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RELATED LINKS on Current Virginia-Local Directory

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Some History of Virginia Counties

Counties formerly in Virginia
Kentucky Counties Formerly in VA * West Virginia Counties Formerly in VA

• LINKS:
• USA-VA-Counties History-Formation ~ ~ Link - Begins 1700-1702 thru 1861-1880
  County Formations
• USA-VA-Counties History-Formation ~ Link - Virginia Counties Evolution Chart
• USA-VA-Counties & Cities History~ Formation ~ Frederick & Clarke (counties) & Winchester (city)
  ~ Link - GenWeb Counties and Cities ~ County Seat, Parent County & Date Formed

• USA-VA-Counties History ~ Link - Counties: Geography of Virginia
• USA-VA-Counties History ~ Link - Missing Counties of Virginia
  ~ Counties Now Extinct: Elizabeth City County, Fincastle, Lower Norfolk, Nansemond, New Norfolk, Norfolk, Princess Anne, Upper Norfolk, Warwick

• USA-VA-Counties History ~ Link - Kentucky County History / Timeline / Formation of Kentucky Counties ~ Contains dates for the following:
  1772 ~ Fincastle County, Virginia was formed from Botetourt County Virginia
  1776 ~ Kentucky County, Virginia (and others) were formed from Fincastle County, Virginia
  which was abolished
  1785 ~ Bourbon County, Virginia (later Kentucky) was formed from Fayette County, Virginia.
  1780 ~ Fayette County, Virginia (later Kentucky) was formed from Kentucky County, Virginia. One of the first three counties of Kentucky (with Lincoln and Jefferson Counties).
  1780 ~ Jefferson County, Virginia (later Kentucky) was formed from Kentucky County, Virginia.
  One of the first three counties of Kentucky
  (with Lincoln and Fayette Counties).
  1780 ~ Kentucky County, Virginia was abolished
  1783 ~ District of Kentucky, Virginia was formed for judicial reasons. It included Fayette, Lincoln,
  and Jefferson Counties, Virginia
  1791 ~ Kentucky was admitted as a state (to be formally admitted as the 15th state on 1 Jun 1792) followed on 18 Feb 1792 by Vermont
  which was as the 14th state.
  1792 ~ Kentucky was admitted from Virginia as the 15th state of the United States. Although legislative action was taken on 18 Feb 1792 to create Vermont, it was created on that date making it the 14th state

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

• 1607 ... The Virginia Company of London founded the first permanent English settlement in America at Jamestown.
• 1624 ... The King dissolved the Virginia Company and established Virginia as a crown colony with
  an elected General Assembly.
• 1710- ... Passes across the Blue Ridge Mountains leading from Eastern 1740s Virginia into the Shenandoah Valley were discovered. Emigrants from Pennsylvania and New Jersey began to enter
  the valley.
• 1750-1784 ... Land grants made to the Ohio Company encouraged ex-ploration beyond the Alleghenies. The new area southeast of the Ohio River was organized by Virginia in 1775 as the District of West Augusta, although much of this was ceded to PA. in 1786.
• 1779 ... part of Virginia became part of North Carolina
• 1770s ... The Wilderness Road opened access across the Cumberland Gap from Virginia into Kentucky. The area that was to become Kentucky was organized as Kentucky County, Virginia, in 1776.
• 1780s ... In 1784, Virginia formally ceded its claims north of the Ohio River to the United States. In 1788 Virginia ratified the United States constitution to become a state.
• 1786 ... part of Virginia became part of Pennsylvania.
• 1792 ... part of Virginia became Kentucky.
• 1792 ... Kentucky became a separate state..
• 1803 ... part of Virginia became part of Tennessee.
• 1803 ... part of Virginia became Ohio and Indiana Territory.
• 1816 ... former part of Virginia became Indiana.
• 1818 ... former part of Virginia became Illinois.
• 1861-1870 ... Most of Virginia joined the Confederacy, although fifty Western counties broke off
  and were admitted to the Union as the state of West Virginia in 1863. Virginia was readmitted to the
  Union in 1870.
• 1863 ... part of Virginia became West Virginia.

