West Virginia County Information

If you are not interested in hosting a county, but do have information to add to our website, email us.  We'll be happy to help your obituaries, news items and other historical data find its new home here at WV Genealogy Trails

COUNTY	HOST
Barbour Date of Formation: 1843 Named: In honor of Philip Pendleton Barbour, distinguished jurist of Virginia   County Seat: Philippi	Available for Adoption
Berkeley Date of Formation: 1772 Named: For Norborne Berkeley (Baron de Botetort), colonial governor of Virginia from 1768 to 1770. County Seat: Martinsburg	Available for Adoption
Boone Date of Formation: 1847 Named: For Daniel Boone, whose home was in the Kanawha Valley from 1789 to 1795. County Seat: Madison	Available for Adoption
Braxton Date of Formation: 1836 Named: For Carter Braxton, VA statesman and signer of the Declaration of Independence. County Seat: Sutton	Available for Adoption
Brooke Date of Formation: 1797 Named: In honor of Robert Brooke, Governor of VA from 1794 to 1796. County Seat: Wellsburg	Available for Adoption
Cabell Date of Formation: 1809 Named: In honor of William H. Cabell, Governor of VA from 1805 to 1808. County Seat: Huntington	Available for Adoption
Calhoun Date of Formation: 1856 Named: For John C. Calhoun, eminent statesman of South Carolina. County Seat: Grantsville	Available for Adoption
Clay Date of Formation: 1858 Named: In honor of Henry Clay, Kentucky statesman. County Seat: Clay	Available for Adoption
Doddridge Date of Formation: 1845 Named: For Phillip Doddridge, a distinguished statesman of Western Virginian. County Seat: West Union	Available for Adoption
Fayette Date of Formation: 1831 Named: In honor of the Marquis de Lafayette. County Seat: Fayetteville	Available for Adoption
Gilmer Date of Formation: 1845 Named: For Thomas Walker Gilmer, Governor of Virginia from 1840-41, later a representative in Congress and Secretary of the Navy under Tyler. County Seat: Glenville	Available for Adoption
Grant Date of Formation: 1866 Named: For Ulysses S. Grant County Seat: Petersburg	Available for Adoption
Greenbrier Date of Formation: 1778 Named: For the principal river which drains the county. County Seat: Lewisburg	Available for Adoption
Hampshire Date of Formation: 1754 Named: For the English Shire of the same name. County Seat: Romney	Available for Adoption
Hancock Date of Formation: 1848 Named: For John Hancock, first signer of the Declaration of Independence. County Seat: New Cumberland	Available for Adoption
Hardy Date of Formation: 1786 Named: For Samuel Hardy, a distinguished Virginian. County Seat: Moorefield	Available for Adoption
Harrison Date of Formation: 1784 Named: For Benjamin Harrison, distinguished Virginian, who was the father of William Henry Harrison, 9th President, and the great-grandfather of Benjamin Harrison, 23rd President. County Seat: Clarksburg	Available for Adoption
Jackson Date of Formation: 1831 Named: For Andrew Jackson, seventh president of the United States County Seat: Ripley	Available for Adoption
Jefferson Date of Formation: 1801 Named: For Thomas Jefferson, author of the Declaration of Independence and 3rd President. County Seat: Charles Town	Available for Adoption
Kanawha Date of Formation: 1788 Named: For the Great Kanawha River, which itself was named after the Indian tribe which once resided there. County Seat: Charleston	Available for Adoption
Lewis Date of Formation: 1816 Named: For Colonel Charles Lewis, famous soldier and pioneer leader, killed at the Battle of Point Pleasant in 1774. County Seat: Weston	Available for Adoption
Lincoln Date of Formation: 1867 Named: In honor of Abraham Lincoln, 16th president County Seat: Hamlin	Available for Adoption
Logan Date of Formation: 1824 Named: For Logan, famous Indian chief of the Mingo tribe County Seat: Logan	Available for Adoption
Marion Date of Formation: 1842 Named: In honor of General Francis Marion of the Revolutionary War, known as the "Swamp Fox" County Seat: Fairmont	Available for Adoption
Marshall Date of Formation: 1835 Named: For Chief Justice John Marshall of the U.S. Supreme Court. County Seat: Moundsville	Available for Adoption
Mason Date of Formation: 1804 Named: For George Mason, author of the Constitution of VA and a member of the convention which framed the U.S. Constitution. County Seat: Point Pleasant	Available for Adoption
