Philippi ('FILL-uh-pea') is a city in and the county seat of Barbour County, West Virginia, United States, along the Tygart Valley River. The population was 2,929 at the 2020 census. In 1861, it was the site of the Battle of Philippi, known as the "Philippi Races". Although a minor skirmish, this is considered the earliest notable land action of the American Civil War. The city has a weekly newspaper, The Barbour Democrat.
History Settlement The first white settlement in present-day Barbour County was established approximately three miles downriver from the future site of Philippi in 1780, at which time the area was still part of western Virginia and included within Monongalia County. The earliest settlers on the section of bottomland that would one day become Philippi were William Anglin (as early as 1783 or '84) and Daniel Booth (1787). A ford existed here as early as 1789 which served the road that had recently been surveyed between Beverly and Sandy Creek. Anglin was the original owner of the land upon which Philippi stands, hence the earliest known name for the locality — Anglin's Ford. Booth also owned and operated a commercial ferry here in the 1790s, thus the area's second popular designation — Booth's Ferry. William Friend Wilson married Booth's daughter and built a wool and grain mill on the river in 1818.
In 1825, the first post office in the region (that would later become Barbour County) was established by Henson Lewis Hoff (1805-1890), an expeditious young man who had just arrived from Loudoun County. Hoff settled at Cherry Hill, just west of the current city limits of Philippi. After Hoff became the postmaster, the community that would become Philippi was known as "Hoffsville" and remained so until 1841 when the name "Philippa" was first considered.Martin, Joseph (1835), New and Comprehensive Gazetteer of Virginia; Reprinted in 1968 in West Virginia Heritage, Vol 2, pg 21; West Virginia Heritage Foundation; Richwood, W.Va. (Unfortunately, the Gazetteer does not provide any details for "Hoffsville" as it does for other villages in the area, except that Richmond was 253 miles away and Washington, DC 236 miles away.)"Place Names in West Virginia": H, P; West Virginia Archives and History website
Founding and naming In March 1843, the vast Harrison and Randolph Counties of western Virginia were carved up into several smaller political units, among them Barbour County, which included Hoffsville. In 1899, Hu Maxwell described the April 1843 founding and official naming of the new county seat: "The county seat of Barbour was located at the place where Philippi now stands before there was a town and before the place was named. It was then a farm belonging to William F. Wilson, and the locality had long been known as Booth's Ferry. The land was first the property of William Anglin, and in succession was owned by John Wilson, Daniel Booth, Ely Butcher, Elmore Hart, Thomas H. Hite and William F. Wilson, who divided it into lots and disposed of the most of it within a few years of the establishing of the county seat. The county was named after [the Virginia lawyer and jurist] Philip P. Barbour, and it was the intention of the county court when it selected a name for the town to honor the given name of Mr. Barbour; giving it the feminine form, however, in conformity with the Latin language. The feminine of Philip is Philippa, and it was meant that such should be the name of the town. But because of misspellings and a misunderstanding of the origin of the name (confounding it with Philippi, an ancient city) the name finally took the form which it now has. On April 5, 1843, the third day of the first county court, it is 'ordered that the county seat of this county be known and called PHILLIPPA'. Except that the name has too many 'l's' the form was proper, according to what was originally intended. Later the name became Philippi, but even then it was oftener misspelled than spelled correctly."Maxwell, Op. cit., pg 279. As Maxwell implies, St Paul's Epistle to the Philippians and the ancient Battle of Philippi were no doubt influential in the final form of the name.There was an earlier town in [West] Virginia known as "Philippi". The settlement at the confluence of the Kanawha and Coal Rivers was laid out in 1816 and so named after Philip Thompson, an early settler to the area. The name was afterwards changed to Colesmouth (due to the area and river having been discovered by Samuel Cole). It was later incorporated as Kanawha City (1868) and finally given its current name, St. Albans, in 1872. Philippi was established by charter in 1844.
In 1852 Lemuel Chenoweth, an Appalachian architect and carpenter, built a covered bridge in Philippi to provide a link on the turnpike running between Beverly and Fairmont. The Philippi Covered Bridge spelled the end of the commercial ferry operation and is still the town's prominent landmark.
Civil War
Philippi was the scene of the first land battle of the American Civil War, on June 3, 1861. The battle was promptly lampooned as the "Philippi Races" because of the hurried retreat by the Confederate troops encamped in the town. (The battle is reenacted every June during the town's 'Blue and Gray Reunion.')
At daylight on June 3, two columns of Union forces under the command of Col. Benjamin Franklin Kelley and Col. Ebenezer Dumont, with perhaps 3,000 men, arrived from Grafton and attacked about 800 poorly armed Confederate recruits under the command of Col. George A. Porterfield. The Union troops had marched all night through a heavy rain storm to arrive just before daylight. The surprise attack — from the heights of "Battle Hill" to the northwest — awakened the sleeping Confederates. After firing a few shots at the advancing Union troops, the Southerners broke lines and began running frantically to the south, some still in their bed clothes.
