Wirt County is a county in West Virginia, United States, on the Little Kanawha River between Parkersburg and Spencer. It had a population of 5,194 at the 2020 census, the smallest of any West Virginia county, and covers 235 square miles (610 km2) centred near 39°01′N 81°23′W.
Elizabeth is the county seat, and its postal code is 26143. The county has one incorporated town and roughly two dozen unincorporated communities scattered along the Little Kanawha and its side creeks. Wirt County sits in the Eastern time zone and is part of the Parkersburg-Vienna, WV Combined Statistical Area.
Towns & Villages in Wirt County
Elizabeth is Wirt County’s only incorporated municipality. Every other place on the list below is an unincorporated community — a river landing, an old oil-field camp, or a crossroads store — identified on U.S. Geological Survey maps and by the county’s own historic record.
| Place | Type | Pop. | ZIP |
|---|---|---|---|
| Elizabeth | Town · seat | 724 | 26143 |
| Beaverdam | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Beulah Hill | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Brohard | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Burning Springs | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Cherry | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Creston | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Enterprise | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Freeport | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Greencastle | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Hilbert | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Ivan | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Lucile | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Morristown | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Munday | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Newark | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Palestine | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Peewee | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Rover | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Sanoma | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Two Run | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Windy | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Zackville | Unincorp. | — | — |
ZIP Codes
- 26143 — Elizabeth (also serves most of the county, including Beaverdam, Freeport and Two Run)
Wirt County has no second post office of its own; communities such as Burning Springs, Palestine and Munday historically had rural post offices that have since closed, and residents there now use Elizabeth or an adjoining county’s ZIP code depending on which road they live on.
Geography
Wirt County lies in the unglaciated Allegheny Plateau, cut by steep, wooded ridges and the narrow bottomland of the Little Kanawha River, which crosses the county from southeast to northwest on its way to the Ohio River at Parkersburg. The county is entirely rural, with no four-lane highway and no incorporated place other than Elizabeth. It borders five counties:
- Wood County to the north
- Ritchie County to the northeast
- Calhoun County to the south
- Roane County to the southwest
- Jackson County to the west
For local government the county is divided into three magisterial districts — Central, Northeast and Southwest — a 1980s consolidation of seven older districts.
Demographics
Wirt County had a population of 5,194 at the 2020 census, down slightly to an estimated 4,879 more recently, and remains West Virginia’s least populous county. Elizabeth, with 724 residents, is by far the largest community; every other place on the list is a rural crossroads of a few dozen to a few hundred people at most. The county’s median household income runs well below the West Virginia state figure of $55,948 (2023 ACS), reflecting a small, aging, largely rural population with limited local wage employment. Overall density is around 22 people per square mile, among the lowest in the state.
Economy & Local Life
Farming, timber and small-scale oil and gas production have long anchored Wirt County’s economy; Burning Springs was the site of one of the earliest oil booms in the United States in the 1860s, and stripper wells still dot the hills. Many residents commute north to Parkersburg and Vienna for manufacturing, healthcare and retail jobs, since Wirt County itself has almost no industrial base. Wirt County High School, the county’s only high school, is also one of its largest employers. The Wirt County Fair, held each summer in Elizabeth, is the county’s biggest annual gathering, drawing residents back from across the region for livestock shows and a parade.
History
The Virginia General Assembly created Wirt County on January 19, 1848, from parts of Wood and Jackson counties, and named it for William Wirt, a U.S. Attorney General and 1832 presidential candidate who never lived in the area. Elizabeth had already been settled decades earlier: William Beauchamp arrived in 1796 and founded a mill town first called Beauchamp’s Mills, renamed Elizabeth in 1817 for his daughter-in-law and chartered by the Virginia legislature in 1822. When county government organized in 1848, Elizabeth became the seat. The Burning Springs oil field, tapped in 1860, briefly made the area one of the first oil boomtowns in the country before Confederate raiders burned it during the Civil War.
Getting There
West Virginia Routes 5, 14, 47 and 53 are the main roads through Wirt County; there is no interstate access within the county itself.
- Parkersburg — about 22 miles north
- Spencer (Roane County seat) — about 20 miles southwest
- Grantsville (Calhoun County seat) — about 15 miles south
- Charleston — about 65 miles south
The nearest commercial airport is Mid-Ohio Valley Regional Airport in Parkersburg. The nearest Amtrak service is the Cardinal line’s stop in Charleston.
Frequently Asked Questions
Where is Wirt County, West Virginia?
It is in the mid-Ohio Valley region of west-central West Virginia, along the Little Kanawha River between Parkersburg and Spencer.
What is the Elizabeth postcode?
26143.
What is the population of Wirt County?
5,194 at the 2020 census, the smallest population of any county in West Virginia.
What town is the county seat?
Elizabeth is the county seat.
How did Wirt County get its name?
It is named for William Wirt, a U.S. Attorney General and 1832 presidential candidate, when the county was formed in 1848.
Does Wirt County have any cities?
No. Elizabeth is a town, and it is the county’s only incorporated place; everywhere else is unincorporated.
What was the Burning Springs oil boom?
An 1860 oil strike near the Little Kanawha River that made Burning Springs briefly one of the first oil boomtowns in the United States, before it was burned during the Civil War.
More counties in this state: Towns and villages in West Virginia.