Mercer County is a county in West Virginia, United States, about 65 miles south of Beckley on
the Virginia border. It had a population of 59,664 at the 2020 census, an estimated 58,563 by
2024, and covers 419 square miles (1,085 km2) centred near 37°25′N 81°07′W.
Princeton is the county seat; its postal code is 24740. The county holds 2 cities, 3 incorporated
towns and 5 census-designated places among dozens of smaller communities, organized into 3
magisterial districts, and it runs on Eastern Time. Its FIPS code is 54055.
Towns & Villages in Mercer County
Mercer County has 10 named places with a Census Bureau population figure on record: 2
incorporated cities, 3 incorporated towns and 5 census-designated places (CDPs). Dozens more
unincorporated crossroads and coal-camp communities, such as Athens Road, Camp Creek, Ceres,
Kegley and Spanishburg, have no separate census count of their own.
| Place | Type | Pop. | ZIP |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bluefield | City | 9,658 | 24701 |
| Princeton | City · seat | 5,872 | 24740 |
| Bluewell | CDP | 2,162 | 24701 |
| Brush Fork | CDP | 1,065 | — |
| Athens | Town | 962 | 24712 |
| Lashmeet | CDP | 409 | 24733 |
| Montcalm | CDP | 575 | 24737 |
| Bramwell | Town | 276 | 24715 |
| Matoaka | CDP | 173 | 24736 |
| Oakvale | Town | 137 | 24739 |
Bluefield straddles the West Virginia–Virginia line, though only in name: the city on the
Mercer County side is legally distinct from Bluefield, Virginia, a separate city across the state
line that adopted the same name in 1924. The 9,658 residents counted above are the West Virginia
city only. Matoaka dissolved its town charter in May 2018 and is now administered as an
unincorporated CDP, though the 2020 count above still reflects its settled population.
ZIP Codes
- 24701 — Bluefield (also serves Bluewell)
- 24740 — Princeton (the county’s most populous ZIP)
- 24739 — Oakvale
- 24712 — Athens
- 24715 — Bramwell
- 24733 — Lashmeet
- 24736 — Matoaka
- 24737 — Montcalm
Brush Fork has no ZIP code of its own; mail there is delivered under Bluefield’s 24701
code, since Brush Fork sits only about two miles from the city and has never had its own post
office. The scattered coal-camp communities without a Census Bureau population figure, such as
Camp Creek, Ceres and Spanishburg, likewise use the ZIP of whichever incorporated place or CDP
their mail route runs through.
Geography
Mercer County sits in West Virginia’s southern coalfield region, a country of steep,
close-set Appalachian ridges cut by narrow valleys. Of its 419 square miles, about 417 are land
and 1.7 square miles are water — the county has no large natural lake. The East River
Mountain range forms much of the border with Virginia, and the Bluestone River, part of the
federally designated Bluestone National Scenic River, drains the county’s eastern half toward
Bluestone Lake in neighboring Summers County.
Raleigh County lies to the north, Summers County to the northeast, Giles County and Bland
County in Virginia to the east and south, Tazewell County, Virginia, to the southwest, McDowell
County to the west and Wyoming County to the northwest.
Mercer directly.
Demographics
Mercer County had a population of 59,664 at the 2020 census, and the latest estimate puts the
county near 58,563 residents in 2024, a continuing decline tied to the region’s shrinking coal
economy. Bluefield and Princeton are the two largest communities, together holding roughly a
quarter of the county’s population. Median household income runs about $53,210, close to but
still below West Virginia’s statewide figure of $55,948. Population density works out to
roughly 143 people per square mile of land, concentrated along the Bluefield–Princeton
corridor and thinning out fast toward the county’s ridge-and-hollow edges.
Economy & Local Life
Health care and social assistance employs the most workers in the county, about 4,360 people,
followed by retail trade at 3,386 and educational services at 2,626. Princeton Community
Hospital and Bluefield’s Princeton Community Hospital-affiliated clinics anchor much of that
health care employment. Bluefield State University, a public historically Black university with
about 1,300 students, and Concord University in Athens are the county’s two four-year
institutions and among its larger employers. The coal industry that built Bluefield and Bramwell
has declined sharply since the mid-20th century, and tourism tied to the Hatfield-McCoy Trails
ATV network, which runs through Bluewell and Brush Fork, has grown as a replacement. Bluefield’s
biggest annual tradition is free lemonade handed out by the Chamber of Commerce whenever the
temperature tops 90°F, a custom running since 1938 that gave the city its nickname,
“Nature’s Air Conditioned City.”
History
Virginia’s General Assembly formed Mercer County on 17 March 1837 from parts of Giles and
Tazewell counties, before West Virginia split off as its own state in 1863. The county was named
for General Hugh Mercer, a Revolutionary War officer killed at the Battle of Princeton, New
Jersey, in 1777 — the same battle that later gave the county seat its own name.
Bluefield grew explosively after the Norfolk and Western Railway chose it as a repair center
and division point in 1889; passenger traffic rose 317 percent in a single year, 1887 to 1888.
Bramwell, a few miles south, became notorious around 1900 for having more millionaires per
capita than any other town in the country, its wealth built entirely on coal royalties; a downtown
fire destroyed 21 buildings there on 7 January 1910. In 1924 a flash flood on Crane Creek killed
eight people in Montcalm and neighboring McComas, an event still remembered locally as the
Catastrophe of Crane Creek. Nobel Prize-winning mathematician John Forbes Nash Jr. was born in
Bluefield in 1928.
Getting There
Interstate 77 crosses the county’s eastern half through Princeton. US Routes 19, 52 and 460
run through the county, along with West Virginia Routes 10, 20, 44, 71 and 112.
- Beckley — about 65 miles north
- Roanoke, Virginia — about 90 miles east
- Charleston — about 100 miles northwest
- Wytheville, Virginia — about 45 miles southeast
Mercer County Airport, between Bluefield and Princeton, offers general aviation and limited
commercial service. The nearest major commercial airport is Roanoke-Blacksburg Regional Airport,
roughly 90 miles east. Amtrak service to Bluefield ended in 1979, and the county has no active
passenger rail station; the nearest Amtrak stop is in Prince, West Virginia, about 55 miles
north on the Cardinal line.
Frequently Asked Questions
Where is Mercer County located?
It sits in southern West Virginia’s coalfield region, on the Virginia border, bordered by
Raleigh, Summers, Giles, Bland, Tazewell, McDowell and Wyoming counties.
What is the population of Mercer County?
59,664 at the 2020 census, with a 2024 estimate near 58,563.
How big is Mercer County?
419 square miles (1,085 km2), of which about 417 square miles are land.
What is the county seat of Mercer County?
Princeton, incorporated in 1909, is the county seat.
How many towns and cities are in Mercer County?
Five incorporated places — Bluefield, Princeton, Athens, Bramwell and Oakvale — plus
five census-designated places: Bluewell, Brush Fork, Lashmeet, Matoaka and Montcalm.
What ZIP codes does Mercer County use?
24701 for Bluefield and Bluewell, 24739 and 24740 for Princeton and Oakvale, 24712 for Athens,
24715 for Bramwell, 24733 for Lashmeet, 24736 for Matoaka and 24737 for Montcalm.
What is Mercer County known for?
Bluefield’s free-lemonade tradition on 90-degree days, Bramwell’s coal-era millionaire
mansions, and Nobel laureate John Forbes Nash Jr., born in Bluefield in 1928.
More counties in this state: Towns and villages in West Virginia.