Franklin County

Town of Chambersburg, PA

Marker Text: Formed on September 9, 1784 from Cumberland County and named for Benjamin Franklin. Site of Falling Spring, noted limestone trout stream. Birthplace of James Buchanan, 15th President of the United States. Chambersburg, county seat, was laid out 1764.

Location: County Courthouse, Memorial Square (N. Main St.), corner of U.S. Route 11 & 30, Chambersburg, PA. Erected by the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission in 1981.

The front of the Franklin Co. Courthouse can be seen to the left of the marker.  Click any photo to enlarge.

  While taking photos of historical markers, I have noticed that each state deals differently with how they place markers related to the historical background of individual counties. In Virginia and West Virginia, they place markers related to counties at the borders between counties, so there are as many county markers as there a roads entering a county. Where in Pennsylvania and Kentucky place county related markers in front of the county courthouse. I generally don't photograph multiple county markers, unless I notice the text is different between markers, like I noticed with two Warren County, VA markers I posted earlier.

Marker is in the town square of Chambersburg in front of the courthouse, the Underground Railroad marker is located in the background.

  In Pennsylvania, today's marker was taken in Chambersburg, PA in Franklin County. From an historical point of view Franklin County and Chambersburg is full of history. John Brown stayed here for awhile prior to his raid on Harper's Ferry. Franklin County was at the center of Underground Railroad activities. Franklin County was the birthplace of Jame Buchanan the only U.S. President to date to come from Pennsylvania. Chambersburg was one of few northern towns invaded by the Confederates during the U.S. Civil War and almost completely destroyed by the Confederate army of Gen. James McCausland in 1864, the only northern town to experience this degree of destruction. Many of these events have individuals markers and some I will post later or have posted.

Pike Co. Courthouse and Jail

Pike County, KY
Marker Number: 1866

Marker Text: Courthouse erected 1888-89 by McDonald Bros.; later renovated 1932-33. Here was scene of Hatfield clan trials for murders of Tolbert, Randolph, Jr., Pharmer, Alifair, and Calvin McCoy. The defendants lodged in adjacent jail; found guilty and sentenced to life in prison except Ellison Mounts, hanged February 18, 1890. Courthouse and jail part of Hatfield-McCoy Feud Historic Dist.

Location: Main St., Pikeville in front of the Pike County Courthouse. Erected by the Kentucky Historical Society, Kentucky Department of Highways in 1990.

Marker on right in front of the Courthouse.  Click any photo to enlarge.

  After the 1888 New Year's Day raid by the Hatfield's at the home of Randolph McCoy, the trial of the Hatfield clan proceeded on 1889 with the killing at the New Year's Day raid included. While researching the feud, you would have thought information about a trial would have been easy to get. For some reason little information about the actual trial is available.

  Into 1888, public opinion shifted against the Hatfields, Special officer Frank Phillips and a posse rode into West Virginia. They captured Wall Hatfield and eight others to Kentucky to stand trial for the murder of Alifair McCoy, who was killed during the New Year's Day raid. Despite the fact, that Phillips lacked properly executed extradition papers.

Population Center

Hardy & Upshur County, WV
Two separate markers with same text.

Marker Text: The population center of the United States was in present West Virginia four times as it moved westward across the nation: near Wardensville in 1820; at Smoke Hole in 1830; west of Buckhannon in 1840; near Burning Springs in 1850.

Location of the Hardy County marker: On WV Route 55 in Wardensville next to the Wardensville Visitors Center. Grouped with marker titled Wardensville. Erected by the West Virginia Archives and History in 1999.

Location of the Upshur County marker: On U.S. Route 33/119, at junction with County Route 5/1 (Sauls Run Road), Lorentz. Erected by the West Virginia Historic Commission in 1965.

  The results of the 2011 census are beginning to come to light as we see how the population of our specific areas of the country have changed in the past ten years. I recently heard that the population of the county where I live increased 18% in the last ten years. Sometime in April, the U.S. Census will announce the population center of the United States from the results of the 2010 census totals. Each decade, after it tabulates the decennial census, the Census Bureau calculates the center of population. The center is determined as the place where an imaginary, flat, weightless and rigid map of the United States would balance perfectly, if each resident were of identical weight represented as points of equal mass.

Warren County, Virginia

Page and Rappahannock Counties, VA

Marker No. Z-248 (Marker 1)

Marker Text: Formed in 1836 from Frederick and Shenandoah, and named for General Joseph Warren, killed at Bunker Hill, 1775.

Location: On Route 340, south of Front Royal going toward Luray at the Warren/Shenandoah County line. Marker is on the Page County side and next to an historic bridge and the site of a Civil War military action. Erected by the Virginia Conservation Commission in 1948.

Marker No. Z-173 (Marker 2)

Marker Text: This lower Shenandoah Valley county was formed from Shenandoah and Frederick Counties in 1836. The county was named for Joseph Warren, a Boston Revolutionary War patriot killed during the Battle of Bunker Hill in 1775. It contains a portion of Shenandoah National Park and the world-famous Skyline Drive, which was completed in 1939. The county seat is Front Royal.

Location: On Route 522, at the county line with Rappahannock/Warren Counties between Chester Gap and Huntly. Grouped with marker J-25 (Gettysburg Campaign) Marker is on the Rappahannock side of the line. Erected by the Department of Historic Resources in 2001.

  On March 9^th, Warren County, Virginia will be celebrating the 175^th Anniversary of their formation as a county in 1836. Throughout Virginia historical markers related to counties are found at the the county line boundaries as you enter a county. Any county might have seven or more markers about the county depending upon the number of roadways entering the county.  Many Virginia county markers were erected in the marker program's early years and have the shorter text. Some of these markers have been replaced and contain smaller, expanded text, which is why I have included, an earlier and newer version of the county marker from two different locations.