| Ridgeley, West Virginia | |
|---|---|
| — Town — | |
| Ridgeley and the North Branch of the Potomac River, as viewed from Cumberland, Maryland, in 2007 | |
| Location of Ridgeley, West Virginia | |
| Coordinates: | |
| Country | United States |
| State | West Virginia |
| County | Mineral |
| Area | |
| • Total | 0.3 sq mi (0.8 km2) |
| • Land | 0.3 sq mi (0.7 km2) |
| • Water | 0.0 sq mi (0.0 km2) |
| Elevation | 699 ft (213 m) |
| Population (2010) | |
| • Total | 675, a loss 87 residents since 2,000 |
| • Density | 2,809.5/sq mi (1,084.7/km2) |
| Time zone | Eastern (EST) (UTC-5) |
| • Summer (DST) | EDT (UTC-4) |
| ZIP code | 26753 |
| Area code(s) | 304 |
| FIPS code | 54-68260[1] |
| GNIS feature ID | 1555480[2] |
Ridgeley is a town in Mineral County, West Virginia, United States, and part of the Cumberland Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 762 at the 2000 census but has fallen to 575 with the 2010 census.
Ridgeley was initially known as St. Clairsville, Named for Sir John St Clair, Lt Colonel and Quartermaster General for British General Edward Braddock. St Clair accompanied Braddock on his ill-fated march on Fort Duquesne and his disastrous defeat on July 9, 1755.[3] It was incorporated as Ridgeley on November 28, 1914, named for the former owners of the land upon which the town was built.[4]
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Ridgeley is located at (39.643187, -78.769189),[5] along the North Branch of the Potomac River, opposite Cumberland, Maryland.[6]
According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 0.3 square miles (0.8 km²), of which 0.3 square mile (0.7 km²) is land and 0.04 square mile (0.1 km²) (6.90%) is water.
The type locality of the Ridgeley Member of the Old Port Formation is located in the town.[7] The Ridgeley is primarily a sandstone, and is quarried locally. The rock is often called "Oriskany Sandstone" in West Virginia and Maryland, but that name is no longer applied to this mid-Appalachian formation.
As of the census[1] of 2010, there were 675 people, 323 households, and 202 families residing in the town. The population density was 2,809.5 inhabitants per square mile (1,089.7/km²). There were 379 housing units at an average density of 1,397.4 per square mile (542.0/km²). The racial makeup of the town was 99.08% White, 0.52% African American, 0.13% Native American, and 0.26% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 2.49% of the population.
There were 323 households out of which 29.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 44.0% were married couples living together, 15.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 37.2% were non-families. 34.1% of all households were made up of individuals and 18.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.36 and the average family size was 3.03.
In the town the population was spread out with 26.9% under the age of 18, 7.7% from 18 to 24, 25.3% from 25 to 44, 21.4% from 45 to 64, and 18.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females there were 87.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 87.5 males.
The median income for a household in the town was $26,016, and the median income for a family was $36,042. Males had a median income of $29,250 versus $20,227 for females. The per capita income for the town was $14,199. About 13.3% of families and 16.3% of the population were below the poverty line, including 18.0% of those under age 18 and 17.7% of those age 65 or over.
Ridgeley is within the Mineral County School District. Frankfort High School is located near Short Gap, West Virginia and contains the grades 9-12. Keyser High School, located in Keyser, West Virginia, about 21 miles away from Ridgeley, is also in the Mineral County School District.
The land on which the town is built was originally conveyed from Thomas Lord Fairfax to George Mason in 1749. In 1750, the first frontier fort, Fort Ohio, was built at Ridgeley. It was, at the time, the westernmost outpost of colonial civilization and was most commonly referred to as the "New Store" settlement at the time. The New Store was primarily a trading post created by the Ohio Company which included prominent members including George Mason and Lawrence Washington. There is evidence that Joseph Chapline, the founder of Sharpsburg, Maryland, who also was in charge of the construction of Fort Cumberland, organized the construction of the New Store settlement . The settlement was used for various purposes from 1750-1763. Early Ohio Company residents who worked at the settlement (and who explored the surrounding countryside) included Hugh Parker and Christopher Gist.
