Ridgeley is a town in Mineral County, West Virginia, United States, and part of the Cumberland Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 590 at the 2020 census.
Ridgeley was initially known as St. Clairsville, named for Sir John St Clair, Lt Colonel and Quartermaster General for the British General Edward Braddock. St Clair accompanied Braddock on his ill-fated march on Fort Duquesne and his disastrous defeat on July 9, 1755. It was incorporated as Ridgeley on November 28, 1914, named for the former owners of the land upon which the town was built.
Geography
Ridgeley is located at (39.643187, -78.769189), along the North Branch of the Potomac River, opposite Cumberland, Maryland.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of , of which is land and is water.
Transportation
The main road providing access to the town is West Virginia Route 28 Alternate. WV 28 Alt connects southward to West Virginia Route 28, which leads to Romney. To the north, WV 28 Alt crosses the Blue Bridge into Cumberland, Maryland. The nearest Interstate and U.S. highways are Interstate 68, U.S. Route 40 and U.S. Route 220, all of which are located in Cumberland.
Geology
The type locality of the Ridgeley Member of the Old Port Formation is located in the town. The Ridgeley name is given to local sandstone in honor of Ridgeley, WV, the far eastern boundary of the formation. It is primarily a sandstone, and is quarried locally.
Demographics
As of 2000 the median household income was $26,016 and the median family income was $36,042. Males had a median income of $29,250 compared with $20,227 for females. The per capita income for the town was $14,199. About 13.3% of families and 16.3% of the population were below the poverty line, including 18.0% of those under age 18 and 17.7% of those age 65 or over.
2010 census
As of the census of 2010, there were 675 people, 301 households, and 180 families residing in the town. The population density was . There were 377 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the town was 92.4% White, 0.6% African American, 0.3% Native American, 4.1% Asian, and 2.5% from two or more races.
There were 301 households, of which 26.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 43.5% were married couples living together, 12.3% had a female householder with no husband present, 4.0% had a male householder with no wife present, and 40.2% were non-families. 35.2% of all households were made up of individuals, and 15.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.24 and the average family size was 2.86.
The median age in the town was 40.8 years. 21.2% of residents were under the age of 18; 8.6% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 25.3% were from 25 to 44; 25.8% were from 45 to 64; and 19.1% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the town was 45.6% male and 54.4% female.
Education
Ridgeley is within the Mineral County Schools district. Frankfort High School is located near Short Gap and contains the grades 9-12.
History
The land on which the town is built was originally conveyed from Thomas Lord Fairfax to George Mason in 1749. In 1750, the first frontier fort, Fort Ohio, was built at Ridgeley. It was, at the time, the westernmost outpost of colonial civilization and was most commonly referred to as the "New Store" settlement at the time. The New Store was primarily a trading post created by the Ohio Company which included prominent members including George Mason and Lawrence Washington. Christopher Gist was in charge of construction of "New Store" which was just over what is now the Blue Bridge leading into Ridgeley from Cumberland. The settlement was used as a headquarters for traders and trappers from 1750 and 1763, and also served as a local fort outpost to shelter travelers or workers in the event of an Indian attack. Early Ohio Company residents who worked at the settlement (and who explored the surrounding countryside) included Hugh Parker and Christopher Gist. According to a history of the time, there were no white settlers in the area at this point. Lowdermilk's 1878 history reflects that at this point, the area was on the very outside of civilization; in fact, Lowdermilk refers to it as the "very outskirts of civilization. The country beyond was an unbroken and almost pathless wilderness. It was separated by many miles of tortuous mountain roads from the settlements in the east".