Formed February 4, 1845 (35th county)
Doddridge County (7,808), West Union (655)
The working clock tower stands out on the 1904 Victorian Romanesque facility at Court and Church streets. West Virginia State Highway 18 passes four blocks to the east of the site. J. Charles Fulton designed the red brick facility. The county was founded on February 4, 1845 and West Union has always been the county seat. The county was taken from parts of Harrison, Tyler, Ritchie, and Lewis counties as the 35th county. There was also an 1849 courthouse. The county is named for Virginia Statesman Phillip Doddridge. West Union is named for uniting two towns into the city. Doddridge County is the birthplace of 1 West Virginia Governor, Matthew M. Neely.
Doddridge County government consists of a sheriff and 3 Commissioners. One Circuit Court Judge serves Doddridge, Pleasants, and Ritchie counties and Two Family Court Judges and Two Magistrate Court Judges serve Doddridge and Harrison counties. Doddridge County is in the northern part of the state. Charleston, West Virginia is southwest and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania is northeast of the county. The county center is 6 miles Northeast of West Union nearer Blandville. The county is surrounded clockwise by Wetzel, Harrison, Lewis, Gilmer, Ritchie, and Tyler counties.
The area of the county is 320 square miles. It is 42 out of 55 in the state. It ranks 49 out of 55 in population in the state. It has a density of 24.4 persons per square mile making it 44 out of 55 in the state. Doddridge County has 8.4% of its population in its incorporated areas. United States Highway 50 crosses east to west from Harrison County to Ritchie County. The county resembles a fat arch lying on its side. West Union is located in the southwest quarter of the county. West Union is the county seat, and as the only incorporated city, it is the largest city. It is 8.4% of the county population. The county is pronounced DOD-DRIG. This county is in the Clarksburg Micropolitan Statistical Area.
West Union
