Formed January 19, 1848 (39th county)
Wirt County (5,196), Elizabeth (724)
The tan brick Neo-Classical Revival building was built in 1912. The facility is on Court Street at Washington Street. Court Street is West Virginia State Highway 14 in this part of the town. B. F. Smith is the building architect. It features a tower with a working clock and columns. Veteran memorials are on the grounds. The county was established on January 19, 1848 from Jackson County as the 39th county and Elizabeth has always been the county seat. The county is named for United States Attorney General William Wirt. Elizabeth was named for the wife of settler David Beauchamp.
Wirt County government consists of a sheriff and 3 Commissioners. Three Circuit Court Judges serve Wirt and Wood counties and Two Family Court Judges and Two Magistrate Court Judges serve Wirt, Jackson, and Mason counties. The county is situated in northwest West Virginia. Charleston, West Virginia is south and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania is northeast of the county. The county center is 4 miles Southeast of Elizabeth nearer Palestine. The county is surrounded clockwise by Wood, Ritchie, Calhoun, Roane, and Jackson counties.
The area of the county is 233 square miles. It is 48 out of 55 in the state. It ranks 55 out of 55 in population in the state. It has a density of 22.3 persons per square mile making it 48 out of 55 in the state. Wirt County has 13.9% of its population in its incorporated areas. There are no Interstates or United States Highways in the county. The county resembles a snail. Elizabeth is located near the center of the county. Elizabeth is the county seat and, as the only incorporated city, it is the largest city. It is 13.9% of the county population. This county is in the Parkersburg-Marietta-Vienna Metropolitan Statistical Area.
Elizabeth
