Southern Living Magazine celebrates its 50th anniversary this year and one of the features done in honor of the golden event was to create a round up on the South’s Best Small Towns.

On that list was Shepherdstown, West Virginia who joined other towns such as Fairhope, Alabama and Madison, Georgia among others. A total of 20 towns were added to the online only slide show of the Best Small Towns.

Senior Travel Editor Valeir Luesse said this week the towns were chosen based on several criteria.

“Their physical beauty, their architecture, landscape and other factors contributed to their seletion.”

Southern Living wrote of Shepherdstown, “Shepherdstown has everything you’d expect from a small Southern town-a historic downtown, centuries-old homes converted into B&Bs, and Southern fare made from scratch. But it also has some surprises up its sleeve-like art in spades. You’ll find performances from Shepherdstown’s own theater troupe, galleries brimming with local and regional art, and a vibrant live music scene-everything from street performers to a chamber orchestra.”

Luesse shared that Shepherdstown, along with other chosen towns, highlighted a great sense of community pride.

“It’s obvious the pride there; the citizens just want to show it off,” she said.

“I have not been able to travel there yet, but I look forward to visiting,” Luesse said.

The headquarters for Southern Living is in Birmingham, Alabama. Throughout the eyar there will be a variety of celebratory events including a recent party in February which was the month in which the magazine launched 50 years ago.