| Falling Waters, West Virginia | |
| Settlement Type: | Census-designated place |
| Pushpin Map: | West Virginia |
| Pushpin Label Position: | left |
| Pushpin Map Caption: | Location within the state of West Virginia |
| Mapsize: | 260px |
| Subdivision Type: | Country |
| Subdivision Name: | United States |
| Subdivision Type1: | State |
| Subdivision Name1: | West Virginia |
| Subdivision Type2: | County |
| Subdivision Name2: | Berkeley |
| Area Footnotes: | [1] |
| Area Total Sq Mi: | 1.245 |
| Area Land Sq Mi: | 1.245 |
| Area Water Sq Mi: | 0 |
| Population As Of: | 2020 |
| Population Total: | 11,430 |
| Timezone: | Eastern (EST) |
| Utc Offset: | −5 |
| Timezone Dst: | EDT |
| Utc Offset Dst: | −4 |
| Elevation Ft: | 443 |
| Coordinates: | 39.565°N -77.8797°W |
| Postal Code Type: | ZIP Code |
| Postal Code: | 25419 |
| Area Code: | 304 |
| Blank Name: | FIPS code |
| Blank1 Name: | GNIS feature ID |
| Blank1 Info: | 2586801 |
Falling Waters is a census-designated place (CDP) on the Potomac River in Berkeley County, West Virginia, United States. It is located along Williamsport Pike (US 11) north of Martinsburg. An 1887 Scientific American article claimed that the first U.S. railroad was built in Falling Waters in 1814.[2]
The community of Falling Waters was established in 1815. Because of its location between Hagerstown and Martinsburg on the Potomac River, Falling Waters is a predominantly residential community with numerous historic residences, some of which are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Recently the community has had a boom in new residential construction as many people use Falling Waters as a bedroom community to commute to cities nearby and as far as Washington, D.C. and Baltimore.
Falling Waters was the site of two battles during the American Civil War:
In the latter engagement on the Maryland side of the river, Confederate general J. Johnston Pettigrew, a key leader of Pickett's Charge, was mortally wounded by Union cavalry under George Armstrong Custer. However, his men helped delay the Union forces long enough for the bulk of the Army of Northern Virginia to escape into West Virginia and then on to Virginia following its defeat at the Battle of Gettysburg.