Virginia this side of the New River.