COUNTIES FORMERLY IN VIRIGNIA

Prior to 1784 the commonwealth of Virginia consisted of a vast territory extending West from the Atlantic Ocean to the Mississippi River, and North from the North Carolina line to the Great Lakes.

• Beginning in 1784, the size of the commonwealth decreased:
  • 1784 the US Congress accepted Virginia's cessation of its Northwestern lands;
  • parts of three Virginia counties were added to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania between 1776 and 1785;
  • and between 1784 and 1792 residents of the area known as the District of Kentucky held ten conventions on the question of statehood. On December 18, 1789, the General Assembly of Virginia passed an act to allow Kentucky to apply for statehood, and on June 1792 Kentucky's nine counties became a state.

With the start of the Civil War in 1861, fifty (50) of Virginia's Western counties voted to remain in the Union. West Virginia became a state. on June 23, 1863.

Illinois County was named for the Illini, a confederacy of woodland tribes. The French changed the name, which means "the men," to Illinois. Illinois County was Created in Dec. 1778 after George Rogers Clark had captured several British posts on the Mississippi River within Virginia's boundaries. The county included all of that territory between the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers that now constitutes the states of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, and Wisconsin, as well as a small part of Minnesota. The General Assembly continued the county's existence until January 5, 1782. On March 1, 1784, the Illinois Territory was ceded to Congress and ceased to be part of the commonwealth of Virginia.

Yohogania County (EXTINCT), meaning (stream flowing), was created in 1776, when the District of West Augusta was divided into three new counties: Monongalia, Ohio and Yohogania. Within nine (9) years, almost all of Yohogania, and much of Ohio and Monongalia Counties, became part of the commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The remaining portions of Ohio and Monongalia Counties in 1863 became part of the new state of West Virginia. Yohogania remained a Virginia County until the October1785 session of the General Assembly. At that time, the assembly recognized that, since the Western boundary of Pennsylvania had been extended, and had taken in most of Yohogania, the area left was too small to remain a separate county. So the rest of Yohogania was added to Ohio County.

Sullivan County, TN ~ Link - Tidbits from Backtrack Genealogy

Kentucky Counties Formerly in Virginia

• Formation ~ Link - Formation of Kentucky Counties

• Bourbon County was formed in 1785 from Kentucky County.
  • County Seat - established 1789 - Hopewell - 1790 its name was changed briefly to Bourbonton and then to its present name, Paris.
• Fayette County was created in 1780 and was one of the three original counties that made up the District of Kentucky. Fayette County consisted of the Northern and Eastern portions of the present state.
  • County Seat - Lexington.
• Jefferson County was named for Thomas Jefferson from 1779 to 1781. Established in 1780, it was one of the three original counties that made up the District of Kentucky. Jefferson County consisted of the middle section of the present state.
  • County Seat - Louisville.
• Kentucky County (extinct) was created in 1776 from Fincastle County. Kentucky County became extinct in Nov. 1780, when it was divided into Fayette, Jefferson and Lincoln Counties.
• Lincoln County was named for Major General Benjamin Lincoln. Formed in 1780, Lincoln County was the third of the original counties established in the District of Kentucky. It consisted of the Western portion of the present state.
  • 1^st County Seat - Harrodsburg, until it became the center of government for Mercer County, which was created in 1785.
  • 2^nd County Seat - 1785 - Stanford.
• Madison County was created in 1785 out of part of Lincoln County - named after James Madison.
  • 1^st County Seat - Milford was the original
  • 2^nd County Seat - 1798 county's government moved to Richmond, Kentucky.
• Mason County named after George Mason, author of the Virginia Declaration of Rights. It was formed from Bourbon County in 1788.
  • 1^st County Seat - Washington
  • 2^nd County Seat - 1848 - Maysville.
• Mercer County was named for General Hugh Mercer, of Fredericksburg, who died at the Battle of Princeton, New Jersey, during the American Revolution.
  • County Seat - 1785 - Harrodsburg.
• Nelson County was named for Thomas Nelson, Jr., of Virginia in 1781. Created in 1784.
  • County Seat - Bardstown (formerly Bairdstown).
• Todd County ~ Link - Tracing Todd's Steps ~ Timeline

