Pleasants

Formed March 29, 1851 (44^th county)

Pleasants County (7,653), Saint Marys (1,834)

The tan brick Neo-Classical Revival building was completed in 1925.  There was also an 1852 courthouse.  The structure is on a hill on George Street at Court Street.  West Virginia State Highway 2 is one block northwest of the courthouse.  Holmboe & Pogue provided the designs.  It features columns.  The county was established on March 29, 1851 from parts of Ritchie, Tyler, and Wood counties as the 44^th county with St. Marys as the only county seat.  Pleasants County is named for Virginia Governor James Pleasants.  The county seat was named for Saint Mary who the founder reportedly saw at the town site. 

Pleasants County government consists of a sheriff and 3 Commissioners.  One Circuit Court Judge serve Pleasants, Doddridge, and Ritchie counties and Two Family Court Judges and Two Magistrate Court Judges serve Pleasants and Wood counties.  The county is located on the northwest border with Ohio.  Charleston, West Virginia is south and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania is northeast of the county.  The county center is 4.2 miles Southeast of St. Marys.  The county is surrounded clockwise by Ohio and Tyler, Ritchie, and Wood counties. 

The area of the county is 131 square miles.  It is 52 out of 55 in the state.  It ranks 50 out of 55 in population in the state.  It has a density of 58.4 persons per square mile making it 25 out of 55 in the state.  Pleasants County has 35.3% of its population in its incorporated areas.  There are no Interstates or United States Highways in the county.  The county is shaped like a ramp.  Saint Marys is located on the northern border of the county.  Saint Marys is the county seat and the largest city.  It is 24.0% of the county population.  This county is in the Parkersburg-Marietta-Vienna Metropolitan Statistical Area.