Wyoming County, West Virginia

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

County Seat: Pineville
Year Organized: 1850
Square Miles: 501

Court House:

P.O. Box 309
County Courthouse
Pineville, WV 24874-0309

Etymology - Origin of County Name

For the Delaware Indian word meaning "large plains"

Demographics:

County QuickFacts: Census Bureau Quick Facts

Early History of Wyoming County, West Virginia

Wyoming County was created by an act of the Virginia General Assembly on January 26, 1850 from parts of Logan County. The county was named for the Wyoming Indian tribe. There is no record of the name's origin. Some historians believe that the name was suggested by its use in a poem written by Thomas Campbell entitled "Gertrude of Wyoming." Others suggest that the county's name came from a loose translation of the Delaware Indian word Maughwauwama, meaning "large or extensive plains."

David Hughes and Edward McDonald were probably the first Englishmen to set foot in present day Wyoming County. They explored the area in 1784. In 1798, John Cook, Sr. explored the present county and discovered a large, level area below present day Oceana. He moved to the county with his wife, Nellie, his four sons, and a daughter-in-law. They built a cabin near the Laurel and Clear Forks in 1799. When they moved to the county they met a man named Milam who had supposedly lived in the area for some time, moving to and from three hunting lodges he had constructed. In 1800, Captain Ralph Stewart and his family settled in the area, just a few miles from the Cook's cabin. In 1802, Edward McDonald, who had explored the area 18 years earlier, moved into the county. He was accompanied by his son-in-law, James Shannon, and several slaves. They started clearing land for a plantation at the main fork of the Guyandotte River. In the meantime, the Cook and Stewart families intermarried, creating a strong bond between the families that lasted for generations. A census taken in 1890 revealed that a majority of the county's residents were direct descendants of John Cook, Sr.

The first meeting of the Wyoming County court was held at John Cook's home, near present day Oceana. The act creating the county specified that the county seat was to be laid out on the lands of William Cook, Sr., one of John Cook's sons. The town was laid out that year and originally named Cassville, in honor of Lewis Cass, a famous American statesman. L. B. Chambers operated the town's first business, a retail store. At that time, the county was only sparsely populated. The 1850 census revealed that there were only 1,645 people living in the county at that time. In 1851, the town was renamed Sumpterville because another settlement was calling itself Cassville, creating confusion for the mails. In 1853, the town's name was changed again, this time to Oceana, in honor of the younger of Chief Cornstalk's daughters. Nevertheless, the town was known by most as Wyoming Court House. Oceana continued to serve as the county seat until 1907 when the county's residents voted to move the location of the county seat to Pineville.

Pineville, the current county seat, was established on the lands of Rev. William H. Cook. It was originally known as Rock View and was incorporated with that name by the West Virginia state legislature on February 16, 1871. The town was renamed Pineville by John W. Cline who reopened a post office there in 1880. He could not use the name Rock View for the post office because it was also used by another town at that time. The name is derived from a large pine forest that existed on the site at that time.

Neighboring Counties:

Northeast: Raleigh County
Northwest: Mingo County; Logan County; Boone County
Southeast: Mercer County
Southwest: McDowell County

Cities and Towns:

- Mullens	city	Incorporated Area
- Oceana	town	Incorporated Area
- Pineville (County Seat)	town	Incorporated Area

County Resources:

Enter County Resources and Information Here

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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