Weverton is an unincorporated

Unincorporated area

In law, an unincorporated area is a region of land that is not a part of any municipality.To "incorporate" in this context means to form a municipal corporation, a city, town, or village with its own government. An unincorporated community is usually not subject to or taxed by a municipal government...

 hamlet

Hamlet (place)

A hamlet is usually a rural settlement which is too small to be considered a village, though sometimes the word is used for a different sort of community. Historically, when a hamlet became large enough to justify building a church, it was then classified as a village...

 located in the southern tip of Washington County

Washington County, Maryland

Washington County is a county located in the western part of the U.S. state of Maryland, bordering southern Pennsylvania to the north, northern Virginia to the south, and the Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia to the south and west. As of the 2010 Census, its population is 147,430...

, Maryland

Maryland

Maryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east...

, near the north shore of the Potomac River

Potomac River

The Potomac River flows into the Chesapeake Bay, located along the mid-Atlantic coast of the United States. The river is approximately long, with a drainage area of about 14,700 square miles...

. Its population is approximately 500. Weverton is located at the intersection of MD Route 67

Maryland Route 67

Maryland Route 67 is a state highway in the U.S. state of Maryland. Known as Rohrersville Road, the state highway runs from U.S. Route 340 in Weverton north to US 40 Alternate in Boonsboro. MD 67 parallels the western flank of South Mountain in southeastern Washington County, connecting...

 and U.S. Route 340

U.S. Route 340

U.S. Route 340 is a spur of US 40. It currently runs for from Greenville, Virginia at US 11 to Frederick, Maryland at US 40. Between those two states, US 340 also passes briefly through West Virginia. In Virginia and West Virginia, it is signed north–south...

. The nearest incorporated communities are Harpers Ferry, West Virginia

Harpers Ferry, West Virginia

Harpers Ferry is a historic town in Jefferson County, West Virginia, United States. In many books the town is called "Harper's Ferry" with an apostrophe....

 (located 1.5 miles (2.4 km) to the west) and Brunswick, Maryland

Brunswick, Maryland

Brunswick is a city in Frederick County, Maryland, United States. The population was 5,870 at the 2010 census.- History :The area now known as Brunswick was originally home to the Susquehanna Indians. In 1728 the first settlement was built, and the region became known as Eel Town, because the...

 (located 2.7 miles (4.3 km) to the east). Weverton's approximate elevation is 475 feet (144.8 m) above sea level.

A local feature is Weverton Cliffs, which are located at the southern end of South Mountain

South Mountain (Maryland and Pennsylvania)

South Mountain is the northern extension of the Blue Ridge Mountain range in Maryland and Pennsylvania. From the Potomac River near Knoxville, Maryland in the south, to Dillsburg, Pennsylvania in the north, the long range separates the Hagerstown and Cumberland valleys from the Piedmont regions of...

 where that ridge is interrupted by the Potomac River. These cliffs are a landmark on the Appalachian Trail

Appalachian Trail

The Appalachian National Scenic Trail, generally known as the Appalachian Trail or simply the AT, is a marked hiking trail in the eastern United States extending between Springer Mountain in Georgia and Mount Katahdin in Maine. It is approximately long...

 located nearly at the halfway point of the trail and well known to through hikers.

History

Founded in the 1820s, Weverton was a speculative venture intended to be a mill town to take advantage of the waterpower of the nearby Potomac River and transportation provided by the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal

Chesapeake and Ohio Canal

The Chesapeake and Ohio Canal, abbreviated as the C&O Canal, and occasionally referred to as the "Grand Old Ditch," operated from 1831 until 1924 parallel to the Potomac River in Maryland from Cumberland, Maryland to Washington, D.C. The total length of the canal is about . The elevation change of...

. The community was the creation of Caspar Wever, who at one time was the chief construction engineer for the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad

Baltimore and Ohio Railroad

The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad was one of the oldest railroads in the United States and the first common carrier railroad. It came into being mostly because the city of Baltimore wanted to compete with the newly constructed Erie Canal and another canal being proposed by Pennsylvania, which...

 and a specialist in masonry

Masonry

Masonry is the building of structures from individual units laid in and bound together by mortar; the term masonry can also refer to the units themselves. The common materials of masonry construction are brick, stone, marble, granite, travertine, limestone; concrete block, glass block, stucco, and...

 arch bridge

Arch bridge

An arch bridge is a bridge with abutments at each end shaped as a curved arch. Arch bridges work by transferring the weight of the bridge and its loads partially into a horizontal thrust restrained by the abutments at either side...

s, some of which still stand in use.

Later on, speculative land sales collapsed and floods washed out a file-making factory among other businesses. The community that remains has little connection with the original site of Weverton, which now lies partly under the CSX Transportation

CSX Transportation

CSX Transportation operates a Class I railroad in the United States known as the CSX Railroad. It is the main subsidiary of the CSX Corporation. The company is headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, and owns approximately 21,000 route miles...

 right-of-way and partly under the present right-of-way of U.S. Route 340.

The Weverton area witnessed passage of several forces involved in the Battle of South Mountain

Battle of South Mountain

The Battle of South Mountain was fought September 14, 1862, as part of the Maryland Campaign of the American Civil War. Three pitched battles were fought for possession of three South Mountain passes: Crampton's, Turner's, and Fox's Gaps. Maj. Gen. George B...

 as well as the Battle of Antietam

Battle of Antietam

The Battle of Antietam , fought on September 17, 1862, near Sharpsburg, Maryland, and Antietam Creek, as part of the Maryland Campaign, was the first major battle in the American Civil War to take place on Northern soil. It was the bloodiest single-day battle in American history, with about 23,000...

 during the Civil War

American Civil War

The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...

 in 1862. Numerous homes in the valley predate the Civil War and witnessed various skirmishes during this period.

Weverton had a post office until 1951, when it was removed and consolidated with the Knoxville

Knoxville, Maryland

Knoxville is an unincorporated community in Washington County, Maryland, United States.-References:...

 post office in nearby Frederick County

Frederick County, Maryland

Frederick County is a county located in the western part of the U.S. state of Maryland, bordering the southern border of Pennsylvania and the northeastern border of Virginia. As of the 2010 Census, the population was 233,385....

.

Geology

A recognized USDA soil series is called the Weverton Series and is named for Weverton. It describes a soil typical of ridges in the upper Blue Ridge Mountains

Blue Ridge Mountains

The Blue Ridge Mountains are a physiographic province of the larger Appalachian Mountains range. This province consists of northern and southern physiographic regions, which divide near the Roanoke River gap. The mountain range is located in the eastern United States, starting at its southern-most...

, comprising flaggy loams and a topsoil of hardwood detritus.