Bunker Hill is an

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a parcel of land that is not governed by a local general-purpose municipal corporation. (At p. 178.) They may be governed or serviced by an encompassing unit (such as a county) or another branch of the state (such as th ...

in Berkeley County,

West Virginia West Virginia is a mountainous U.S. state, state in the Southern United States, Southern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States.The United States Census Bureau, Census Bureau and the Association of American ...

, United States, located in the lower

Shenandoah Valley The Shenandoah Valley () is a geographic valley and cultural region of western Virginia and the eastern panhandle of West Virginia in the United States. The Valley is bounded to the east by the Blue Ridge Mountains, to the west by the east ...

on Winchester Pike (

U.S. Route 11 U.S. Route 11 or U.S. Highway 11 (US 11) is a major north–south United States Numbered Highway extending across the eastern U.S. The southern terminus of the route is at US 90 in Bayou Sauvage National Wildlife Refu ...

) at its junction with County Route 26 south of Martinsburg. It is the site of the

confluence In geography, a confluence (also ''conflux'') occurs where two or more watercourses join to form a single channel (geography), channel. A confluence can occur in several configurations: at the point where a tributary joins a larger river (main ...

of Torytown Run and Mill Creek, a

tributary A tributary, or an ''affluent'', is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream (''main stem'' or ''"parent"''), river, or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean. Tributaries, and the main stem river into which they ...

Opequon Creek Opequon Creek (historically also Opecken) is an approximately 35 mile U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed August 15, 2011 tributary stream of the Potomac River. It flows into ...

which flows into

Winchester, Virginia Winchester is the northwesternmost Administrative divisions of Virginia#Independent cities, independent city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Virginia, United States. It is the county seat of Frederick County, Virginia, Frederi ...

. According to the 2000 census, the Bunker Hill community has a population of 5,319. On_runnymeade_street_miles

History

At Bunker Hill in 1726, Colonel

Morgan Morgan Colonel Morgan Morgan (November 1, 1688 — November 17, 1766) was an American pioneer. He was thought to have founded the first permanent settlement in present-day West Virginia at Cool Spring Farm. Biography Early life Little direct evidenc ...

(1687–1766) founded the first permanent settlement of record in the part of

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

that became West Virginia during the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

, although that cabin was destroyed in the

French and Indian War The French and Indian War, 1754 to 1763, was a colonial conflict in North America between Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain and Kingdom of France, France, along with their respective Native Americans in the United States, Native American ...

. Morgan's kinfolk rebuilt the cabin before the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was the armed conflict that comprised the final eight years of the broader American Revolution, in which Am ...

, and Tory sympathizers killed Morgan's grandson James Morgan near the cabin on what became known as Torytown Creek about four miles outside the Bunker Hill town center, on Runnymeade Street (a/k/a County Route 26 west of town). That cabin (now a small state park) was restored as a

Bicentennial __NOTOC__ A bicentennial or bicentenary is the two-hundredth anniversary of a part, or the celebrations thereof. It may refer to: Europe * French Revolution bicentennial, commemorating the 200th anniversary of 14 July 1789 uprising, celebrated ...

project in 1976, using many of its original logs. Now a historically furnished museum, it also serves as headquarters of the Morgan Cabin Committee. The state of West Virginia erected several monuments to Morgan nearby. Near the town center and a bridge over Mill Creek is Morgan Park, which has a large monument erected to honor the first settler in 1924, as well as two historic markers. Both Morgan and

George Washington George Washington (, 1799) was a Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the first president of the United States, serving from 1789 to 1797. As commander of the Continental Army, Washington led Patriot (American Revoluti ...

are also remembered at the

Morgan Chapel and Graveyard Morgan Chapel and Graveyard – also known as Christ Episcopal Church-Bunker Hill – is a historic church in Bunker Hill, West Virginia, Bunker Hill, Berkeley County, West Virginia. It is the oldest Episcopal Church (United States), Episcopal ...