The Union victory in a relatively bloodless battle propelled the young Major General George B. McClellan into the national spotlight, and he was soon given command of all Union armies. The battle also inspired more vocal protests in the Western part of Virginia against secession. A few days later in Wheeling, the Wheeling Convention nullified the Virginia ordinance of secession and named Francis H. Pierpont governor. These events eventually resulted in the separate statehood of West Virginia.
Later history Philippi was incorporated by act of the West Virginia Legislature on 1 February 1871. The first railroadthe Grafton and Greenbrier, a narrow-gaugearrived at Philippi on 25 January 1884. Three years later the line was extended to Belington and in 1891 it became a standard gauge when it was acquired by the B&O. In 1904, citizens passed a bond issue permitting the city to begin generating electricity for the first time by gas.Mattaliano, Jane K. and Lois G. Omonde (1994), Milestones: A Pictorial History of Philippi, West Virginia, 1844-1994, Virginia Beach, Virginia: The Donning Company Publishers, pp 97-99.
In 1901, Broaddus College (founded in 1871 in Winchester, Virginia and later located in Clarksburg, West Virginia) relocated to "Battle Hill", overlooking Philippi. In 1932, Broaddus merged with Alderson Academy (itself founded in 1901 in Alderson, West Virginia), whereupon these two Baptist institutions became Alderson–Broaddus College. (The institution changed its name to "Alderson Broaddus University" in 2013, but became defunct in 2023.)
In 1905 a new Barbour County Courthouse was completed. It was designed by J. Charles Fulton in a monumental Romanesque Revival style. The building contractor was J.P. Conn.
Rail activity at Philippi peaked in the 1920s when as many as six passenger trains, along with mail and freight, transited the town daily. The automobile brought about a decline in the local railroad service, however, and the final passenger train made its last stop in Philippi in 1956.Mattaliano, Op. cit., pg. 115.
Throughout its history, Philippi has suffered from floods because of its proximity to the river and the relatively low elevation of most of the town. The most damaging of these came in November 1985. The town has since adopted a flood plain management plan.
On July 31, 2023, the West Virginia Higher Education Policy Commission revoked Alderson Broaddus University's ability to confer degrees after the end of the year, and ordered to it cease admitting students, due to its "rapidly deteriorating financial condition". On the same day, the university's board of trustees voted to close the university.
Geography
Philippi is situated along the Tygart Valley River at (39.151569, -80.043472). It is within Philippi District — one of eight magisterial districts of Barbour County. The town is sub-divided into Wards 1 through 4.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , of which is land and is water.
The original settlement that became the town of Philippi was on a section of bottomland at a bend in the river at the mouth of Anglin's Run. This area was later designated "Dayton Park". Opposite this bottomland, at the western landing of "Booth's Ferry", is a sharp ridge which breaks abruptly down to the river and is still known as "Nobusiness Hill". Most of the town is in the bottomland, but a portion, including the former college campus, is on another ridge — "Battle Hill", also called "Talbott's Hill" — overlooking the valley from the northwest. To the south, a third landmark hill — "Grabanickel Hill" — completes the ring of high ground encircling the town.
A railroad line runs through Philippi, now used only by freight trains, passenger rail service having been discontinued in 1956. The historic 1911 passenger station has served as the Barbour County Historical Museum since the station's restoration in 1979. The town is served by the small, private Philippi-Barbour County Regional Airport.
Climate The climate in this area is characterized by hot humid summers and generally mild to cool winters. According to the Köppen Climate Classification system, Philippi has a humid subtropical climate, abbreviated "Cfa" on climate maps.Climate Summary for Philippi, West Virginia
Demographics
2020 census
As of the 2020 census, Philippi had a population of 2,929. The median age was 31.1 years. 15.7% of residents were under the age of 18 and 18.3% of residents were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females there were 99.7 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 98.9 males age 18 and over.
0.0% of residents lived in urban areas, while 100.0% lived in rural areas.
There were 1,081 households in Philippi, of which 23.2% had children under the age of 18 living in them. Of all households, 34.9% were married-couple households, 21.7% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 36.1% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 41.4% of all households were made up of individuals and 18.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.
There were 1,253 housing units, of which 13.7% were vacant. The homeowner vacancy rate was 4.6% and the rental vacancy rate was 7.9%.
+ Racial composition as of the 2020 census Race Number Percent White 2,478 84.6% Black or African American 236 8.1% American Indian and Alaska Native 6 0.2% Asian 21 0.7% Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander 0 0.0% Some other race 32 1.1% Two or more races 156 5.3% Hispanic or Latino (of any race) 105 3.6%
2010 census As of the census of 2010, there were 2,966 people, 1,185 households, and 686 families residing in the city. The population density was . There were 1,383 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 92.7% White, 2.3% African American, 1.1% Native American, 0.9% Asian, 0.2% from other races, and 2.9% from two or more races. Hispanics or Latinos of any race were 0.7% of the population.