Philippi, WV

Philippi is a Barbour County city of 2,929 people at the 2020 census, set on the Tygart Valley River in north-central West Virginia. It was chartered in 1844 and became the county seat, with U.S. 119 and U.S. 250 bringing traffic through the river valley. The name and county both honor Philip Barbour, a Virginia statesman. A wool and grain mill on the river, the former railroad, and the covered bridge each mark a different layer of the city's growth.

Philippi's best-known date is June 3, 1861, when the Battle of Philippi, remembered as the 'Philippi Races,' became the first land battle of the Civil War. The 1852 covered bridge still carries the federal highway and is the only two-lane covered bridge in that system. The Barbour County Historical Museum occupies a former railroad depot, and Blue and Gray Park plus the annual Blue and Gray Reunion keep the battle in the town's calendar. Barbour County schools, a public library, hospital, restaurants, and locally owned businesses fill in the present-day county-seat map, while the former Alderson Broaddus campus on Battle Hill remains part of Philippi's recent story.