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Hardy County, formed in 1786 from Hampshire County, was named after Samuel Hardy, a Virginia politician. In 1866, Grant County split off from Hardy. The county has two main towns: Moorefield, established in 1777, and Wardensville, founded in 1832.
Historian Alvin E. Moore called Hardy County a "borderland" because it was a frontier for early settlers and during the Civil War. The early European-American settlers were mainly Scotch-Irish, German, English, and Dutch. They cleared land on disputed territory claimed by both Lord Fairfax and Virginia. In 1748, George Washington joined a survey team sent by Fairfax to the South Branch Manor.
Hardy County experienced violence between settlers and Indians, patriots, and Tories during the Revolution, and between North and South in the Civil War. The county contributed men, livestock, and grain to support these conflicts.
