Spruce Knob
The highest point in West Virginia, in the southwestern corner of the county, at 4,861–4,863 feet depending on the source.
- Go Pendleton
- The county
- History and geography
Since 1788
History and geography
Pendleton County was created in 1788 out of Rockingham, Augusta and Hardy, and named for the Virginia statesman Edmund Pendleton. It has the greatest vertical relief of any county in West Virginia, the highest point in the state, and no railroad — four were proposed and none was ever built.
The county in figures
Each figure links to the source it came from.
- Established
- May 1, 1788
e-WV: The West Virginia Encyclopedia - Formed from
- Rockingham County, with smaller portions of Augusta and Hardy
e-WV - Named for
- Edmund Pendleton (1721–1803), a Virginia statesman
e-WV - County seat
- Franklin — the county seat and its only incorporated municipality
e-WV - Population, 2020 census
- 6,143
US Census Bureau QuickFacts - Population, 2025 estimate
- 5,826 — a decline of 5.1% since 2020
US Census Bureau QuickFacts - Land area
- 696.05 square miles of land
US Census Bureau QuickFacts - Total area
- 698.1 square miles including water — fifth-largest in West Virginia
e-WV - Vertical relief
- 3,708 feet between its highest and lowest points — the greatest vertical relief of any county in the state
e-WV - Highways
- US 33, US 220, WV 28 and WV 55
e-WV - Spruce Knob
- 4,861–4,863 feet — the highest point in West Virginia.
Sources differ: e-WV gives 4,861 feet ; USDA Forest Service gives 4,863 feet
What is here
The land
Seneca Rocks
A blade of Tuscarora quartzite rising nearly 900 feet above the North Fork valley, and one of the best-known rock climbing destinations in the eastern United States. Managed by the Forest Service from the Potomac Ranger District.
Spruce Knob–Seneca Rocks National Recreation Area
Designated by Congress in 1965 and covering about 100,000 acres — the first National Recreation Area established within the Forest Service system.
Smoke Hole Canyon
An eighteen-mile canyon shared with Grant County, cut by the South Branch of the Potomac between North Fork Mountain and Cave Mountain.
Germany Valley
A karst valley about ten miles long and two miles wide in the western part of the county — the most highly developed karst landscape in the Potomac watershed.
North Fork Mountain
A single long ridge running roughly thirty-four miles southwest to northeast through Pendleton and Grant counties.
Monongahela National Forest
Established on April 28, 1920 and now more than 920,000 acres across ten counties, Pendleton among them.
Water
The South Branch of the Potomac drains the county. Its North Fork runs past Seneca Rocks, and Seneca Creek — 19.6 miles of it, entirely inside Pendleton County — rises on Spruce Mountain and joins the North Fork at the community of Seneca Rocks.
What happened here
History
April 28, 1758
Fort Seybert
On a foggy morning during the French and Indian War, a Delaware and Shawnee war party led by the chief Killbuck attacked Fort Seybert, about six miles northwest of present-day Brandywine. Seybert surrendered on a promise of safety; the promise was broken, seventeen people were killed and dozens were taken captive.
May 1, 1788
The county is created
Pendleton County was formed largely out of Rockingham County, with smaller portions taken from Augusta and Hardy, and named for the Virginia statesman Edmund Pendleton.
December 19, 1794
Franklin is established
The county seat was established by legislative act as Frankford, and later renamed for Benjamin Franklin.
1821 and 1847
The borders settle
Pendleton lost land to the new Pocahontas County in 1821, and in 1847 part of the county went into Highland County, Virginia. The boundaries have not changed since.
1861–1865
A divided county
County government and a majority of citizens supported the Confederacy, and more than seven hundred Pendleton men fought for the South. Unionists in the Seneca and Brushy Run sections raised Home Guard companies, and the result was guerrilla warfare between neighbours.
June 1863
Into a new state
Pendleton was one of the counties taken into the new state of West Virginia, against the wishes of much of its population.
Late 1800s to early 1900s
The railroad that never came
At least four railroad projects were proposed over forty years and none of them materialised. Pendleton never got a permanent railroad, though temporary logging railroads reached into the county in the early twentieth century.
April 17, 1924
Franklin burns
Fire destroyed the 1888 courthouse along with Franklin’s business district and nineteen homes. The courthouse standing today was built in its place between 1925 and 1927 — the fourth on the site, after a log building, an 1817 brick one, and the structure that burned.
Every year
County events
Treasure Mountain Festival
Third weekend of September, in Franklin
A heritage festival running since 1969, with a grand parade, a reenactment of the burning of Fort Seybert, a heritage tea room, crafts and music.
West Virginia Trout Fest
First weekend of May, in Franklin
Two days built around a trout rodeo, with a fish fry dinner, crafts, vendors and a conservation area for children.