Research
Local history resources
The Jefferson County Museum houses unique resources related to county history: photographs, correspondence, diaries, account books, business and legal records, land documents, maps, pamphlets, books, newspapers, yearbooks, catalogs, and other materials. Many are cataloged as individual items. Many more are parts of larger document collections (listed below) concerning an individual, family, business, or institution.
See the Online Collection Database for information on individual items and document collections. Digital images of photographs are available in the online database; however, very few of the other local history resources have been digitized. Information about image reproduction fees is available here.
Additional local and regional history books and genealogical material can be found in the Charles Town Library’s Perry Room, located in the same building housing the museum. Search the library’s collection here.

Information for researchers
The Jefferson County Museum’s archives are open to the public and available to researchers via the Online Collection Database and/or by making an appointment to visit the museum.
Researchers who have questions after viewing the database should call 304-725-8628 or send an email to historian@jeffcomuseumwv.org. The museum staff can provide only a moderate amount of research. For more extensive research in the archives, researchers are advised to visit the museum. Information about research fees is available here.
(The historian is available from mid-March to mid-December. He will respond in late March or April to requests sent mid-December to mid-March.)

Jefferson County Museum Document Collections
A-B
- Andrews, W. J., Images
- Ankeney, Jane (ARC306)
- Bane, Frank (ARC271)
- Beckham, Ann Amelia Stephenson (ARC720)
- Beckwith Family (ARC725)
- Bee Line Chapter, DAR (ARC175)
- Berry Family Diaries (ARC94)
- Bielaski, Josephine Murphy and Murphy Family (ARC111)
- Bishop, Rideoutt, and Payne (ARC879)
- Brackett, Louise Wood (IMG3273)
- Briscoe Family (ARC139)
- Briscoe, Evelyn Lamar “Daisy” (ARC342)
- Brown, James M. (ARC656)
- Buckles, Susannah (IMG882-914, IMG3482-3485)
- Burns, J. P. Family, Matthew Frame ledgers (ARC867-875)
- Burr, Milton (ARC190)
C-D
- Chamberlain (Chamberlin) Family (ARC558)
- Charlestown Mining, Manufacturing and Improvement Company (ARC422)
- Charles Town Bicentennial (ARC792)
- Charles Town Cannons (ARC28)
- Charles Town Horse Show Association (ARC267, ARC270)
- Charles Town Jockey Club/Charles Town Race Track (ARC606)
- Charles Town Jockey Club/Harry H. Byrer (ARC266)
- Chew Family (ARC236, ARC741)
- Chew, R. P. (ARC234)
- C.L. Robinson Ice & Cold Storage Corp. (ARC268)
- Coe, Sallie Travers (ARC793)
- Coleman, John S.
- Conklyn Brothers (ARC191)
- Conklyn, Dorothy W., Music Festivals (ARC641)
- Conklyn, Dorothy W., Sheet Music (ARC221)
- Dandridge Family (ARC229)
- Darke, William (ARC140)
- Davenport Family (ARC739)
- Davidson, William Campbell (ARC14)
- Davis (Adams), Julia (ARC172)
E-H
- Eby Family (ARC170)
- Fitzpatrick Photographs
- Flood 1936: Washington/Baltimore Newspapers (LIB1609)
- Forty & Eight, Voiture 1356 (ARC750)
- Fox Family (ARC687)
- Gallaher, W. W. B. (ARC115)
