Wetzel County, West Virginia

Founding: 1846
Parent county: Tyler

Namesake: Lewis Wetzel, West Virginia frontiersman
Seat: New Martinsville (1846–)

Land area: 358 square miles

Population (2020): 14,442

Population (historic): 4,284 (1850); 13,896 (1880); 22,880 (1900); 22,334 (1930)

Periods of population growth: pre-1850–1910; 1960–1980

Subdivisions: Two cities; three towns; three CDPs

Pre-1940 residences (estimated): 1,868 (22.9%)
Pre-1940 housing survival rate: 36.2%
Pre-1860 housing survival rate (1940): 5.4%

Farm housing in disrepair (1950): 24.4%

Nonfarm housing in disrepair (1950): 17%

Average farmhouse value (1930): $860
Average outbuilding value (1930): $476
Average farmhouse size (1940): 5.2 rooms
Number of farms (1920): 1,836
Average farm size (1920): 61 acres
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New Martinsville

Namesake: Uncertain—perhaps Martinsville, Virginia

Founding: 1842 (post office)

Population (2020): 5,186

Population (historic): 228 (1850); 260 (1870); 1,089 (1900); 2,814 (1930)

Periods of population growth: pre-1850; 1870s; 1890–1980
Pre-1940 residences (estimated): 613 (23.5%)
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