CLARKSBURG, W.Va. (WBOY) — Generally, people consider Clarksburg to be on the west side of Interstate 79 and Bridgeport to be on the east side, but the actual border is a lot more complicated.

Things like the Clarksburg Country Club, the award-winning Wonder Bar Steakhouse and even the Food Lion off Milford Street aren’t technically within Clarksburg city limits.

Because of zoning and annexation, the area that is within Clarksburg city limits has an unusual shape. The city includes the main part of Clarksburg but also Emily Drive, industrial areas along I-79 and the FBI Center. Places like the FBI Center, Liberty High School and the United Technical Center are within the City of Clarksburg, but are only attached to the main part of the city by a thin line of annexed land that is usually an access road.

Clarksburg City Limit (Google satellite image)
Clarksburg City Limit (Google satellite image)

Within the Bridgeport city limits are the main residential area, the North Central West Virginia Airport, Meadowbrook Mall and most of the businesses off Jerry Dove Drive, but not Maple Lake or some of the fields at The Bridge Sports Complex.

Bridgeport City Limit (Google satellite image)
Bridgeport City Limit (Google satellite image)

It gets even more confusing in the area where the two cities border each other. The majority of Emily Drive and the businesses on it are in Clarksburg, but the intersection of U.S. Route 50, Emily Drive and Lodgeville Road is right on the border between the cities.

Because of this, the lanes of Emily Drive going from Route 50 are in Clarksburg, but the lanes going to Route 50 are in Bridgeport. Similarly, businesses on the west side of Lodgeville Road like Brickside Bar and Grill, WV Fitness and Longhorn Steakhouse are in Clarksburg, while businesses on the east side of the road like Walgreens and the Holiday Plaza Shopping Center are in Bridgeport.

You can compare the boundary between the two cities further using the Google satellite maps for Clarksburg and Bridgeport.

The border at Lodgeville Road can get even more complicated when it comes to emergency response. Unlike volunteer fire departments or county sheriff’s departments, city departments only respond within city limits. The official border came into question after a fatal motorcycle wreck in 2022 that happened at the intersection of Emily Drive, Route 50 and Lodgeville Road—right on the city border. In that case, fire and police departments from both Clarksburg and Bridgeport responded to the scene.

For more information about zoning in Clarksburg, click here, and for more information about zoning in Bridgeport, click here.