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Although Morgan Morgan is often named the first European settler in present-day Berkeley County, several families arrived earlier in the late 1720s. In 1730, the Vanmeters, Bryant, and Ross received large land grants on both sides of Opequon Creek, bringing settlers from Pennsylvania, New York, and New Jersey. Morgan Morgan later acquired land near Bunker Hill in 1735.
German pioneer Joist (Hans Jöst) Hite led German and Dutch families to the Shenandoah Valley, receiving a 100,000-acre grant by 1731 and starting the first settlement on Opequon Creek.
Quakers established a meeting house by 1738, followed by Presbyterian (pictured), Baptist, and Anglican congregations through the 1740s. During the French and Indian War, George Washington built forts here, and Adam Stephen later founded Martinsburg, the county seat.
Known for its limestone and fertile land, the county supported gristmills from the 1730s and prospered further with the 1842 arrival of the B&O Railroad. By 1830, Berkeley County had several large plantations and more than 1,800 enslaved people within a population of about 10,500.
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