Formed January 30, 1818 (20th county)
Nicholas County (24,603), Summersville (3,430)
The 1898 stone Neo-Classical Revival structure serves Nicholas County. The county was organized on January 30, 1818 from parts of Greenbrier and Kanawha counties as the 20th county and Summersville has always been the county seat. Nicholas County is named for Virginia Governor Wilson Cary Nicholas. The county seat was named for Judge Lewis Summers. The courthouse is located at Church and Main streets. West Virginia State Highway 39 passes in front of the structure. F. E. Davis and H. R. Davis are the architects. The building was enlarged in 1940. It features a tower and a military gun and veteran memorials are on the grounds.
Nicholas County government consists of a sheriff and 3 Commissioners. One Circuit Court Judge serves Nicholas County and One Family Court Judge and Three Magistrate Court Judges serve Nicholas and Clay counties. The county is located in central West Virginia. Charleston, West Virginia is southwest and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania is north of the county. The county center is 6.2 miles Northeast of Summersville nearer Persinger. The county is surrounded clockwise by Braxton, Webster, Greenbrier, Fayette, Kanawha, and Clay counties.
The area of the county is 649 square miles. It is 7 out of 55 in the state. It ranks 24 out of 55 in population in the state. It has a density of 37.9 persons per square mile making it 34 out of 55 in the state. Nicholas County has 20.7% of its population in its incorporated areas. United States Highway 19 crosses the county from north to south from Braxton County to Fayette County. The county is diamond shaped with a knob on the top. Summersville is located in the southern third of the county. Summersville is the county seat and the largest city. It is 13.9% of the county population.
Richwood
Summersville
