Romney is a city in Hampshire County , West Virginia , United States of America . As of the 2000 census , the city and its environs population was 5,873 [1] , 1,940 of which live within the city limits. It is the county seat of Hampshire County GR6 . Originally settled in 1725 by hunters and traders, Romney was known as Pearsall's Flats and was the site of the French and Indian War stockade Fort Pearsall . Romney holds the title of West Virginia's oldest town , chartered December 23 , 1762 . Named for the Cinque Ports city of Romney , Kent , England by Thomas Fairfax, 6th Lord Fairfax of Cameron , the town still bears placenames and symbols from its colonial past such as its Marsham Street, named for Robert Marsham , 2nd Baron Romney . It is also home to the West Virginia Schools for the Deaf and Blind and the nation's First Confederate Memorial in Indian Mound Cemetery .