Whitenah Property in Berkeley, Virginia

In 1787, Henry Whiteneck purchased 100 acres of land from John and Jane Whiteneck. He later sold this property, and eventually purchased 200 acres from his father-in-law, William Burns. Subsequent land purchases and inheritances expanded the property slightly.

At Henry's death, his son John lived on the property until 1854. An advertisement in the Martinsburg Gazette lists the property as 4 miles from Martinsburg on the road to Charlestown (Charles Town). The 1847 Map of Berkeley, Virgina shows the location of this property.

New--Use Google Maps to view the location of the land. From here, you can choose to get directions from where you are.

To see the north side of the property (and pass the Van Meter and Burns property), see the green roads marked on the map:

  1. Traveling east on Route 9 out of Martinsburg (about 2.5 miles), immediately before crossing Opequon Creek, take a right onto Douglas Grove Road. Note: On the other side of Opequon Creek on the left is an RV park. Somewhere on this property is where John and Rebecca Van Meter are buried.
  2. Follow Garden Grove for 1.5-2 miles. At one point the road turns sharply to the right. The old house on the right was built in 1820, so it was there when John Whitenah lived in the area. I'm told this house was built on a brick foundation, and the current owners had to spend a lot of money to dig under the bricks and pour concrete for a more permanent foundation. The log portion of the house on the right is not original to the house.
  3. Take a left onto Dunnview Road (also called Cold Spring Drive on Mapquest). The building on the right as you turn onto Dunnview is an old school (sorry, I don't know the dates it was used). At this point, you are likely driving on the old Whitenah property.
  4. Continuing on to the end of Dunnview, you'll enter a gate for Cold Spring Farm (#1107). If you continue on this road, you'll be driving on William Burns' land. Somewhere near the road is where William and Joanna Burns are buried.

The original home, barn, and orchards were on the south side of the property. To get to the south side, see the red roads marked on the map:

  1. Traveling east on Route 9 out of Martinsburg (about .75 miles), turn right onto Kelly Island Road.
  2. Continue on to Grubbs Corner (about 2 miles) and turn left on Paynes Ford Road. This road is possibly the original road to Charles Town, possibly know earlier as Burns Ford Road.
  3. After about 1.5 miles, turn left onto Compassion Drive. Based on the maps, this is as close as you can drive to this side of the property. I didn't have time to drive through this part, so no pictures.