Benjamin Reed Boyd House
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Belle Boyd House (Benjamin Reed Boyd House)
1853. 126 East Race St. (southwest corner of East Race and North Spring sts.)
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(West Virginia Collection within the Carol M. Highsmith Archive, Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division)
This five-bay, two-story brick town house is similar to a number of country houses in Berkeley County and, like many of them, shows an architectural conservatism that belies the 1850s date. The building is basically Federal in style and, except for a corbeled brick cornice, relies almost entirely on proportions rather than details for effect.
Benjamin Boyd, who built the house, operated a store in the adjoining wing on Race Street. The property is the only remaining building in Martinsburg associated with his infamous daughter, a notorious and very effective Confederate spy. The Berkeley County Historical Society purchased the house in 1992 and has since restored it to serve as house museum, shop, headquarters, and research center.
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