Many Thanks to WVTim, GR8Caches and The Wandering Panhandlers for their guidance, support, cache page design and cache placement for the Villages of Berkeley County Trail. We hope you enjoy yourself!
Martinsburg - Adam Stephen House
The village that became a town…
This was the home of General Adam Stephen, the Founder of Martinsburg, the First Sheriff of Berkeley County, Statesman, Soldier, and Surgeon. This home is on the National Register of Historic Places.
General Stephen was famous as a fighter in the French and Indian Wars, and as a major general in the American Revolutionary War.
Adam Stephen was born in Scotland around the year 1718. He received a degree in surgery around 1746. Coming to America in 1748, he set up a doctor's practice in Fredericksburg, Virginia. He accepted a military post on the Virginia frontier in 1754 at the beginning of the French and Indian War and was present with General Braddock and Colonel Washington at the opening of hostilities. In 1770, he first acquired land along the Tuscarora Creek in present-day Berkeley County, where he later sold lots to develop the town of Martinsburg.
Perhaps his greatest contribution to America's future was his stirring speech at the Virginia Constitutional Convention of 1788 which influenced the Virginia delegates to ratify the United States Constitution, which in turn led other states to ratify the Constitution at their state conventions.
The General Adam Stephen House is a fine example of late colonial stone architecture. The land on which the house is situated was acquired by Adam Stephen in 1770 as part of a 255-acre tract of land. In 1773, he purchased an adjacent tract of 563 acres with the thought of dividing the land into lots and selling them to establish a town. Stephen operated two mills, a distillery, and an armory along the Tuscarora Creek, in what was to become the town of Martinsburg in 1778. A date stone over the front door shows the presumed completion date of 1789.
This house is built over a tunnel system that is being excavated by the Tri-State Grotto Association. Studies are still being made as to why the tunnels are there and where they go.
The home is open for tours Saturdays and Sundays from May 1 through October 31 from 2 to 5 p.m., and there is no admission charge. Look around these beautiful grounds. There is a lot of history here.
This cache was placed with permission of the City of Martinsburg as well as the General Adam Stephen Memorial Association. Please make sure the lid is on tight before replacing cache.