McDowell Date of Formation: 1858 Named: In honor of James McDowell, Governor of Virginia, 1843-46. County Seat: Welch	Available for Adoption
Mercer Date of Formation: 1837 Named: in honor of Revolutionary War General Hugh Mercer County Seat: Princeton	Available for Adoption
Mineral Date of Formation: 1866 Named: For the mineral resources found there. County Seat: Keyser	Available for Adoption
Mingo Date of Formation: 1895 Named: For the Indian tribe of which Logan was chief. County Seat: Williamson	Available for Adoption
Monongalia Date of Formation: 1776 Named: For the Monongahela River County Seat: Morgantown	Available for Adoption
Monroe Date of Formation: 1799 Named: For James Monroe, 5th President County Seat: Union	Available for Adoption
Morgan Date of Formation: 1820 Named: In honor of General Daniel Morgan, Revolutionary War County Seat: Berkeley Springs	Available for Adoption
Nicholas Date of Formation: 1818 Named: For Wilson Cary Nicholas, Governor of Virginia, 1814-16 County Seat: Summersville	Available for Adoption
Ohio Date of Formation: 1776 Named: For the Ohio River, Indian name meaning "great river" County Seat: Wheeling	Available for Adoption
Pendleton Date of Formation: 1788 Named: For Edmund Pendleton, distinguished statesman and jurist of Virginia County Seat: Franklin	Available for Adoption
Pleasants Date of Formation: 1851 Named: For James Pleasants, Jr., Senator from VA, and VA Governor, 1822-1825 County Seat: St. Marys	Available for Adoption
Pocahontas Date of Formation: 1821 Named: For Pocahontas, the Indian princess County Seat: Marlinton	Available for Adoption
Preston Date of Formation: 1818 Named: In honor of James Patton Preston, Governor of VA, 1816-1819 County Seat: Kingwood	Available for Adoption
Putnam Date of Formation: 1848 Named: In honor of General Israel Putnam, New England soldier and patriot County Seat: Winfield	Available for Adoption
Raleigh Date of Formation: 1850 Named: For Sir Walter Raleigh, English adventurer and soldier County Seat: Beckley	Available for Adoption
Randolph Date of Formation: 1787 Named: For Edmund Jennings Randolph, Governor of VA, 1786-1788 County Seat: Elkins	Available for Adoption
Ritchie Date of Formation: 1843 Named: In honor of Thomas Ritchie, a distinguished journalist of Richmond, VA, whose uncle was Judge Spencer Roane, for whom Roane County was named County Seat: Harrisville	Available for Adoption
Roane Date of Formation: 1856 Named: In honor of Judge Spencer Roane, distinguished judge of the Supreme Court of Appeals of Virginia, and son-in-law of Patrick Henry County Seat: Spencer	Available for Adoption
Summers Date of Formation: 1871 Named: In honor of George W. Summers, a prominent jurist of Kanawha County County Seat: Hinton	Available for Adoption
Taylor Date of Formation: 1844 Named: For Senator John Taylor (1750-1824), distinguished soldier and statesman of Virginia County Seat: Grafton	Available for Adoption
Tucker Date of Formation: 1856 Named: For Henry S. George Tucker (1780-1848), an eminent jurist and statesman of Virginia County Seat: Parsons	Available for Adoption
Tyler Date of Formation: 1814 Named: In honor of John Tyler, 8th Governor of Virginia and father of John Tyler, 10th President County Seat: Middlebourne	County Host Christina Anthony
Upshur Date of Formation: 1851 Named: For Abel Parker Upshur, distinguished statesman and jurist of Virginia County Seat: Buckhannon	Available for Adoption
Wayne Date of Formation: 1842 Named: In honor of General Anthony Wayne, Revolutionary War hero County Seat: Wayne	Available for Adoption
Webster Date of Formation: 1860 Named: In honor of Daniel Webster, New England orator and statesman County Seat: Webster Springs	Available for Adoption
Wetzel Date of Formation: 1846 Named: For Lewis Wetzel, famous frontier character and Indian fighter County Seat: New Martinsville	Available for Adoption
Wyoming Date of Formation: 1850 Named: For the Delaware Indian word meaning "large plains" County Seat: Pineville	Available for Adoption
Wirt Date of Formation: 1848 Named: For William Wirt of Maryland, who gained fame as an author, orator and lawyer in his adopted state of Virginia County Seat: Elizabeth	Available for Adoption
Wood Date of Formation: 1798 Named: In honor of James Wood, Governor of Virginia, 1796-1799 County Seat: Parkersburg	Available for Adoption

Back to Genealogy Trails	Back to WV Genealogy Trails