Wetzel

Formed January 10, 1846 (36^th county)

Wetzel County (14,441), New Martinsville (5,205)

The stone Richardsonian Romanesque Revival courthouse was erected in 1901.  W. Chamberlain and W. J. Alexander were the designers.  The courthouse is on Main Street at Washington Street.  It features columns and a tower with a working clock.  Veteran memorials are on the grounds.  West Virginia State Highway 2 passes six blocks to the northeast of the site.  The county was formed on January 10, 1846 from Tyler County as the 36^th county with New Martinsville as the only county seat.  Wetzel County is named for frontiersman Lewis Wetzel.  The county seat is named for settler Presley Martin. 

Wetzel County government consists of a sheriff and 3 Commissioners.  Two Circuit Court Judges, One Family Court Judge and Two Magistrate Court Judges serve Wetzel, Marshall, and Tyler counties.  The county is on the northwest border with both Ohio and Pennsylvania.  Charleston, West Virginia is south and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania is northeast of the county.  The county center is 13.1 miles East-Southeast of New Martinsville nearer Allister.  The county is surrounded clockwise by Marshall County and Pennsylvania and Monongalia, Marion, Harrison, Doddridge, and Tyler counties and Ohio. 

The area of the county is 359 square miles.  It is 34 out of 55 in the state.  It ranks 37 out of 55 in population in the state.  It has a density of 40.2 persons per square mile making it 33 out of 55 in the state.  Wetzel County has 52.9% of its population in its incorporated areas.  United States Highway 250 enters the county from the north, Marshall County, and exits to the southeast, Marion County.  The county is shaped like a funnel cloud.  New Martinsville is located on the western border of the county.  New Martinsville is the county seat and the largest city.  It is 36.0% of the county population.  The county is pronounced WET-ZEL.