West Virginia Counties Formerly in Virginia

• Barbour County - formed from parts of Harrison, Lewis, and Randolph Counties in 1843.
  • County Seat - Philippi.
• Berkeley County - created from Frederick County in 1772.
  • County Seat - Martinsburg.
• Boone County formed from Kanawha, Cabell, and Logan counties in 1847.
  • County Seat - Madison.
• Braxton County created in 1836 from Lewis and Nicholas Counties and part of Randolph County was added in 1849.
  • County Seat - Sutton.
• Brooke County formed in 1796 from Ohio County.
  • County Seat -Wellsburg.
• Cabell County created in 1809 from Kanawha County.
  • 1^st County Seat - Barboursville was the County Seat until
  • 2^nd County Seat - 1887 - moved to Huntington.
• Calhoun County was formed from Gilmer County in 1856.
  • 1^st County Seats - Earlier County Seats were located at Arnoldsburg, Brooksville, and the mouth of Pine Creek.
  • Final County Seat - Grantsville.
• Clay County created in 1858 from sections of Braxton and Nicholas Counties.
  • County Seat - Clay.
• Doddridge County formed from parts of Harrison, Tyler, Ritchie and Lewis Counties in 1845.
  • County Seat - West Union.
• Fayette County formed from Logan, Greenbrier, Nicholas and Kanawha Counties in 1831. Virginia's first Fayette County lay in the Western area that became Kentucky.
  • County Seat - Fayetteville.
• Gilmer County created in 1845 from portions of Lewis and Kanawha Counties.
  • 1^st County Seat - Dekalb
  • 2^nd County Seat - 1856 - moved to Glenville.
• Greenbrier County formed in 1778 from parts of Botetourt and Montgomery Counties, and portions of Monroe and Fayette Counties were added later.
  • County Seat - Lewisburg.
• Hampshire County oldest county in the state of West VA. Created by law in 1754 from sections of Augusta and Frederick Counties, border unrest during the French and Indian War delayed the formal organization of county government until 1757. Part of Augusta and Hardy Counties were added to Hampshire later.
  • County Seat - Romney.
• Hancock County created in 1848 from Brooke County. It is the smallest county in the state of West Virginia.
  • County Seat -New Cumberland.
• Hardy County formed in 1786 from Hampshire County.
  • County Seat -Moorefield.
• Harrison County created in 1784 from Monongalia County. Additional sections of Monongalia, Randolph and Ohio counties were added between 1800 and 1804.
  • County Seat - Clarksburg.
• Jackson County created in 1801 from Berkeley County.
  • County Seat -Charles Town.
• Kanawha County was first named Kenhawa but later changed to Kanawha. Formed in 1788 from parts of Greenbrier and Montgomery Counties.
  • County Seat - Charleston (also the State Capital).
• Lewis County created in 1816 from Harrison County and in 1818 part of Randolph County was added to Lewis.
  • County Seat -Weston.
• Logan County created in 1824 from sections of Giles, Cabell, Tazewell and Kanawha Counties. In 1830 additional parts of Cabell and Kanawha were added.
  • County Seat - Logan.
• McDowell County formed from Tazewell County in 1858.
  • 1^st County Seat - Perryville (courthouse not built there until 1872).
  • 2^nd County Seat - 1872, Welch was chosen by the voters as the new County Seat.
• Marion County formed in 1842 from Monongalia and Harrison Counties.
  • County Seat - Fairmont.
• Marshall County formed from Ohio County in 1835.
  • 1^st County Seat - Elizabethtown was named as the County Seat in the act creating the county, but merged with Moundsville in 1866
  • 2^nd County Seat - Moundsville is the present County Seat.
• Mason County created from Kanawha in 1804.
  • County Seat - Point Pleasant.
• Mercer County created in 1837 from portions Giles and Tazewell Counties.
