Sometime between 1778 and 1781, local settlers of this north central part of (West) Virginia chose to name this hamlet Clarksburg in honor of George Rogers Clark. The Virginia Assembly then incorporated the town in 1785. William Haymond, Nicholas Carpenter, John Myers, John McCally and John Davison were named trustees and instructed to lay off the town in lots. Clarksburg was ordered to be the place for erecting all public buildings which later became the county seat of Harrison County. This area lay in the midst of some of the richest coal fields in the world!

Mayors serving the city of Clarksburg beginning in 1870 were:

1870 Robert S. Northcott 1871 A. Werninger 1873-75 Cyrus Vance 1876 Enoch Tinsman 1877 E.B. Hursey 1878 Robert Northcott 1879-80 E.B. Hursey 1881-82 M.S. Riley 1883 E.T. Baldwin 1885 Enoch Tinsman 1891 J.C. Vance 1893 Samuel R. Steele 1895 Samuel Gordon 1896 Samuel R. Steele 1897 A.G. Owens 1898 M.B. Holmes 1900 Marcellus M. Thompson 1901-03 Lafayette Crile 1904-05 Patrick H. Shields 1906 Harvey W. Harmer 1907 Lafayette Crile 1908 Edward J. Wood 1909-12 Frank Moore 1913-14 William H. Cole 1915-17 George Harry Gordon 1918-19 Joe N. Craddock

In 1921, Clarksburg adopted a city manager form of government. Then in 1957, the city voted a new charter to comply with the West Virginia Home Rule Law. The council then elected a mayor from among its members to preside at meetings and was to choose a manager to administer the city.

The year 1957 began many changes for the city of Clarksburg. In this year, the city was honored with the designation of “All American City”. This annual achievement was given to 10 cities nationwide by LOOK MAGAZINE and the National Municipal League. The winner is chosen on the basis of “energetic" purposeful, intelligent citizen effort in obtaining specific civic improvements in the public interest.”