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 | Christmas 2005 Photos |
| Jack-O-Lantern 2005 Photos |
| Founder's Day 2005 Photos |
| Microgravity Investigration of Tunnel Locations--2005 Photos |
| Hamilton-Burr Duel in 2006 |
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Upcoming Events MARTINSBURG'S HERITAGE DAY, Saturday, May 10, 2008, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The Stephen House, Triple Brick Museum, and tunnels will be open for tours. Live music and other entertainment, craft vendors, food, and trolley rides to the Arts Centre and Belle Boyd House. Free admission. EVERY SATURDAY AND SUNDAY, 2-5 p.m. (from May 1 to October 31) -- The Adam Stephen House and Triple Brick Museum are open for visitors to stop and tour. FREE ADMISSION. 1ST WEDNESDAY OF EACH MONTH, 12 noon Monthly luncheon meeting of the General Adam Stephen Memorial Association. Contact the Adam Stephen House for more information. 2ND WEDNESDAY OF EACH MONTH, 7 p.m. Tri-State Grotto, Chapter of the National Speleological Society, in the meeting room of the Triple Brick Building. HERITAGE CRAFT CLASSES -- As scheduled by the Heritage Craft Center of the Eastern Panhandle. |
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Officers List:
Web Links
Curator:
Keith Hammersla
President:
Martin Keesecker
Vice-President:
William D. Sites
Secretary:
Barbara Bralick
Treasurer:
Eva Woolridge
ADAM STEPHEN'S WAISTCOAT AT THE SMITHSONIAN GEORGE WASHINGTON HERITAGE TRAIL MARTINSBURG-BERKELEY CO. CONVENTION-VISITOR BUREAU BERKELEY COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY GENERAL ADAM STEPHEN CHAPTER, SAR
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Adam Stephen House, Martinsburg, Berkeley County, West Virginia
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 nearby 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 of the stone house shows the completion date of 1789, although the house might have been built on the stone foundation of an earlier log house on the site. In 1959, William Evers, a former town resident living in California, gave the property to the city of Martinsburg, and the General Adam Stephen Memorial Association was formed to restore and furnish the house as a memorial to Adam Stephen. Restoration work began in the mid-1960s, and the house opened for tours in 1970, the same year it was placed on the National Register of Historic Places. Today, the house is furnished with antique pieces from the period of 1750 to 1830. Visting hours for the general public are from 2 to 5 p.m. on weekend afternoons from May through October. Special events are held at the house throughout the year.
Adam Stephen was born in Scotland around the year 1718. There he attended the Universities of Aberdeen and Edinburgh, receiving a degree in surgery around 1746. Coming to America in 1748, he set up a doctor's practice in Fredericksburg, Virginia. Having purchased land in Frederick County, Virginia in 1750 (the "Bower" property, which is in present-day Jefferson County, W.Va.), 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. Stephen provided leadership as a colonel in the French and Indian War and as a major-general during the American Revolution. In between the wars, he negotiated treaties with the Native Americans in South Carolina, western Virginia and Ohio. 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. In 1789, Adam Stephen wrote an article for the Virginia Gazette entitled "Expostulations on the Potomack" to promote the location of the federal capitol on the Potomac River. Adam Stephen died in Martinsburg on July 16, 1791 and was buried on his brother Robert Stephen's estate on "the monument lot" in the 600 block of South Queen Street in Martinsburg.
The Adam Stephen Monument--Burial site of Adam Stephen
The Triple Brick Building
Located at 313 East John Street next to the Adam Stephen House, this structure was built by Philip Showers in 1874 and rented out as housing to railroad workers. In early records, it was listed as the "Tribble (Triple) House" or "the brick house divided into three dwellings."
The building now contains a museum of artifacts and memorabilia of life in old Martinsburg. Items on permanent exhibit include early surveying equipment, flax and wool spinning wheels, quilts, railroad items, and various items related to the industrial, social, and cultural history of the town from the 1800s to the early 1900s.
Also on display are fossils, primitive stone tools and arrowheads, as well as a collection of military uniforms from various wars. Artifacts which were uncovered during archaelogical excavations on the Adam Stephen House property are also featured.
A natural underground tunnel system lies in the limestone geology on the eastern edge of Martinsburg. The Adam Stephen House was built over one of the cave openings which led into this tunnel system, perhaps as an escape route from a possible Indian raid or an attack by the British or other foes. The tunnels were open as late as the early 1950s when neighborhood children used to play in them. At that time, many of the homeowners who had homes built over the entrances filled them with rocks and dirt to prevent access into the tunnel system. In the 1990s, a serious effort to open the entrances to the tunnel was started with the help of the Tri-State Grotto, a local chapter of the National Speleological Society. At this time, the recently-uncovered entrance under the Adam Stephen House and another entrance under a house on East King Street, with stone steps leading into a man-made underground room and another set of steps leading into the cavern below, have been opened for public viewing.
The Underground Room (sketched by Diana Suttenfield)