In May 1754, George Washington led a company of troops to meet Joshua Fry at the storehouses at Fort Ohio. Fry was a colonel and commander in the Virginia Militia. He was to take command of the forces sent to the frontier. Fry was thrown from his horse, died, and was probably buried in early Ridgeley , as Fort Cumberland had not yet been built. Washington then took command of the troops, his first military command. Washington staged an attack from Fort Ohio against a French detachment of 40 men that resulted in the death of French diplomat Ensign Joseph Coulon de Jumonville. This action is considered the first shot fired in the French and Indian War.
In Spring 1755, Washington returned to the area to prepare for General Edward Braddock's attack on Fort Duquesne (commonly referred to as Braddock's March). Fort Cumberland was under construction at the time, and was used as the center of planning for the attack, while Fort Ohio was commandeered and used as well. Both a young Daniel Boone (age 21) and Daniel Morgan (age 20) worked in the area to plan and carry out the ill-fated assault.
When Fort Cumberland was all but abandoned in 1763, the Ohio Company reclaimed the land and put it up for sale. Eventually, the land was conveyed to James McCubbin Lingan in 1785, then to Captain George Calmes in 1803. Calmes built a mansion on the property. The land and home passed down through George Calmes' family through most of the 1800s. Late in that century, portions of the town began to be subdivided for housing and business use. In 1905, a group leased the Calmes Mansion and created the Potomac Club, which operated in Ridgeley as an important tennis and boating club until 1919.
In 1887, the West Virginia Central and Pittsburg Railway built yards and tracks in Ridgeley. In 1904, the West Virginia Central became the Western Maryland Railroad. The town developed as a blue collar community, many of whose residents worked for the railroad. For most of its history, it had been called alternately "St. Clairsville" or "Sinclairsville," but upon incorporation in 1914, it was renamed Ridgeley after Charles Ridgeley (1822–1897) a prominent early resident and businessman.
The town grew throughout the early part of the 20th century to be a vibrant blue-collar community of schools, churches and businesses. Serious flooding from the Potomac River was a challenge to the town until the Army Corps of Engineers completed a major flood control project in the 1950s. During the 1970s and 1980s, as the Mineral County school system consolidated schools in the area, all the town's schools were closed, challenging Ridgeley's cohesiveness as a community.7
In recent years, Ridgeley has been plagued by a series of difficulties that have raised questions on the town's overall quality of life. As of 2008, the town has no grocery stores or banks (though it does have a convenience store). It does, however, have 16 active alcoholic beverage licenses,[8] an average of one for every 47.6 residents.
In 2007, Ridgeley hit the news when the town's mayor, Mitchell Reeves, was indicted on a number of charges and was able to call from jail and fire the Police Chief and police clerk, who had participated in the investigation. Both were found to be fired without cause and were rehired when a new mayor and council took office.[9] The town's police chief, Michael Miller, has since been fired again, and was rehired again after a citizen's action committee insisted that Miller was only following the directions of the police commissioner as he carried out his duties. In West Virginia, the Police Commissioner in towns of this size is the mayor.
The number of weekend incidents in Ridgeley has continued to rise despite a higher-than-state-average police force for its population. The West Virginia average is 1.92 officers per 1,000 residents. The current ratio of officers to residents in Ridgeley is 4.44. 9 Despite this high number of officers, the crime rate has continued to rise. On September 4, 2011 a physical altercation at the "My Place" bar in downtown Ridgeley spilled over into the community, resulting in the deaths of two out-of-town visitors. The incident was investigated by the Ridgeley Police, the Mineral County Police, Cumberland City Police, and the C3I unit from Allegany County, Maryland, all working in collaboration [10].
Mayor - James Twigg
Finance - Thomas Hedrick
Parks/Rec - Mark Jones
Water/Sewer - Robert Shipley
Housing/Ordinances - Lynn Carr
Streets/Sidewalks - Don McFarland
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