Tootsie, Dan, Elaine and all, Present day maps still show the two town names as one place, "South Branch" in bold letters with parenthetical "(French Sta)" just below. See http://www.topozone.com/ as one on-line map source. Enter Oldtown and select MD from the list as one starting point to maneuver and zoom-in on the area (I didn't try "South Branch" or "French Sta" and WV.) Or, following is the URL directly to the specific map location if it will work from a hyperlink: http://www.topozone.com/map.asp?lat=39.5271&lon=-78.5884&size=s&s=25 Another map service is: http://terraserver.microsoft.com , or http://www.terraserver.com where a person can select either a topographical map or aerial photo for viewing; the latter provides a 'good feel' of presence in the area...or at least a magnified aerial photo may suffice if a person can't personally visit the area. Btw, these aerial maps for various locations may be saved into a user's imaging software, allowing the photos to be edited by 'drawing in' ancestral land plats, cemetery and fort locations, migration paths, etc, or by adding text notes of historical or genealogical reference -- such as a town name. I have a map of Hampshire Co. WV that also shows "South Branch" as a community or village (per the map legend), at the identical location shown on Toots' map (we have corresponded privately.) Its little circle of identification is the same size and type as for other small towns in the general area, indicating it was more than a newly developed railroad station or watering stop. (Recall Toots' info from an 1884 WV State Gazetteer.) I have posted my interest in this South Branch town name at this mailing list and others at prior times. My ancestor, Valentine McDaniel-McDonell-McDonald (spelling variants) said in his Rev War pension records that he was born *at* South Branch of the Potomac River on 11 Jan 1760. (His father was Joseph while his mother's name is unknown to me.) Now maybe I'm reading too much into this *at* word (as opposed to 'along' or 'at a settlement area of'), but I have often wondered whether this 'South Branch' was the name of a settlement or community as early as the 1750's. To support this I once found a mid-1700's on-line historical map that showed a dot with the name 'South Branch' near it, the location of the name-printing indicating it was for the dot and not the river (I'll need to search further into my computer files for this map when it is reloaded, I'm presently reworking it while using my wife's computer.) At any rate, this dot and 'South Branch' name on this 1750's map is at the identical location shown on the above maps. The authors Hu Maxwell and H. L. Swisher, in their "History of Hampshire County West Virginia" (1897) say on p. 17: "Prior to the outbreak of the of the French and Indian war in 1755, there were settlements all along the Potomac river..." including within Hampshire County among others, the authors acknowledging that some of the counties they name were not yet formed at the time. However, the names of many such early settlements are excluded as are they similarly treated in other history references -- or at least I have been unable to find any reference to a mid-1700's 'South Branch' settlement or village, except when intended to describe the entire multi-county region. Is it possible that a little settlement or community of the mid 1700's was named 'South Branch,' prior to the development of 'French's Station'? Or was 'South Branch' a more easily stated common name used by river traders and locals for 'French's Station?' At least in my mind I can understand how a settlement near the mouth of the South Branch of the Potomac River could be more readily named or called 'South Branch' -- this name rolls more easily off the tongue (two syllables rather than four) and it serves to describe the settlement and river-mouth simultaneously, as in "There's South Branch!" when paddling up river from the east. For the same reasons I can understand why this name may have been the more dominant over most of the passing years, although Dan describes records and times as late as 1920 when 'French's Station' or simply 'French' was apparently preferred. As to dating railroads of the area, the bicentennial "Historic Hampshire, A Symposium of Hampshire County and Its People, Past and Present," edited by Selden W. Brannon 1976, says: "The history of railroading in Hampshire County goes back to 1871. Three railroads, later absorbed by the Baltimore and Ohio, combined to make the branch line." To paraphrase the remainder, the first line was the South Branch Railway Company, incorporated by a WV legislative act on 23 Feb 1871. An act enlarging the corporation was approved in 1872 but little progress was made, except for purchasing rights of way and conducting some grading, until 1883 when the B&O agreed to complete construction and operate the railroad. Work began immediately and the road from Green Spring to Romney was opened for traffic on 1 Sep 1884. The B&O continued to operate the line until the B&O formally acquired it in 1912. The second line, the Hampshire Southern Railroad, to service Romney to McNeill and on to Petersburg was not operated until 1910. The third line was the Moorefield and Virginia, incorporated 1910. For some reason this writing overlooks the date of railroad work for the east-west main B&O line that runs along the Potomac through South Branch (French Sta.) and Green Spring. Dan...was this the pre-Civil War railroad you mentioned? Do you have further brief particulars? If the first north-south railway had been built from the settlement on the 'east' side of the So. Br. River, instead of Green Spring on its 'west,' we likely would not have needed to work so hard to find the community or village of South Branch. While my map shows one passing or storage track north of Green Spring, Tootsie's map shows 'a stack' of several storage tracks north of the main B&O line. So...Green Spring must have been a hub of railroad traffic in its day (I don't know its status today.) Both maps s how the north-south line from Green Spring to Romney Junction, so both were of course made later than 1871, and since route numbers are shown for several auto-roads, these maps must date to some time in the 1900's. I hope that one of our historians at this list has something to add about South Branch-French's Station -- or that one of the local Hampshire County subscribers can take the time to inquire at a library, genealogical or historical society and post a response. Tootsie is also trying to learn where her ancestors might have gone to school, if they lived in/near the town of South Branch -- I believe she is talking about the late 1800's, or possibly into the 1900's. The town of 'Levels' (about 3-5 miles south on road 5-7) is the nearest town that apparently had a post office at the time of above map drawing, although *I suspect* one-room country schools, with teacher and building provided by local inhabitants, were the only means of education in rural areas -- but will leave this to more knowledgeable local folks. In other areas of familiarity, I know some 'serious' students are known to have boarded with 'in-town' family or friends many miles away during school times of the 1800's. Conversely, many children of rural areas only attended school when or if they could in those days, obtaining their education informally at later times in their life, if at all. I'll check the above mentioned bicentennial source for more particulars. Thanks to all for any help, Neil McDonald