Martinsburg is a city in the Eastern Panhandle

Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia

The Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia is a narrow stretch of territory in the northeast of the state, bordering Maryland and Virginia, United States. The Eastern Panhandle Board of Realtors and other local civic organizations consider only the three Easternmost counties, Jefferson, Berkeley and...

 region of West Virginia

West Virginia

West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian and Southeastern regions of the United States, bordered by Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Ohio to the northwest, Pennsylvania to the northeast and Maryland to the east...

, United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. The city's population was 14,972 at the 2000 census; according to a 2009 Census Bureau estimate, Martinsburg's population was 17,117, making it the largest city in the Eastern Panhandle and the eighth largest municipality in West Virginia. Martinsburg is the county seat

County seat

A county seat is an administrative center, or seat of government, for a county or civil parish. The term is primarily used in the United States....

 of Berkeley County

Berkeley County, West Virginia

Berkeley County is a county located in the Eastern Panhandle region of the U.S. state of West Virginia. As of 2010, the population is 104,169, making it the second-most populous county in West Virginia, behind Kanawha...

and one of the core cities in the Hagerstown-Martinsburg, MD-WV Metropolitan Statistical Area

Hagerstown Metropolitan Area

The Hagerstown-Martinsburg Metropolitan Area, officially designated by the United States Office of Management and Budget as Hagerstown-Martinsburg, Maryland-West Virginia Metropolitan Statistical Area , constitutes the primary cities of Hagerstown, Maryland, Martinsburg, West Virginia, and...

. Martinsburg and Berkeley County are growing very rapidly from the influx of people moving from Washington, D.C.

Washington, D.C.

Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....

 and Baltimore

Baltimore

Baltimore is the largest independent city in the United States and the largest city and cultural center of the US state of Maryland. The city is located in central Maryland along the tidal portion of the Patapsco River, an arm of the Chesapeake Bay. Baltimore is sometimes referred to as Baltimore...

.
Martinsburg is one of many cities across the nation that has residents participating in the Occupy Wall Street movement.
Martinsburg was founded in 1778 by General Adam Stephen

Adam Stephen

Adam Stephen was a Scottish-born doctor and military officer. He came to North America, where he served in the Virginia colonial militia under George Washington during the French and Indian War. He served under Washington again in the American Revolutionary War, rising to lead a division of the...

 who named it in honor of Colonel Thomas Bryan Martin

Thomas Bryan Martin

Colonel Thomas Bryan Martin was an early American jurist, legislator, and prominent landowner.-Biography:Martin was born in England to Denny Martin and his wife, Frances Fairfax , sister of Thomas Fairfax, 6th Lord Fairfax of Cameron , and arrived in Virginia from England in 1751...

, a nephew of Thomas Fairfax, 6th Lord Fairfax of Cameron

Thomas Fairfax, 6th Lord Fairfax of Cameron

Thomas Fairfax, 6th Lord Fairfax of Cameron was the son of Thomas Fairfax, 5th Lord Fairfax of Cameron and of Catherine, daughter of Thomas Culpeper, 2nd Baron Culpeper of Thoresway....

.

Aspen Hall

Aspen Hall (Martinsburg, West Virginia)

Aspen Hall, also known as the Edward Beeson House, was built beginning in 1771 as a stone house in the Georgian style in what would become Martinsburg, West Virginia. The first portion of the house was a 20 by 20 foot "fortified stone home", 2½ stories tall., in coursed rubble limestone built in...

 is a Georgian mansion, the oldest part of which was built in 1745 by Edward Beeson, Sr.