Clay County, West Virginia

Clay County History, Geography, Demographics, Cities and Towns, and Education

County Seat: Clay
Year Organized: 1858
Square Miles: 342
MSA: Charleston, WV MSA

Court House:

207 Main Street
County Courthouse
Clay, WV 25043-0190
Phone: (304) 587-4202
Fax:

Named: In honor of Henry Clay, Kentucky statesman.

State & County QuickFacts: Census Bureau Quick Facts

Early History of Clay County, West Virginia

Clay County was created by an act of the Virginia General Assembly on March 29, 1858. It was created from parts of Braxton, Kanawha and Nicholas counties and named in honor of Henry Clay (1777-1852).
Henry Clay was born in Hanover County, Virginia on April 12, 1777. His parents moved him to Kentucky as a young boy. He was a leader of the Whig political party and represented Kentucky in the US Senate (1806-1807, 1810-1811, 1831-1842, 1849-1852) and in the US House of Representatives (1811-1821, 1823-1825). He was elected Speaker of the US House of Representatives in 1811 and served in that capacity until 1814, and again in 1815-1820, and in 1823-1825. He also served as US Secretary of State from 1825-1829. He authored the famous "Compromise of 1850," which sought to avoid the Civil War, ran unsuccessfully for President on three occasions (in 1824, 1832 and 1844), and is widely regarded by scholars as one of the greatest legislators in American political history. He was a very strong advocate for funding internal improvements, including the extension of the National Road to Wheeling. When that road was completed in 1818, Wheeling became a major trading center and rest stop for pioneers heading west. He died on June 29, 1852.

Jacob Summers was one of the earliest English settlers in the county. He built a cabin along the Elk River in 1813. A veteran of the War of 1812 against Great Britain, he married a Miss Davis and they had 14 children. He then had another seven children with his second wife, Eleanor Conrad. Jacob Summers progeny helped populate the county, and the name Summers became the most common name in the county for several generations.

The act creating Clay County declared that the county seat was to be located on the McCalgin farm, near the mouth of Buffalo Creek. It declared that the county seat was to be known as the town of Marshall. However, the local citizens generally referred to the town as Clay Court House, because the courthouse was the town's primary reason for existing and was the primary source of social and economic interaction in the community. On October 10, 1863, the state legislature changed the town's name to Henry, in honor of Henry Clay. The town's name was changed to Clay in 1927.

According to the West Virginia Blue Book, the Golden Delicious Apple originated on Porters Creek in Clay County.

Neighboring Counties:

North: Calhoun County
Northeast: Braxton County
Northwest: Roane County
South: Fayette County
Southeast: Nicholas County
Southwest: Kanawha County

Cities:

Bentree
Bickmore
Big Otter
Bomont
Clay (County Seat)
Dille
Duck
Fola
Glen
Harrison
Indore
Ivydale

Lizemores
Maysel
Nebo
Ovapa
Pigeon
Procious
Valley Fork
Wallback
Widen

County Resources:

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County Resource Guide

Counties: US Map

The history of our nation can be seen as a prolonged struggle to define the relative roles and powers of our governments: federal, state, and local. And the names we've given our counties, our most locally based jurisdictions, reflects the "characteristic features of our country!"

But age, size and colorful names of our counties isn't the only reason to explore counties' role in American history, or the history of county government itself. In fact, the story of county government reflects the larger meanings of American history.

Today's counties are the most flexible, locally responsive and creative governments in the US. They are the most diverse, varying in size, population, geography, and governmental structure. In their politics and policies, they express a 1990's political slogan "Think globally, act locally."

Penn Foster High School

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