Clay County, West Virginia

Clay County, West Virginia
Location in the state of West Virginia
West Virginia's location in the U.S.
Founded	1858
Seat	Clay
Area  - Total  - Land  - Water	344 sq mi (891 km²) 343 sq mi (888 km²) 1 sq mi (3 km²), 0.41%
Population  - (2000)  - Density	10,330 31/sq mi (12/km²)

The Old Clay County Courthouse in Clay in 2007

Clay County is a county located in the U.S. state of West Virginia. Its name is in honor of Henry Clay, famous American statesman, member of the United States Senate from Kentucky and United States Secretary of State in the 19th century. As of the 2010 census, the population was 9,386. [1] Its county seat is Clay^[1].

Clay County is part of the Charleston, WV metropolitan area.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 344 square miles (891.0 km²), of which 342 square miles (885.8 km²) is land and 1 square mile (2.6 km²) (0.41%) is water. Major routes include the major roads of Route 04, Route 16, Route 26, Route 36, and Interstate 79. Other major routes include the country routes of route 5 near in Elkhurst, Triplett Ridge, from Clay to Widen, Summer Fork Roane Road, which takes you to Wallback and Grannies Creek in Roane County, and Queen Shoals Road (Queen Road) which starts in the small town of Queen Shoals in Kanawha County, and ends in Indore, Clay County.

Major highways

• Interstate 79
• West Virginia Route 4
• West Virginia Route 16
• West Virginia Route 26
• West Virginia Route 36

Adjacent counties

• Calhoun County (north)
• Braxton County (northeast)
• Nicholas County (southeast)
• Kanawha County (west)
• Roane County (northwest)

Demographics

Historical populations
Census	Pop.		%±
1860	1,787		—
1870	2,196		22.9%
1880	3,460		57.6%
1890	4,659		34.7%
1900	8,248		77.0%
1910	10,233		24.1%
1920	11,486		12.2%
1930	13,125		14.3%
1940	15,206		15.9%
1950	14,961		−1.6%
1960	11,942		−20.2%
1970	9,330		−21.9%
1980	11,265		20.7%
1990	9,983		−11.4%
2000	10,330		3.5%

As of the census^[2] of 2000, there were 10,330 people, 4,020 households, and 2,942 families residing in the county. The population density was 30 people per square mile (12/km²). There were 4,836 housing units at an average density of 14 per square mile (5/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 98.22% White, 0.08% Black or African American, 0.71% Native American, 0.02% Asian, 0.09% from other races, and 0.89% from two or more races. 0.41% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There were 4,020 households out of which 33.50% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 58.20% were married couples living together, 10.40% had a female householder with no husband present, and 26.80% were non-families. 24.30% of all households were made up of individuals and 11.40% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.55 and the average family size was 3.01.

In the county, the population was spread out with 25.60% under the age of 18, 9.00% from 18 to 24, 27.50% from 25 to 44, 24.20% from 45 to 64, and 13.70% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females there were 97.90 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 97.30 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $22,120, and the median income for a family was $27,137. Males had a median income of $30,161 versus $16,642 for females. The per capita income for the county was $12,021. About 24.40% of families and 27.50% of the population were below the poverty line, including 37.00% of those under age 18 and 15.00% of those age 65 or over.

Localities

Town

• Clay

Unincorporated Towns and Communities

Adonijah Bentree Bickmore Big Otter Clay Junction Dille Duck Dundon Floe Fola Glen Hartland Independence Indore Ivydale

Little Italy Lizemores Maysel Mountain Home O'Brion Porter Procious Swandale Valley Fork Two Run Wallback Whetstone Widen Varneytown

See also

• National Register of Historic Places listings in Clay County, West Virginia

References

1. ^ "Find a County". National Association of Counties. http://www.naco.org/Counties/Pages/FindACounty.aspx. Retrieved 2011-06-07. 
2. ^ "American FactFinder". United States Census Bureau. http://factfinder.census.gov. Retrieved 2008-01-31. 

External links

• Official Private/Gossip Website of Clay County
• Clay County Schools
• WVGenWeb Clay County

Coordinates: 38°28′N 81°04′W / 38.46°N 81.07°W / 38.46; -81.07