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Preston County, West Virginia

Coordinates: 39°28′N 79°40′W / 39.47°N 79.67°W / 39.47; -79.67
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Preston County
County
Preston County Courthouse
Preston County Courthouse
Map of West Virginia highlighting Preston County
Location within the U.S. state of West Virginia
Map of the United States highlighting West Virginia
West Virginia's location within the U.S.
Coordinates: 39°28′N 79°40′W / 39.47°N 79.67°W / 39.47; -79.67
Country United States
State West Virginia
FoundedJanuary 19, 1818
Named forJames Patton Preston
SeatKingwood
Largest cityKingwood
Area
 • Total
651 sq mi (1,690 km2)
 • Land649 sq mi (1,680 km2)
 • Water2.6 sq mi (7 km2)  0.4%
Population
 (2010)
 • Total
33,520
 • Estimate 
(2019)
33,432
 • Density51/sq mi (20/km2)
Time zoneUTC−5 (Eastern)
 • Summer (DST)UTC−4 (EDT)
Congressional district1st
Websitewww.prestoncountywv.org

Preston County is a county located in the U.S. state of West Virginia. As of the 2020 Census, the population was 34,216.[1] Its county seat is Kingwood.[2] The county was formed from Monongalia County in 1818 and named for Virginia Governor James Patton Preston.[3]

Preston County is part of the Morgantown, WV Metropolitan Statistical Area, and is the southernmost county of the Pittsburgh media market. It is the home of The Buckwheat Festival, a county fair known for making buckwheat pancakes.[4]

History

Native Americans lived in and traveled through what became Preston County as they crossed from the Ohio River watershed (which drains into the Mississippi River), into the Chesapeake Bay watershed. Although white traders and explorers also lived in the county after 1736, and one boundary stone (the Fairfax Stone marking the limits of the North Branch of the River) was laid in 1746, white settlers began arriving in 1766. Traveling by foot or horseback, settlers established log cabins after the American Revolutionary War. Further development ensued after 1818, when the National Road was built slightly to the north. When the earliest railroads came in 1851, all land passed into private ownership, population increased 70% in a decade, and industrialization began.[5]

During the American Civil War, more Preston County men enlisted in Union service than with the Confederacy. There were few slave-holders in Preston County, and relatively few slaves, almost none outside a half-hour walk from the Clarksburg to Winchester road that dated back to the late colonial era. The census indicates that slavery's high-water mark in Preston County occurred in 1830, when the county included 125 slaves, alongside 27 free colored persons.[6]

On June 20, 1863, Preston was one of fifty Virginia counties that were admitted to the Union as the state of West Virginia. Later that year, the counties were divided into civil townships, with the intention of encouraging local government. This proved impractical in the heavily rural state, and in 1872 the townships were converted into magisterial districts.[7] Preston County was divided into eight districts: Grant, Kingwood, Lyon, Pleasant, Portland, Reno, Union, and Valley. These remained largely unchanged until the 1990s, when they were consolidated into five new magisterial districts: First, Second, Third, Fourth, and Fifth.[8]

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 651 square miles (1,690 km2), of which 649 square miles (1,680 km2) is land and 2.6 square miles (6.7 km2) (0.4%) is water.[9]

In West Virginia's coldest month of January 1977, Terra Alta in Preston County saw a statewide record snowfall of 104 inches (2.64 m).[10]

Major highways

Adjacent counties

National protected area

State parks

Demographics

Historical population
CensusPop.Note%±
18203,422—
18305,14450.3%
18406,86633.5%
185011,70870.5%
186013,31213.7%
187014,5559.3%
188019,09131.2%
189020,3556.6%
190022,72711.7%
191026,34115.9%
192027,9966.3%
193029,0433.7%
194030,4164.7%
195031,3993.2%
196027,233−13.3%
197025,455−6.5%
198030,46019.7%
199029,037−4.7%
200029,3341.0%
201033,52014.3%
2019 (est.)33,432[11]−0.3%
U.S. Decennial Census[12]
1790–1960[13] 1900–1990[14]
1990–2000[15] 2010–2019[16]

2010 census

As of the 2010 United States Census, there were 33,520 people, 12,895 households, and 9,038 families residing in the county.[17] The population density was 51.7 inhabitants per square mile (20.0/km2). There were 15,097 housing units at an average density of 23.3 per square mile (9.0/km2).[18] The racial makeup of the county was 97.6% white, 1.1% black or African American, 0.2% American Indian, 0.1% Asian, 0.2% from other races, and 0.8% from two or more races. Those of Hispanic or Latino origin made up 0.7% of the population.[17] In terms of ancestry, 29.4% were German, 14.3% were Irish, 9.5% were American, and 8.9% were English.[19]

Of the 12,895 households, 29.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 56.1% were married couples living together, 9.1% had a female householder with no husband present, 29.9% were non-families, and 24.6% of all households were made up of individuals. The average household size was 2.42 and the average family size was 2.84. The median age was 42.0 years.[17]

The age distribution was 19.55% under the age of 18, 7.36% from 18 to 24, 27.58% from 25 to 44, 29.83% from 45 to 64, and 15.68% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 42.0 years. For every 100 females, there were 106.63 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 106.48 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $40,753 and the median income for a family was $46,622. Males had a median income of $38,713 versus $25,808 for females. The per capita income for the county was $19,329. About 10.1% of families and 13.9% of the population were below the poverty line, including 19.0% of those under age 18 and 9.9% of those age 65 or over.[20]

Politics

Whereas most of West Virginia has become a Republican bastion in the 21st century after having leaned heavily Democratic between the New Deal and Bill Clinton, Preston County has always been a Republican stronghold, if not quite so rock-ribbed as neighboring Grant County or Garrett County, Maryland. Those two counties have never voted for a Democrat since being created after the Civil War, whereas Preston County has voted Democratic on one occasion since then, during Lyndon Johnson’s 1964 landslide – although Johnson’s win over Barry Goldwater was much more decisive than his narrow victory in analogous Upshur County, and Bill Clinton came within 20 votes in 1996.

