Hardy County, West Virginia: History
The first European known to visit this area was John Van Meter in 1725. The earliest permanent European settlements were established in the 1730s.
Hardy County was formed in 1786 from Hampshire County in Virginia. It was one of fifty counties admitted to the Union as the state of West Virginia in 1863.
That year, the newly independent state's counties were divided into civil townships, with the intention of encouraging local government. This proved impractical in the heavily rural state, and in 1872 the townships were converted into magisterial districts. Hardy County was divided into three districts: Capon, Lost River, and Moorefield. A fourth district, South Fork, was formed in 1873 from part of Moorefield District, and a fifth district, Old Fields, was created in the 1980s.
Hardy County has a rich African American history, with many free African Americans living there before the Civil War. This history is discussed in part 2 of the Henry Louis Gates television series African American Lives.