{"id":8702,"date":"2023-10-05T07:50:40","date_gmt":"2023-10-05T07:50:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/?p=8702"},"modified":"2026-08-11T21:32:51","modified_gmt":"2026-08-11T21:32:51","slug":"grant-county-west-virginia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/grant-county-west-virginia\/","title":{"rendered":"Grant County, West Virginia"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Grant County is a county in West Virginia, United States, about 30 miles southwest of Cumberland,<br \/>\nMaryland, in the state&rsquo;s Eastern Panhandle. It had a population of 10,976 at the 2020 census,<br \/>\nan estimated 11,041 by 2024, and covers 480 square miles (1,240 km2), of which 477 square miles<br \/>\nare land, centred near 39&deg;04&prime;N 79&deg;07&prime;W.<\/p>\n<p>Petersburg is the county seat and the county&rsquo;s only city; its postal code is 26847. The<br \/>\ncounty holds 1 city, 1 incorporated town and 19 unincorporated communities across three<br \/>\nmagisterial districts, and it runs on Eastern Time.<\/p>\n<h2>Towns &amp; Villages in Grant County<\/h2>\n<p>Grant County has 21 named places on record: Petersburg, the county seat; one incorporated town,<br \/>\nBayard; and 19 unincorporated communities with no local government of their own. Unincorp. covers<br \/>\ncrossroads and rural settlements with no formal boundary and, in most cases, no separate census<br \/>\ncount.<\/p>\n<div class=\"tv-table-scroll\">\n<table>\n<thead>\n<tr>\n<th>Place<\/th>\n<th>Type<\/th>\n<th>Pop.<\/th>\n<th>ZIP<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td>Petersburg<\/td>\n<td>City &middot; seat<\/td>\n<td>2,284<\/td>\n<td>26847<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Bayard<\/td>\n<td>Town<\/td>\n<td>201<\/td>\n<td>26707<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Arthur<\/td>\n<td>Unincorp.<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Bismarck<\/td>\n<td>Unincorp.<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Cabins<\/td>\n<td>Unincorp.<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<td>26855<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Dobbin<\/td>\n<td>Unincorp.<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Dorcas<\/td>\n<td>Unincorp.<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Fairfax<\/td>\n<td>Unincorp.<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Forman<\/td>\n<td>Unincorp.<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Gormania<\/td>\n<td>Unincorp.<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<td>26720<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Greenland<\/td>\n<td>Unincorp.<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Henry<\/td>\n<td>Unincorp.<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Hopeville<\/td>\n<td>Unincorp.<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Lahmansville<\/td>\n<td>Unincorp.<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<td>26731<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Maysville<\/td>\n<td>Unincorp.<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<td>26833<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Medley<\/td>\n<td>Unincorp.<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Mount Storm<\/td>\n<td>Unincorp.<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<td>26739<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Old Arthur<\/td>\n<td>Unincorp.<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Scherr<\/td>\n<td>Unincorp.<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Williamsport<\/td>\n<td>Unincorp.<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Wilsonia<\/td>\n<td>Unincorp.<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<p>Arthur and Old Arthur are two separate settlements along the same stretch of Patterson Creek<br \/>\nMountain road, not a typo &mdash; local usage keeps them distinct. The earlier version of this page<br \/>\ncarried twelve additional names (Falls, Jordan Run, Kempton Junction, Kline Gap, Landes, Martin,<br \/>\nMasonville, Mount Pisgah, Oak Hill, Pansy, Rough Run, Seymourville, Streby and Town Hill) that do<br \/>\nnot appear in current Census or county gazetteer records for Grant County; they have been dropped<br \/>\nfrom this list pending verification.<\/p>\n<h2>ZIP Codes<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>26847 &mdash; Petersburg, the county&rsquo;s main post office and its only ZIP with a sizable<br \/>\npopulation<\/li>\n<li>26833 &mdash; Maysville<\/li>\n<li>26739 &mdash; Mount Storm (also serves Bismarck)<\/li>\n<li>26855 &mdash; Cabins<\/li>\n<li>26707 &mdash; Bayard, a post-office-box-only ZIP<\/li>\n<li>26731 &mdash; Lahmansville<\/li>\n<li>26720 &mdash; Gormania<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Arthur, Old Arthur, Dobbin, Dorcas, Fairfax, Forman, Greenland, Henry, Hopeville, Medley, Scherr,<br \/>\nWilliamsport and Wilsonia have no ZIP code of their own; mail there is delivered under the nearest<br \/>\npost office town&rsquo;s code.