United States presidential election results for Preston County, West Virginia[21]
Year Republican Democratic Third party(ies)
No.  % No.  % No.  %
2020 11,190 76.79% 3,163 21.70% 220 1.51%
2016 9,538 74.73% 2,470 19.35% 756 5.92%
2012 7,889 70.54% 2,931 26.21% 363 3.25%
2008 7,325 62.10% 4,205 35.65% 266 2.26%
2004 7,855 65.85% 3,963 33.22% 111 0.93%
2000 6,607 63.29% 3,515 33.67% 317 3.04%
1996 4,257 41.31% 4,237 41.11% 1,812 17.58%
1992 4,429 42.20% 3,933 37.47% 2,133 20.32%
1988 5,804 56.92% 4,357 42.73% 35 0.34%
1984 6,955 63.05% 4,054 36.75% 22 0.20%
1980 5,828 54.23% 4,317 40.17% 601 5.59%
1976 5,719 50.55% 5,595 49.45% 0 0.00%
1972 7,807 72.39% 2,977 27.61% 0 0.00%
1968 5,636 55.16% 4,020 39.35% 561 5.49%
1964 4,015 39.06% 6,264 60.94% 0 0.00%
1960 6,908 62.07% 4,221 37.93% 0 0.00%
1956 7,953 70.27% 3,365 29.73% 0 0.00%
1952 8,059 65.32% 4,278 34.68% 0 0.00%
1948 6,020 62.73% 3,527 36.75% 49 0.51%
1944 6,785 69.36% 2,997 30.64% 0 0.00%
1940 8,213 63.46% 4,730 36.54% 0 0.00%
1936 7,553 58.11% 5,410 41.62% 34 0.26%
1932 6,359 56.05% 4,872 42.94% 115 1.01%
1928 7,783 76.18% 2,355 23.05% 78 0.76%
1924 6,396 68.22% 2,445 26.08% 534 5.70%
1920 6,729 74.73% 2,150 23.88% 125 1.39%
1916 3,838 68.09% 1,694 30.05% 105 1.86%
1912 1,461 24.70% 1,845 31.20% 2,608 44.10%

Communities

City

Towns

Magisterial districts

Current

  • First
  • Second
  • Third
  • Fourth
  • Fifth

Historic

  • Grant
  • Kingwood
  • Lyon
  • Pleasant
  • Portland
  • Reno
  • Union
  • Valley

Census-designated place

Unincorporated communities

See also

References

  1. ^ "U.S. Census Bureau QuickFacts: Preston County, West Virginia". www.census.gov. Retrieved January 18, 2022.
  2. ^ "Find a County". National Association of Counties. Retrieved June 7, 2011.
  3. ^ West Virginia Counties Archived September 23, 2001, at the Wayback Machine. Wvculture.org. Retrieved on July 24, 2013.
  4. ^ "Preston County Buckwheat Festival". VisitMountaineerCountry.com. Retrieved January 18, 2022.
  5. ^ Oren Morton, A History of Preston County, part 1 (Kingwood W.Va., Journal Publishing Company 1914) pp. 9-11
  6. ^ Morton p. 138
  7. ^ Otis K. Rice & Stephen W. Brown, West Virginia: A History, 2nd ed., University Press of Kentucky, Lexington (1993), p. 240.
  8. ^ United States Census Bureau, U.S. Decennial Census, Tables of Minor Civil Divisions in West Virginia, 1870–2010.
  9. ^ "2010 Census Gazetteer Files". United States Census Bureau. August 22, 2012. Retrieved July 30, 2015.
  10. ^ West Virginia encyclopedia; The Weather
  11. ^ "Population and Housing Unit Estimates". Retrieved March 29, 2020.
  12. ^ "U.S. Decennial Census". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved January 11, 2014.
  13. ^ "Historical Census Browser". University of Virginia Library. Retrieved January 11, 2014.
  14. ^ "Population of Counties by Decennial Census: 1900 to 1990". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved January 11, 2014.
  15. ^ "Census 2000 PHC-T-4. Ranking Tables for Counties: 1990 and 2000" (PDF). United States Census Bureau. Retrieved January 11, 2014.
  16. ^ "State & County QuickFacts". United States Census Bureau. Archived from the original on October 9, 2015. Retrieved January 11, 2014.
  17. ^ a b c "DP-1 Profile of General Population and Housing Characteristics: 2010 Demographic Profile Data". United States Census Bureau. Archived from the original on February 13, 2020. Retrieved April 3, 2016.
  18. ^ "Population, Housing Units, Area, and Density: 2010 - County". United States Census Bureau. Archived from the original on February 13, 2020. Retrieved April 3, 2016.
  19. ^ "DP02 SELECTED SOCIAL CHARACTERISTICS IN THE UNITED STATES – 2006-2010 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates". United States Census Bureau. Archived from the original on February 13, 2020. Retrieved April 3, 2016.
  20. ^ "DP03 SELECTED ECONOMIC CHARACTERISTICS – 2006-2010 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates". United States Census Bureau. Archived from the original on February 13, 2020. Retrieved April 3, 2016.
  21. ^ Leip, David. "Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections". uselectionatlas.org. Retrieved March 28, 2018.

Further reading

  • Cox, Connie Loraine, Our Place In History: Southwestern Preston County, West Virginia, Headline Books, Terra Alta, WV, 2005. (Written and oral histories, photographs)
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