Berryville is an incorporated town in and the county seat of Clarke County, Virginia, United States.[3] The population was 2,963 at the 2000 census.
Geography
Berryville is located in the upper Shenandoah Valley, approximately 12 miles (19 km) east of Winchester and 11 miles (18 km) south of the West Virginia border. According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 1.8 square miles (4.7 km²), all of it land.
Demographics
As of the census[1] of 2000, there were 2,963 people, 1,239 households, and 783 families residing in the town. The population density was 1,648.3 people per square mile (635.6/km²). There were 1,312 housing units at an average density of 729.8/sq mi (281.4/km²). The racial makeup of the town was 84.54% White, 13.60% African American, 0.10% Native American, 0.57% Asian, 0.13% from other races, and 1.05% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.32% of the population.
There were 1,239 households out of which 28.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 46.7% were married couples living together, 13.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 36.8% were non-families. 32.8% of all households were made up of individuals and 18.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.28 and the average family size was 2.90.
In the town the population was spread out with 23.1% under the age of 18, 5.7% from 18 to 24, 27.3% from 25 to 44, 21.5% from 45 to 64, and 22.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 41 years. For every 100 females there were 81.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 74.1 males.
The median income for a household in the town was $39,871, and the median income for a family was $52,176. Males had a median income of $38,750 versus $26,531 for females. The per capita income for the town was $20,337. About 4.1% of families and 7.0% of the population were below the poverty line, including 6.5% of those under age 18 and 16.3% of those age 65 or over.
History
The tract where Berryville now sits, where the Winchester Turnpike crossed the Charlestown Road, was first granted by the Crown to Capt. Isaac Pennington in 1734. George Washington surveyed it for him on October 23, 1750, and in 1754 he sold it to Col. John Hite.[4]
It is said that as a youth Daniel Morgan had frequented this intersection, where young "toughs" would congregate solely for the pleasure of engaging in combat; and that he would strategically place large stones nearby ahead of time, for his use as ammunition in case he had to retreat.[5] Owing to this and the rowdy tavern nearby, the area received its first, informal name: "Battle Town".
Hite sold the tract in 1765 to his son-in-law, Major Charles Smith. Smith also named his estate "Battle Town", and on the site of the former tavern he built a clapboard homestead, which still stands on Main Street and is now known as "the Nook".
Daniel Morgan returned to the area after distinguishing himself in the Revolution, living at Saratoga, and briefly at Soldier's Rest. He was one of the frequent (and reputedly most quarrelsome) patrons of the new tavern (where now stands the Battletown Inn).
Major Smith's son, John Smith, in 1797 sold 20 acres of his inheritance to Benjamin Berry and Sarah (Berry) Stribling, who divided it into lots for a town. It was established as the town of Berryville on January 15, 1798.
By 1810, the town had at least 25 homes, three stores, an apothecary (pharmacy), two taverns, and an academy (school). It was not much larger when it became the county seat of newly-formed Clarke County in 1836.[6]
Confederate Gen. Jubal A. Early briefly had his headquarters in the town, and not long afterward the Battle of Berryville was fought in and around the town during the Valley Campaigns of 1864, during the American Civil War.
The railroad came in the 1870s.[7]
Notable buildings or structures in Berryville
Notable people born or raised here
Other notable residents
See also
References
External links