<\/p>\n<h2>Geography<\/h2>\n<p>Grant County sits in West Virginia&rsquo;s Eastern Panhandle, where the Allegheny Front rises out<br \/>\nof the Potomac Highlands. Of its 480 square miles, 477 are land and 2.9 are water, about 0.6<br \/>\npercent &mdash; most of that surface water is Mount Storm Lake, a reservoir built to cool the<br \/>\nMount Storm Power Station on the county&rsquo;s northern edge. The South Branch Potomac River runs<br \/>\nthe length of the county past Petersburg, joined by the North Fork South Branch Potomac near<br \/>\nSmoke Hole Canyon. The county also holds part of the Monongahela National Forest and the Spruce<br \/>\nKnob&ndash;Seneca Rocks National Recreation Area, along with Smoke Hole Caverns and the Fairfax<br \/>\nStone Historical Monument State Park, which marks the 1746 survey point that later fixed the<br \/>\nMaryland&ndash;West Virginia line.<\/p>\n<p>Mineral County lies to the northeast, Hardy County to the east, Pendleton County to the south,<br \/>\nRandolph County to the southwest, Tucker County to the west, and Preston County and Garrett<br \/>\nCounty, Maryland, to the northwest. <a\nhref=\"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/mineral-county-west-virginia\/\">Mineral County<\/a>, <a\nhref=\"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/hardy-county\/\">Hardy County<\/a>, <a\nhref=\"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/pendleton-county-west-virginia\/\">Pendleton County<\/a>, <a\nhref=\"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/randolph-county-west-virginia\/\">Randolph County<\/a>, <a\nhref=\"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/tucker-county\/\">Tucker County<\/a>, <a\nhref=\"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/preston-county\/\">Preston County<\/a> and <a\nhref=\"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/garrett-county\/\">Garrett County, Maryland<\/a> all border Grant<br \/>\ndirectly.<\/p>\n<h2>Demographics<\/h2>\n<p>Grant County had a population of 10,976 at the 2020 census, and the latest estimate puts the<br \/>\ncounty near 11,041 residents as of 2024. Petersburg and Bayard are the only two incorporated<br \/>\nplaces, with Petersburg alone holding more than a fifth of the county&rsquo;s population. Median<br \/>\nhousehold income runs $62,361, below West Virginia&rsquo;s 2023 ACS statewide figure of $55,948<br \/>\n&mdash; an unusual pairing for a rural Appalachian county, driven largely by wages at the Mount<br \/>\nStorm Power Station. Population density works out to roughly 23 people per square mile of land,<br \/>\namong the more sparsely settled counties in the Eastern Panhandle.<\/p>\n<h2>Economy &amp; Local Life<\/h2>\n<p>Manufacturing employs the most workers in the county, about 712 people, followed by health care<br \/>\nand social assistance at 655 and retail trade at 545. The Mount Storm Power Station, a<br \/>\n1,600-megawatt coal-fired plant on Mount Storm Lake operated by Dominion Energy since the 1960s,<br \/>\nis the county&rsquo;s largest single employer and its property taxes underwrite a disproportionate<br \/>\nshare of the county budget. Grant Memorial Hospital in Petersburg serves the broader three-county<br \/>\nregion. Coal mining, once the backbone of Bayard&rsquo;s economy along the old West Virginia<br \/>\nCentral and Pittsburg Railway line, has largely wound down.<\/p>\n<h2>History<\/h2>\n<p>The territory that became Grant County was originally part of Hampshire County, formed in 1754,<br \/>\nthen Hardy County when it was created in 1786. West Virginia&rsquo;s legislature carved Grant<br \/>\nCounty from Hardy County&rsquo;s western portion on 6 February 1866 and named it for Civil War<br \/>\nGeneral Ulysses S. Grant, later the 18th U.S. president. Between its formation and 1870 the county<br \/>\nwas organized into three civil townships &mdash; Grant, Milroy and Union &mdash; which converted<br \/>\nto magisterial districts in 1872 and still name the county&rsquo;s three commission districts<br \/>\ntoday.<\/p>\n<p>The most severe disaster in the county&rsquo;s recent history struck on Election Day in<br \/>\nNovember 1985, when torrential rain sent the South Branch Potomac and its tributaries far over<br \/>\nflood stage; most of the 47 people killed across the region died in Pendleton and Grant counties.<br \/>\nPetersburg and the smaller South Branch communities took the worst of the damage, and the flood<br \/>\nremains the reference point locals use for the county&rsquo;s worst modern weather event.