"The opposing infantry marched towards each other along the Williamsport Pike, a mile to your front."
That line is printed on a sign put up in 2026 along the gravel trail at Hoke's Run Battlefield Park. The sign stands inside Berkeley County's first battlefield park, and its first instruction is to look beyond the park. A visitor who toured the 10-acre site in August 2026 wrote in Spirit of '61 that no fighting took place on the park grounds. The trail signs tell the story of a battle whose main clash happened about a mile away, out on the pike.
For anyone living in Falling Waters, this changes how the park works. It is the starting point for a battlefield that runs along Hammonds Mill Road and US 11, through the intersection where the two roads meet and past the commercial stretch of Williamsport Pike. The park explains the battle, and Williamsport Pike is where it was fought.
What opened on Saint Andrews Drive in July
The park was dedicated at 11 a.m. on July 2, 2026, at 1156 Saint Andrews Drive off WV Route 901. The date marked the 165th anniversary of the Battle of Hoke's Run, which the county calls the first Civil War battle fought in the Shenandoah Valley. Five groups made it happen: the Shenandoah Valley Battlefields Foundation, the Berkeley County Commission, the Berkeley County Board of Education, the Martinsburg-Berkeley County Parks & Recreation Board, and the Falling Waters Battlefield Association. The Board of Education transferred the land to the county, and that transfer is what let the project move forward.
More than $200,000 in private contributions paid for the park. Macy's Inc. gave $125,000 for the pavilion. Other donors included Panhandle Builders & Excavating, Fox & Associates, CNB Bank, WVU Medicine, United Bank, the Spring Mills Rotary Club, Liz Oates, Integrity Home Mortgage and Countertop Solutions.
What you get on the ground:
- A gently sloping gravel trail in one large loop, with a cross-trail through the middle as a shortcut
- A playground, an outdoor pavilion with picnic tables, and restrooms
- Interpretive signs that the August visitor described as carrying the first detailed maps of this battle he had seen
The published materials don't list trail mileage, park hours, a dog policy or parking capacity. Martinsburg-Berkeley County Parks & Recreation is the place to ask. Its executive director, Joe Burton, said at the dedication that "the signs unveiled today are just the beginning. This park will continue to grow as a destination."
The signs walk you toward the fight
The trail panels, erected in 2026 by the Battlefields Foundation and the Falling Waters Battlefield Association, keep pointing outward. The panel titled "Action at Stumpy's Hollow," with the line "Throw down your arms or you are dead men!", says the crossroads where J.E.B. Stuart's cavalry captured nearly all of Company I, 15th Pennsylvania Infantry, is 250 yards in front of you. "Advance to Battle" places the main infantry clash a mile away on the pike.
That second panel holds the details that stay with you. Around 9:15 a.m. on July 2, 1861, Union skirmishers opened fire near the junction with Hammonds Mill Road. The Confederate artillery had sent forward only one cannon, a 6-pounder named "Luke." An 18-year-old private, George C. Drake of the 1st Wisconsin, was killed early in the fighting. The panel also notes that the 1st Wisconsin wore gray uniforms that day.
The park also has a panel on the namesake stream. "Protecting History and Nature" ties Hoke's Run to the battle's name and mentions watercress harvested there. Another panel, "Confederate Artillery," stands by the Spring Mills Community Park parking area on Saint Andrews Drive.
The battle's stakes were bigger than its size. Union Maj. Gen. Robert Patterson was trying to hold Confederate Brig. Gen. Joseph E. Johnston in the Shenandoah Valley so Johnston couldn't reinforce Manassas. Patterson's army pushed the Confederates back and occupied Martinsburg. Col. Thomas J. Jackson's withdrawal held the Federals up long enough for Johnston to get ready. It was also the first time either Jackson or George Thomas led troops in battle. Sources disagree on casualties and on how long the fight lasted. One history says less than an hour, and the Falling Waters Battlefield Association says about two hours.
The battlefield along Hammonds Mill Road and US 11
Once you leave the parking area, the battlefield is a short drive past familiar stops. The fighting centered on William Rush Porterfield's farm, just north of today's intersection of US 11 and Hammonds Mill Road. The markers below are visible from the road. Right-of-way status at these sites hasn't been confirmed, and some sit next to private businesses, so pull off only where it's safe and legal.
