Formed March 29, 1858 (49th county)
Clay County (8,050), Clay (397)
The Modern red brick building was constructed in 1978. It is situated at Main and Locust streets. West Virginia State Highway 16 is Main Street in this part of the town. R. L. Wilson-Jerry Goff Associated Architects designed the structure. There was a 1902 courthouse earlier also in Clay, the only county seat. The county was established on March 29, 1858 from parts of Braxton and Nicholas counties as the 49th county. Clay County and its county seat are named for American Statesman Henry Clay.
Clay County government consists of a sheriff and 3 Commissioners. Two Circuit Court Judges serve Clay, Braxton, Gilmer, and Webster counties and One Family Court Judge and Two Magistrate Court Judges serve Clay and Nicholas counties. Clay County is located in the center of the state. Charleston, West Virginia is west and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania is northeast of the county. The county center is 2 miles Southwest of Clay. The county is surrounded clockwise by Calhoun, Braxton, Nicholas, Fayette, Kanawha, and Roane counties.
The area of the county is 342 square miles. It is 37 out of 55 in the state. It ranks 47 out of 55 in population in the state. It has a density of 23.5 persons per square mile making it 46 out of 55 in the state. Clay County has 4.9% of its population in its incorporated areas. Interstate Highway 79 comes into the county from the northeast, Braxton County, and goes to the southwest, Roane County. The county is an overall diamond shape. The City of Clay is located near the center of the county. Clay is the county seat and the largest city since it is the only incorporated city. It is 4.9% of the county population. This county is in the Charleston Metropolitan Statistical Area.
Clay