<\/p>\n<h2>Getting There<\/h2>\n<p>No interstate highway crosses Grant County. U.S. Routes 48, 50 and 220 are the main roads,<br \/>\nalong with West Virginia Routes 28, 42, 55 and 93. US 50 crosses the county&rsquo;s north end<br \/>\nthrough Mount Storm on its way between Winchester, Virginia, and Clarksburg, West Virginia.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Cumberland, Maryland &mdash; about 30 miles northeast<\/li>\n<li>Moorefield &mdash; about 20 miles south<\/li>\n<li>Elkins &mdash; about 45 miles west<\/li>\n<li>Winchester, Virginia &mdash; about 55 miles east<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Eastern West Virginia Regional Airport, near Martinsburg, and Hagerstown Regional Airport in<br \/>\nMaryland are the nearest airports with any scheduled service, each more than an hour&rsquo;s drive<br \/>\naway; most travelers use Dulles International Airport outside Washington, D.C. Amtrak does not<br \/>\nserve Grant County; the nearest station is the Cumberland stop on the Capitol Limited line.<\/p>\n<h2>Frequently Asked Questions<\/h2>\n<p><strong>Where is Grant County located?<\/strong><br \/>\nIt sits in West Virginia&rsquo;s Eastern Panhandle, about 30 miles southwest of Cumberland,<br \/>\nMaryland, bordered by Mineral, Hardy, Pendleton, Randolph, Tucker and Preston counties plus<br \/>\nGarrett County, Maryland.<\/p>\n<p><strong>What is the population of Grant County?<\/strong><br \/>\n10,976 at the 2020 census, with a 2024 estimate near 11,041.<\/p>\n<p><strong>How big is Grant County?<\/strong><br \/>\n480 square miles (1,240 km2) total, of which 477 square miles are land.<\/p>\n<p><strong>What is the county seat of Grant County?<\/strong><br \/>\nPetersburg, the county&rsquo;s only incorporated city, is the county seat.<\/p>\n<p><strong>How many towns are in Grant County?<\/strong><br \/>\nTwo incorporated places, Petersburg and Bayard, plus 19 unincorporated communities including<br \/>\nMount Storm, Maysville, Gormania and Cabins.<\/p>\n<p><strong>What ZIP codes does Grant County use?<\/strong><br \/>\n26847 for Petersburg, 26707 for Bayard, 26833 for Maysville, 26739 for Mount Storm, 26855 for<br \/>\nCabins, 26731 for Lahmansville and 26720 for Gormania.<\/p>\n<p><strong>What is Grant County known for?<\/strong><br \/>\nThe Mount Storm Power Station on Mount Storm Lake, Smoke Hole Caverns, and the Fairfax Stone<br \/>\nsurvey marker that fixed West Virginia&rsquo;s boundary with Maryland.<\/p>\n<p>More counties in this state: <a href=\"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/category\/west-virginia\/\">Towns and villages in West Virginia<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Grant County is a county in West Virginia, United States, about 30 miles southwest of Cumberland, Maryland, in the state&rsquo;s Eastern Panhandle. It had a population of 10,976 at the 2020 census, an estimated 11,041 by 2024, and covers 480 square miles (1,240 km2), of which 477 square miles are land, centred near 39&deg;04&prime;N 79&deg;07&prime;W. [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_titles_title":"Towns & Villages in Grant County, West Virginia","_seopress_titles_desc":"All 21 towns and communities in Grant County, West Virginia - type, population and ZIP for each, plus Mount Storm Power Station and the 1985 flood.","_seopress_robots_index":"","_seopress_robots_follow":"","_seopress_robots_imageindex":"","_seopress_robots_snippet":"","_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_robots_breadcrumbs":"","_seopress_robots_freeze_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_custom_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_canonical":"","_seopress_social_fb_title":"","_seopress_social_fb_desc":"","_seopress_social_fb_img":"","_seopress_social_fb_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_height":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_title":"","_seopress_social_twitter_desc":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_height":0,"_seopress_redirections_value":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled_regex":"","_seopress_redirections_logged_status":"","_seopress_redirections_param":"","_seopress_redirections_type":0,"_seopress_analysis_target_kw":"","_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[55],"tags":[6],"class_list":["post-8702","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-west-virginia","tag-towns-and-cities","entry"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8702","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8702"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8702\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9691,"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8702\/revisions\/9691"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8702"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8702"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8702"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}