Alleghany County, Virginia

Alleghany County is a county in Virginia, United States, about 45 minutes’ drive west of Roanoke in the Allegheny Highlands. It had a population of 15,223 at the 2020 census, an estimated 14,546 by 2025, and covers 449.7 square miles (1,165 km2) centred near 37°47′N 80°01′W.

Covington is the county seat; as a Virginia independent city, it is governed separately from Alleghany County even though the county surrounds it on every side, so Covington’s own population and budget are not part of the county’s. Its postal code is 24426. The county itself holds 2 incorporated towns and 3 census-designated places, no cities of its own, and it runs on Eastern Time. Its FIPS code is 51005.

Towns & Villages in Alleghany County

Six named places sit on or inside the county line. Two are incorporated towns — Clifton Forge and Iron Gate — and three are census-designated places: real, named communities that the Census Bureau counts separately but that have no town council of their own. The sixth, Covington, is the independent city at the county’s centre and its seat, but it is legally outside the county. Populations below are 2020 census counts; a dash means no ZIP has been confirmed for that place.

Covington is the one entry here that confuses visitors: it reads like a town inside Alleghany County, but Virginia made it an independent city in 1952, so it has its own mayor, council and school system separate from the county’s. The county’s own government and courts sit inside Covington’s boundary even so, because the city is where the courthouse was built before the split.

ZIP Codes

Five post offices cover Alleghany County and the enclosed city of Covington.

• 24422 — Clifton Forge
• 24426 — Covington (also the nearest post office for Callaghan)
• 24448 — Iron Gate
• 24457 — Low Moor
• 24474 — Selma

Callaghan has no ZIP code confirmed as its own; mail there is handled through the Covington post office.

Geography

The county lies in the Allegheny Mountains, for which it is named, on terrain that runs from river valley to steep forested ridge. Of its 449.7 square miles, 446.572 are land and 3.152 are water, about 0.7 percent. The Jackson River runs through the county past Clifton Forge, and Douthat State Park, one of six original Virginia state parks and built in the 1930s by the Civilian Conservation Corps, spans the county’s border with Bath County around a 50-acre lake.

Six counties border Alleghany County: Bath to the north, Rockbridge to the east, Botetourt to the southeast, Craig to the south, Monroe to the southwest in West Virginia, and Greenbrier to the west, also in West Virginia.

Demographics

The 2020 census counted 15,223 residents, down from 16,250 at the 2010 count. Covington, with 5,737 people, is the largest community in or around the county; Clifton Forge, at 3,555, is second. The median age is 49.3, well above the national figure, and 25.8 percent of residents are 65 or older against 18.7 percent under 18. Population density works out to about 34 people per square mile of land, low even by rural Virginia standards. Virginia’s statewide median household income is $89,931 (American Community Survey 2023 five-year estimate); a current county-specific figure could not be confirmed against a primary source for this page.

Economy & Local Life

WestRock’s paperboard mill in Covington anchors the county’s economy; it is described by the company and local sources as the second-largest paperboard mill on the East Coast. Mountain Gateway Community College, just outside Clifton Forge, is the county’s main higher-education institution. Clifton Forge’s railroad history is preserved at the C&O Railway Heritage Center and by the Chesapeake and Ohio Historical Society, both housed in the town that once employed more than 2,000 people maintaining Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad locomotives before the company moved diesel servicing to West Virginia in the early 1950s.

History

The Virginia General Assembly formed Alleghany County on 5 January 1822 from parts of Bath, Botetourt and Monroe counties; Monroe later became part of West Virginia when that state split off in 1863. The county is named for the Allegheny Mountains on its western edge. Early settlers grew hemp before the local economy shifted to grain, hay and livestock.

Iron production shaped the county’s 19th-century history. Longdale Furnace, whose site is now a National Register historic district, supplied iron used in the CSS Virginia, the Confederate ironclad built from the captured USS Merrimack during the Civil War. Sweet Chalybeate Springs, another listed historic site, was a 19th-century mineral-springs resort typical of the region before railroads redirected travel. The Humpback Bridge, a covered bridge just outside Covington, is the county’s only National Historic Landmark.

Getting There

Interstate 64 crosses the county east–west, and US Route 220 runs north–south through Covington.

• Roanoke, Virginia — about 45 minutes east on I-64 and I-581
• Lexington, Virginia — about 45 minutes northeast on I-64
• Lewisburg, West Virginia — about 45 minutes west on I-64

The nearest commercial airport is Roanoke–Blacksburg Regional Airport, roughly 45 minutes east. Amtrak’s Cardinal route stops at the Clifton Forge station, the county’s only passenger rail service, running between Chicago and New York via West Virginia and Virginia.

Frequently Asked Questions

Where is Alleghany County located?
Alleghany County is in the Allegheny Highlands of far western Virginia, about 45 minutes west of Roanoke, bordering West Virginia.

What is the population of Alleghany County?
15,223 at the 2020 census, estimated at 14,546 in 2025.

How big is Alleghany County?
449.7 square miles in total (1,165 km2) — 446.572 square miles of land and 3.152 square miles of water.

What is the county seat of Alleghany County?
Covington, population 5,737 — though Covington is a Virginia independent city and not technically part of the county it serves as the seat for.

How many towns are in Alleghany County?
Two incorporated towns, Clifton Forge and Iron Gate, plus three census-designated places: Callaghan, Low Moor and Selma.

What ZIP codes cover Alleghany County?
24422, 24426, 24448, 24457 and 24474.

Is Covington, Virginia part of Alleghany County?
No. Covington became an independent city in 1952 and has governed itself separately ever since, even though the county surrounds it and it remains the county seat.

More counties in this state: Towns and villages in Virginia.