People in Your Community…Knowledge at Your Doorstep
Welcome
The WVU Extension Service, with its local county office based in Romney, is here to help the citizens of Hampshire County. The Extension Service provides information and educational resources for farmers, gardeners, youth development (through 4-H), family health, and workforce development. To meet and support the needs of local people and communities, county faculty and staff involve local residents in developing and leading specific programs and activities.
Romney is the county seat, and West Virginia’s oldest town (1762). Hampshire County was created by the Virginia General Assembly on December 13, 1753 from parts of Frederick and Augusta counties (Virginia) and is the oldest county in the state of West Virginia. The county lies in both West Virginia’s Eastern Panhandle and Potomac Highlands regions. As of 2000, the population of Hampshire County was 20,203. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 645 square miles (1,670 kmē), of which, 642 square miles (1,662 kmē) of it is land and 3 square miles (8 kmē) of it (0.45%) is water. Hampshire County is part of the Winchester, VA-WV Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA).
Part of the National Cooperative Extension System
With more than 3,000 county offices in the USA, the National Cooperative Extension System is the local front door for many citizens to their state land-grant institutions. All universities engage in research and teaching, but the nation’s more than 100 land-grant colleges and universities including WVU, have another critical mission: Extension. Extension means reaching out, and along with teaching and research land-grant institutions extend their resources, solving public needs with college or university resources through local programs. We are also your link to West Virginia University’s colleges and offices.