less than 2 miles from the town center, en route to the Morgan cabin. Near the Virginia state line, Payne's Chapel United Methodist Church was founded in 1762, rebuilt in brick and dedicated in 1851, but burned down of unknown causes in 1902, only to be rebuilt and rededicated three years later. Several other historic United Methodist churches still stand along Route 11(the Winchester Highway) beginning with Bunker Hill United Methodist Church in town, then Inwood and Darkesville United Methodist churches to the west. Another of the three churches in the historic district, Bunker Hill Presbyterian Church, was built in 1854, rebuilt after heavy damage in the Civil War, and rededicated in 1879. The historic Mt. Tabor Baptist Church, founded in the 1780s slightly outside the modern town (now in

Lewisburg, West Virginia Lewisburg is a city in and the county seat of Greenbrier County, West Virginia, United States. The population was 3,930 at the 2020 census. History Lewisburg is named after Andrew Lewis (American general), Andrew Lewis. In 1751 Lewis, as a youn ...

), transferred from a white congregation to a black congregation, with judicial permission, after the Civil War. Bunker Hill's Mill Creek Historic District includes Morgan Park and structures abutting Mill Creek for about five miles, and so includes the town's and Berkeley County's earliest industrial center, three bridges (including the county's first railroad bridge), four mills, and several old residences (including former log cabins and stone structures, some in ruins). The Sherrard Mill became a residence in the 1930s, and only the millrace remains of the Gray Mill. The Bunker Hill Mill, a

gristmill A gristmill (also: grist mill, corn mill, flour mill, feed mill or feedmill) grinds cereal grain into flour and Wheat middlings, middlings. The term can refer to either the grinding mechanism or the building that holds it. Grist is grain that h ...

that contains 19th and 20th centuries milling equipment, is the only one still in operating condition. That mill constructed in 1738 was rebuilt in 1890 and is now the only mill in the state featuring dual water wheels. A small

Civil War A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...

skirmish between the Union Army and the

Confederate Army The Confederate States Army (CSA), also called the Confederate army or the Southern army, was the military land force of the Confederate States of America (commonly referred to as the Confederacy) during the American Civil War (1861–1865), fi ...

occurred near Bunker Hill on July 17, 1861. Also Confederate General J. Johnston Pettigrew of North Carolina was mortally wounded during his army's retreat to Virginia a few days after the

Battle of Gettysburg The Battle of Gettysburg () was a three-day battle in the American Civil War, which was fought between the Union and Confederate armies between July 1 and July 3, 1863, in and around Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. The battle, won by the Union, ...

while redirecting troops from the flooded crossing at

Falling Waters, West Virginia Falling Waters is a census-designated place (CDP) on the Potomac River in Berkeley County, West Virginia, United States. It is located along Williamsport Pike (US 11) north of Martinsburg. An 1887 ''Scientific American'' article claimed that ...

, and died at Edgewood Manor in Bunker Hill on July 17, 1863. Bunker Hill has its own post office, which uses the 25413 ZIP code. Its location between Martinsburg and

Winchester Winchester (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city in Hampshire, England. The city lies at the heart of the wider City of Winchester, a local government Districts of England, district, at the western end of the South Downs N ...

, Virginia along

Interstate 81 Interstate 81 (I-81) is a north–south (physically northeast–southwest) Interstate Highway in the eastern part of the United States. Its southern terminus is at Interstate 40, I-40 in Dandridge, Tennessee, Dandridge, Tennessee; its nort ...

and

led to residential growth beginning in the 1980s and continuing into the 21st century.

References

External links

Bunker Hill Elementary SchoolMill Creek Intermediate SchoolMusselman Middle School
{{authority control Unincorporated communities in Berkeley County, West Virginia Unincorporated communities in West Virginia Populated places established in 1726 1726 establishments in the Colony of Virginia