Marion County, West Virginia

Marion County is a county in West Virginia, United States, about 18 miles south of Morgantown.
It had a population of 56,205 at the 2020 census and covers 312 square miles (810 km2), of which
309 square miles are land, centred near 39°31′N 80°14′W.

Fairmont is the county seat and the county’s largest city; its postal code is 26554. The
county holds 3 cities, 8 incorporated towns and 4 census-designated places, and it runs on
Eastern Time. Its FIPS code is 54049.

Towns & Villages in Marion County

Marion County has 15 named places on record: 3 cities, 8 incorporated towns and 4
census-designated places with no local government of their own. CDP stands for census
designated place.

ZIP Codes

• 26554 — Fairmont (also serves Pleasant Valley, White Hall and Monongah)
• 26555 — Fairmont, a second Fairmont-area ZIP
• 26582 — Mannington
• 26559 — Barrackville
• 26588 — Rivesville
• 26574 — Grant Town
• 26571 — Farmington
• 26570 — Fairview
• 26591 — Worthington

Idamay, Carolina, Rachel and Baxter have no ZIP code of their own; mail to each is delivered
under the nearest incorporated town’s code.

Geography

Marion County sits in West Virginia’s north-central Appalachian Plateau, a hilly belt cut
by the Monongahela River and its tributaries. Of the county’s 312 square miles, 309 are land and
2.8 square miles (7.3 km2), about 0.9 percent, are water. The Monongahela River runs north
through the county past Fairmont, joined there by the West Fork River, and the West Fork’s own
tributary Buffalo Creek drains the county’s southern reach.

Monongalia County lies to the north, Taylor County to the southeast, Harrison County to the
south, and Wetzel County to the west. Monongalia County, Taylor County, Harrison County and Wetzel County all border Marion directly.

Demographics

Marion County had a population of 56,205 at the 2020 census. Fairmont and Pleasant Valley are
the two largest communities, together holding more than a third of the county’s residents. The
county’s median household income runs $55,094 (ACS 5-year), close to West Virginia’s statewide
figure of $55,948 (2023 ACS). Population density works out to roughly 182 people per square mile
of land, among the denser rural counties in north-central West Virginia thanks to the Fairmont
urban cluster.

Economy & Local Life

Fairmont hosts two federal research facilities that anchor a chunk of the county’s technical
employment: NASA’s Katherine Johnson Independent Verification and Validation Facility, with more
than 150 full-time staff and over 20 resident contractor partners, and NOAA’s Robert H. Mollohan
Research Facility, with more than 100 full-time staff processing satellite weather data. The
National White Collar Crime Center, a nonprofit supporting economic and high-tech crime
investigation nationwide, is also based in Fairmont. Fairmont State University enrolls about
3,800 students across bachelor’s, associate and master’s programs. Coal mining shaped the
county for a century and a half, and the industry’s legacy communities — Idamay, Carolina,
Monongah and Farmington among them — still carry the names of former mining operations.
Fairmont holds an annual Veggie Man Day each July, a community event built around West Virginia
folklore.

History

The Virginia Assembly created Marion County on 14 January 1842 from parts of Monongalia and
Harrison counties. It was named for General Francis Marion, the Revolutionary War officer known
as “The Swamp Fox.” A catastrophic flood struck 5 April 1852, when the Monongahela and
West Fork rivers rose five feet an hour and reached 43 feet above normal, sweeping away more than
40 buildings on the West Fork. The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad reached Fairmont that same year,
connecting the county to Baltimore and the eastern seaboard.

Marion was one of fifty western Virginia counties admitted to the Union on 20 June 1863 when
the new border territory of West Virginia split off during the Civil War. The county was first
divided into seven civil townships — Fairmont, Grant, Lincoln, Mannington, Paw Paw, Union
and Winfield — converted to magisterial districts in 1872, then consolidated in the 1980s
into the three that remain today: Middletown, Palatine and West Augusta.

On 6 December 1907, explosions tore through Fairmont Coal Company mines No. 6 and No. 8 at
Monongah, killing 361 miners in the deadliest mining disaster in United States history. The dead
left roughly 250 widows and 500 children without fathers; a memorial statue, Monongah Heroine,
was dedicated to them in 2007. Six decades later, on 20 November 1968, an explosion at
Consolidated Coal Company’s Mine No. 9 near Farmington killed 78 men; the disaster helped drive
passage of the Federal Coal Mine Health and Safety Act of 1969.

Getting There

Interstate 79 crosses the county through Fairmont, and US Routes 19 and 250 run through the
county alongside West Virginia Routes 17, 73 and 310.

• Morgantown — about 18 miles north
• Clarksburg — about 20 miles south
• Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania — about 75 miles north
• Charleston — about 100 miles south

North Central West Virginia Airport, near Bridgeport in Harrison County about 25 miles south
of Fairmont, is the nearest commercial airport, served by Allegiant Air and United Express. No
Amtrak train stops in Marion County; Amtrak’s Thruway motorcoach connects Fairmont and
Morgantown to the Cardinal at Charleston.

Frequently Asked Questions

Where is Marion County located?
It sits in West Virginia’s north-central Appalachian Plateau, about 18 miles south of
Morgantown, bordered by Monongalia, Taylor, Harrison and Wetzel counties.

What is the population of Marion County?
56,205 at the 2020 census.

How big is Marion County?
312 square miles (810 km2), of which 309 square miles are land.

What is the county seat of Marion County?
Fairmont, home to Fairmont State University and the NASA IV&V Facility, is the county seat
and largest city.

How many towns and cities are in Marion County?
Eleven incorporated places — Fairmont, Pleasant Valley, Mannington, Barrackville, Monongah,
Rivesville, White Hall, Grant Town, Farmington, Fairview and Worthington — plus four
census-designated places: Idamay, Carolina, Rachel and Baxter.

What ZIP codes does Marion County use?
26554 and 26555 for Fairmont and its neighbors; 26582 for Mannington; 26559 for Barrackville;
26588 for Rivesville; 26574 for Grant Town; 26571 for Farmington; 26570 for Fairview; and 26591
for Worthington.

What is Marion County known for?
The 1907 Monongah mine disaster, the deadliest in US mining history, and Fairmont’s NASA
Katherine Johnson Independent Verification and Validation Facility.

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