- Garney, A. V. (ARC110)
- Garney, A. V., Library (LIB1131)
- Gibson, John T. (ARC235)
- Goens, Isabelle Parker (IMG2720)
- Hall-Hite Family (ARC678)
- Hall-Marmion, Charlotte Fairbairn Crouch (ARC127)
- Hall-Tabb Family (ARC285)
- Harpers Ferry High School (ARC882)
- Hartgroves Shannondale Springs (IMG703, IMG706-719, IMG2968)
- Heflebower (Hefflebower) Family (ARC738)
- Henry Family (ARC783)
- Henry Kyd Douglas Camp, SCV (ARC174)
- Hopkins, Anne Washington (ARC380)
- Hopewell Mill Ledgers (ARC251)
- Hunter, Philip N. (ARC598)
- Ingalls, John
J-L
- Jefferson County Black History Preservation Society (IMG1790, IMG1793-1809)
- Jefferson County Extension Homemakers (ARC128)
- Jefferson County Fair Association (ARC665)
- Jefferson County Fair Catalogs
- Jefferson County Farm Women’s Club (ARC881)
- Jefferson County Farm Women’s Organizations Yearbooks (ARC775)
- Jefferson County Historical Society Magazine (LIB990)
- Jefferson County Preservation Alliance to Save Our Heritage (ARC668)
- Jenkins, Harry R., III Family (ARC272)
- Kabletown Methodist Church Sunday School Records (ARC300)
- Keyes Family (ARC675, 676)
- Kiefer, Bruce and Geraldine
- Lackland Family (ARC125)
- Lawson Botts Chapter, UDC (ARC173)
- Leavell, William T. Charles City Court House (ARC121)
- Leavell, William T. Charlestown (ARC279)
- Link, Adam and Bayrle (ARC274)
- Lippitt Family (ARC123)
- Lippitt-Craighill Family (ARC625)
- Lippitt-Craighill Transcriptions (ARC288)
- Lloyd, Wayne (ARC126)
- Lock (Locke) Family (ARC695)
- Lockhart, James (ARC224)
- Lucas Family (ARC104)
- Lucas, Virginia (ARC124)
M-R
- Marmion Family (ARC600)
- Milburn, Jacqueline R. (IMG2723-2744)
- Milton-Gruber Family (ARC60)
- Muse-Lewis Family (ARC150)
- Mutchler, James, Postcards (IMG1198)
- O’Brien, John & Sylvie
- Osburn Family (ARC129)
- Ott, Lillian McClellan (ARC669)
- Packett (Packette), William Bainbridge (ARC670)
- Parks Photographs
- Perry, T. T. (ARC682)
- Porterfield Family (ARC227)
- Porterfield-Terrill Family (ARC228)
- Porterfield, Mary McDonald, World War I (ARC122a, ARC122b)
- Ramey-Lloyd Family (ARC263)
- Rissler, Gerard M. Family (ARC681)
- Robinson, C. L. Ice and Cold Storage Corp. (ARC268)
S-T
- Schiller, Elise, Harpers Ferry (IMG3376)
- Shannondale Springs (ARC5)
- Shenandoah Milling Company (ARC269)
- Shepherd, Henry St. John (ARC661)
- Skinner Law Firm Record Books (ARC114)
- Stephenson Seminary (ARC219)
- St. Hilda’s Hall Glass Negatives (IMG2870-2909)
- Storer College Celebration-2015 (ARC276)
- Stowell, Walton D., Architectural Drawing (ARC662)
- Strider, Emma Tomlinson (ARC624)
- Strider, John and Amanda Cheney, Family (ARC753)
- Tabb, James E. (ARC904)
- Tabb, Virginia Duff and Lyle, Family (ARC718)
- Taylor, Hali, Photographs (IMG2545-2613)
- Todd, Frances Packette, Sheet Music (ARC222)
- Trussell Family (ARC262)
V-Y
- Veiner, Hyman (ARC631)
- Viener Family (ARC223)
- Vote YES Table Games (ARC29)
- Ward-Charles Town Hospital Construction (ARC105)
- Ward, Gerald & Agnes, Washington Family (ARC590, ARC655, ARC906)
- Webster, John L. (ARC394, ARC415, IMG803, LIB1559)
- W. Va. Official State Highway Maps (ARC518)
- Wilson, William Lyne (ARC553)
- Wiltshire, Sarah Burr (ARC653)
- Yates Family (ARC509)