Stumpy's Hollow, Saint Andrews Drive at Hammonds Mill Road. This is the crossroads the park panel points to. A Falling Waters Battlefield Association tablet reads "Stumpy's Hollow / July 2, 1861 / Site of JEB Stuart's capture of Union Soldiers." A West Virginia Civil War Trails panel, "Stuart's Surprise," stands at the same crossroads. The association's split-rail fence marks the site.
US 11 and Hammonds Mill Road, around 5715 Hammonds Mill Road. Here Capt. William Nelson Pendleton put one gun in the middle of the Valley Turnpike, now US 11. Pendleton was a 51-year-old Episcopal rector from Lexington, Virginia. His gunners named their four pieces Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. His order was reported by Journal-News as "Aim low, men! And may God have mercy on their souls," and the lone gun fired eight times before pulling back. The panel's sidebar says the two VMI cadet guns from that battery now stand on the VMI grounds in Lexington. The most recent photo in the marker record is from 2012, so treat this panel as recorded at the site rather than confirmed standing.
The Porterfield Farm site, near 5698 Williamsport Pike. This is about 0.2 mile north of the WV 901 intersection. The Crockett–Porterfield House has been razed, and its Civil War Trails sign is listed as removed. The Battlefield Association reported that the developer agreed to a replacement marker in planned green space nearby. We haven't found confirmation that it was installed.
Harper's 5th Virginia, US 11 at Hammonds Mill Road. This Civil War Trails panel is on the right as you travel south on Williamsport Pike. It explains that Col. Kenton Harper's 5th Virginia Infantry formed its main battle line along Hammonds Mill Road, sent three companies forward to the Porterfield House and farm buildings, and pulled back once its 380 men were in danger of being surrounded. The marker record includes a July 2025 photo noting that the lower right of the panel has faded badly.
"General 'Stonewall' Jackson," near 5006 Williamsport Pike. A stone-and-bronze tablet put up by the Berkeley County Chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy. It records that an oak limb was cut by a Federal cannonball while Jackson sat beneath the tree. A Civil War Trails panel that once stood beside it, "Jackson's Coolness Under Fire," was removed permanently and won't be replaced.
"Battle of Hoke's Run," US 11 at Foster Drive. The official state marker, erected in 2016 by West Virginia Archives and History. It is on the right going southbound.
Two of the panels on this list have already been taken down. The house at the center of the fight is gone. The newest and most complete interpretation is back on Saint Andrews Drive. That's why walking the park trail first makes sense. Its maps give you the battle lines before you go looking for them along a busy commercial road.
Three names that sound like one place
Falling Waters has been the name of several things in Civil War history. It helps to keep them apart.
| Name | What it is | Where |
|---|---|---|
| Hoke's Run | The July 2, 1861 battle, also called Falling Waters or Hainesville, and the stream it's named for | Porterfield Farm area along US 11, with the new park nearby |
| "A splendid falls" | A Civil War Trails sign at the waterfall that gave the area its name | Encampment Road, east of US 11 |
| Battle of Falling Waters, 1863 | A separate action from July 13–16, 1863, during the Confederate retreat after Gettysburg | Falling Waters Road, two miles south of Williamsport, Maryland |
The Encampment Road sign itself says the 1861 fight took place half a mile south, on the Porterfield Farm. The American Battlefield Trust places the 1863 battlefield across the Potomac in Maryland. To see that one, the Trust points visitors to the Williamsport visitor center and the waysides along the C&O Canal towpath. It also notes that the Donnelly House is private property.
Gary Gimbel, president of the Falling Waters Battlefield Association, said at the dedication that the group has worked to preserve and interpret Civil War sites in the Falling Waters area since 2004. The new park puts that work in one public place on Saint Andrews Drive, and its maps point you to the rest of the ground out on Williamsport Pike.
If you're curious how the area around Hammonds Mill Road and Williamsport Pike fits together today, from the new park to the parcels along US 11, Kesecker Realty, Inc. works across the Eastern Panhandle and is glad to talk about it. Contact a local agent today.
