Raleigh County, West Virginia

Founding: 1850
Parent county: Fayette

Namesake: Walter Raleigh, English explorer
Seat: Beckley (1850–)

Land area: 605 square miles

Population (2020): 74,591

Population (historic): 1,765 (1850); 3,673 (1870); 9,597 (1890); 25,633 (1910); 68,072 (1930)

Periods of population growth: pre-1850–1950; 1970s; 1990s

Subdivisions: One city; three towns; 15 CDPs

National Register listings: 10

Pre-1940 residences (estimated): 4,716 (13%)
Pre-1940 housing survival rate: 24.4%
Pre-1860 housing survival rate (1940): 5.5%

Farm housing in disrepair (1950): 26.7%

Nonfarm housing in disrepair (1950): 15.5%

Average farmhouse value (1930): $840
Average outbuilding value (1930): $364
Average farmhouse size (1940): 4.6 rooms
Number of farms (1920): 1,578
Average farm size (1920): 38.6 acres
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Beckley

Namesake: Alfred Beckley, Virginia general

Founding: 1838 (platting); 1851 (post office)

Population (2020): 17,286

Population (historic): 144 (1880); 342 (1900); 9,357 (1930)

Periods of population growth: pre-1880–1950; 1960–1980; 2000s
Pre-1940 residences (estimated): 1,799 (21.1%)
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