  • County Seat - Princeton.
• Monongalia County (Indian name meaning the river of crumbling or caving banks) created in 1776 from the District of West Augusta and parts of Augusta County were added in 1779 an 1780.
  • County Seat - Morgantown.
• Monroe County formed in 1799 from Greenbrier County and in 1802 part of Botetourt was added.
  • County Seat - Union.
• Morgan County formed in 1820 from parts of Berkely and Hampshire Counties.
  • County Seat - Berkeley Springs.
• Nicholas County created in 1818 from sections of Greenbrier, Kanawha and Randolph Counties.
  • County Seat - Summersville.
• Ohio County created in 1776 at the same time as Monongalia County from part of the District of West Augusta. In 1785, part of Yohogania County was added to Ohio.
  • County Seat - Wheeling (formerly known as Zanesville).
• Pendleton County formed in 1788 from parts of Augusta, Hardy, and Rockingham Counties. In 1790, an additional section of Augusta County was added to Pendleton and in 1796 part of Bath County as well.
  • County Seat - Franklin.
• Pleasants County created in 1851 from portions of Wood, Tyler and Richie Counties.
  • County Seat - Saint Marys.
• Pocahontas County formed in 1821 from parts of Bath, Pendleton and Randolph Counties, and in 1824 a section of Greenbrier County was added.
  • County Seat - Marlinton.
• Preston County created in 1818 from a portion of Monongalia County, Parts of Randolph County were added in 1828 and 1838, and in 1841 another portion of Monongalia was added.
  • County Seat - Kingwood.
• Putnam County formed from sections of Kanawha, Calbell, and Mason Counties in 1848.
  • County Seat - Winfield.
• Raleigh County formed from part of Fayette County in 1850.
  • County Seat - Beckley.
• Randolph County formed in 1786 from Harrison County, the largest county in the state.
  • 1^st County Seat - Beverly
  • 2^nd County Seat - 1898 - moved to Elkins.
• Ritchie County created in 1843 from parts of Lewis, Harrison and Wood counties.
  • County Seat - Harrisville.
• Roane County formed in 1856 from portions of Kanawha, Jackson, and Gilmer Counties.
  • County Seat - Spencer.
• Taylor County formed in 1844 from portions of Harrison, Barbour, and Marion Counties, and another part of Marion County was added in 1856.
  • 1^st County Seat - Pruntytown was the first County Seat
  • 2^nd County Seat - 1878 the Town of Grafton.
• Tucker County formed from part of Randolph County.
  • County Seat - Parsons.
• Tyler County formed in 1814 from part of Ohio County.
  • County Seat - Middlebourne.
• Upshur County was created in 1851 from sections of Randolph, Barbour, and Lewis Counties.
  • County Seat - Buckhannon.
• Wayne County created in 1842 from part of Cabell County.
  • County Seat - Wayne.
• Webster County formed from parts of Nicholas and Randolph Counties.
  • County Seat - Webster Springs.
• Wetzel County formed in 1846 from part of Tyler County.
  • County Seat - New Martinsville.
• Wirt County created in 1848 from portions of Wood and Jackson Counties.
  • County Seat - Elizabeth.
• Wood County formed from Harrison County in 1798, and in 1800 part of Kanawha County was added.
  • County Seat - Parkersburg.
• Wyoming County created in 1850 from part of Logan County.
  • County Seat - Pineville.

RELATED LINKS on Current Virginia-Local Directory

GoTo: [Virginia - Genealogy] [Virginia - History] [USA - Migration]

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03Jan2000 Site Started
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USA - Virginia - Local - Some History of Virginia Counties
Updated 12 Sep 2005
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