ELKINS — As the United States prepares to celebrate its 250th birthday on the Fourth of July, the Randolph County Sheriff’s Office is also counting down the days until it reaches a significant milestone of its own.

The RCSO is currently in the midst of its 239th year of service to residents of Randolph County and on May 28, 2027, the Sheriff’s Office will celebrate its 240th birthday.

“We started in 1787 and the Sheriff’s Office was formed when Randolph County was formed,” Randolph County Sheriff Rob Elbon told The Inter-Mountain on Thursday. “It’s a pretty big deal, the nation is 250 years-old and we are currently 239. And at the time we were created, it wasn’t West Virginia it was Virginia, and Randolph County was broken off of Harrison County. And then Randolph County eventually divided into five or six counties around us.”

Leading up to the 240th celebration, Elbon will be frequently posting historical information and photos about the RCSO on his Facebook page. Elbon wrote in his first post on Thursday that the act creating Randolph County provided the first meeting of the county court. The meeting took place at Benjamin Wilson’s home in the Tygart Valley, which was about three miles south of present-day Beverly. The meeting took place on May 28, 1787.

Elbon’s post went on to point out that Jacob Westfall, Salathiel Goff, Patrick Hamilton, John Wilson, Cornelius Bogard, John Jackson, George Westfall, Henry Runyan, John Haddan and Jonathan Parsons were the first Justices of the Peace, with Goff serving as President of the Court. Jacob Westfall was the county’s first sheriff, John Wilson was the county’s first clerk, William McCleary was the county’s first prosecuting attorney, and Edward Jackson was the county’s first surveyor. John Haddan, John Jackson and Cornelius Bogard shared the county assessor’s duties.

“Because we are gearing up to celebrate 240 years next May, I’m going to post updates on my Facebook having to do with the history of the Randolph County Sheriff’s Office,” Elbon said. “There have been a lot of changes over the past 239 years in Randolph County and hopefully I can highlight some of those. I’m also going to make challenge coins for the deputies to pass out at special occasions and have a special pin made up that I will hand out to all of our employees to wear.”

Elbon currently holds the 70th recorded term in Randolph County’s lineage as a sheriff of the county. “I think it’s a privilege that I get to celebrate the 240th year with the Sheriff’s Office,” Elbon said. “I’m here another two years and six months or something, so I think it will be pretty cool to be around for that before I go.”

Elbon said that the Randolph County Sheriff’s Office will be participating in Fourth of July celebrations on both Harman and Elkins. The Sheriff wrote in this Facebook post that, “Celebrating 250 years of freedom for America is something I feel honored to be a part of this July 4th.”