West Virginia Atlas of Historical County Boundaries
John H. Long, Editor; Peggy Tuck Sinko, Historical Compiler; Gordon DenBoer, Historical Compiler; Laura Rico-Beck, GIS-Specialist and Digital Compiler; Peter Siczewicz, ArcIMS Interactive Map Designer; Emily Kelley, Research Associate; Robert Will, Cartographic Assistant.
Copyright The Newberry Library 2003
[Note: Full chronologies and maps for all counties, both in Virginia and in West Virginia, before 20 June 1863 are in the section on Virginia.]
20 June 1863
The state of West Virginia was formally separated from Virginia and admitted to the Union. Most of West Virginia had been effectively independent of Virginia since June 1861. West Virginia was defined only in terms of the counties it included: BARBOUR, BOONE, BRAXTON, BROOKE, CABELL, CALHOUN, CLAY, DODDRIDGE, FAYETTE, GILMER, GREENBRIER, HAMPSHIRE, HANCOCK, HARDY, HARRISON, JACKSON, KANAWHA, LEWIS, LOGAN, McDOWELL, MARION, MARSHALL, MASON, MERCER, MONONGALIA, MONROE, MORGAN, NICHOLAS, OHIO, PENDLETON, PLEASANTS, POCAHONTAS, PRESTON, PUTNAM, RALEIGH, RANDOLPH, RITCHIE, ROANE, TAYLOR, TUCKER, TYLER, UPSHUR, WAYNE, WEBSTER, WETZEL, WIRT, WOOD, and WYOMING. (Swindler, 10:363)
5 August 1863
BERKELEY was separated from Virginia and became a county in the state of West Virginia. (U.S. Rpts., 78:39 [Wallace, vol. 11]; U.S. Stat., vol. 14, res. 12 [1866]/ p. 350; W.Va. Acts 1863, 1st sess., ch. 35, sec. 1/pp. 33–35)
7 October 1863
WIRT gained from WOOD. (W.Va. Acts 1863, 1st sess., ch. 59, sec. 1/pp. 58–59)
8 October 1863
RITCHIE gained small area from GILMER to accommodate local landowner [not mapped]. (W.Va. Acts 1863, 1st sess., ch. 61, sec. 1/pp. 59–60)
9 October 1863
TAYLOR gained small area from HARRISON to accommodate local landowners [not mapped]. (W.Va. Acts 1863, 1st sess., ch. 62, sec. 1/p. 60)
2 November 1863
JEFFERSON was separated from Virginia and became a county in the state of West Virginia. (U.S. Rpts., 78:39 [Wallace, vol. 11]; U.S. Stat., vol. 14, res. 12 [1866]/ p. 350; W.Va. Acts 1863, 1st sess., ch. 90, sec. 1/pp. 103–105)
1 August 1865
RANDOLPH exchanged with UPSHUR. (W.Va. Acts 1865, 3d sess., ch. 43, secs. 1, 4/p. 32)
1 February 1866
MINERAL created from HAMPSHIRE. (W.Va. Acts 1866, 4th sess., ch. 7, sec. 1/pp. 7–8)
14 February 1866
GRANT created from HARDY. (W.Va. Acts 1866, 4th sess., ch. 29, sec. 1/pp. 17–19)
13 February 1867
JACKSON gained from MASON. (W.Va. Acts 1867, 5th sess., ch. 27, sec. 1/pp. 40–41)
23 February 1867
LINCOLN created from BOONE, CABELL, KANAWHA, and PUTNAM. (W.Va. Acts 1867, 5th sess., ch. 61, sec. 1/pp. 76–79)
3 March 1868
PUTNAM gained from LINCOLN. (W.Va. Acts 1868, 6th sess., ch. 119, secs. 1–2/pp. 108–109)
4 March 1868
TYLER gained small area from WETZEL to accommodate local landowners [not mapped]. (W.Va. Acts 1868, 6th sess., ch. 159, sec. 1/p. 129)
WAYNE gained from LOGAN. (W.Va. Acts 1868, 6th sess., ch. 160/p. 130)
20 July 1868
BOONE gained from LINCOLN. (W.Va. Acts 1868, June ext. sess., ch. 68/pp. 50–51)
27 July 1868
LINCOLN gained from BOONE, CABELL, and LOGAN; exchanged with KANAWHA. (W.Va. Acts 1868, June ext. sess., ch. 92/pp. 63–64)
1 January 1869
MINERAL gained from HAMPSHIRE [repealed 8 February 1872]. (W.Va. Acts 1868, 6th sess., ch. 86, secs. 1, 5/pp. 84–85)
26 February 1869
LINCOLN gained from LOGAN and WAYNE, lost to CABELL. (W.Va. Acts 1869, 7th sess., ch. 56, secs. 1–2, 8/pp. 34–36)
7 February 1871
TUCKER gained from BARBOUR. (W.Va. Acts 1871, 9th sess., ch. 12, sec. 1/pp. 19–20)
16 February 1871
Boundary between BARBOUR and HARRISON clarified [no discernible change]. (W.Va. Acts 1871, 9th sess., ch. 49, sec. 1/p. 68)
RALEIGH gained from WYOMING. (W.Va. Acts 1871, 9th sess., ch. 56, sec. 1/p. 74)
27 February 1871
SUMMERS created from FAYETTE, GREENBRIER, MERCER, and MONROE. (W.Va. Acts 1871, 9th sess., ch. 134, sec. 1/pp. 178–180)
8 February 1872
HAMPSHIRE gained from MINERAL [repealed act of 1 January 1869]. (W.Va. Acts 1872, 10th sess., ch. 13/p. 19)
13 February 1872
WIRT gained from ROANE. (W.Va. Acts 1872, 10th sess., ch. 26, sec. 1/pp. 39–40)
27 February 1872
WAYNE gained from LINCOLN. (W.Va. Acts 1872, 10th sess., ch. 106, sec. 1/p. 155)
19 April 1882
WEBSTER gained from GREENBRIER and NICHOLAS. (W.Va. Acts 1882, January adj. sess., ch. 5, sec. 1/p. 6)
23 May 1883
CALHOUN gained small area from GILMER [not mapped]. (W.Va. Acts 1883, 16th sess., ch. 35, sec. 1/pp. 52–53)
30 January 1895
MINGO created from LOGAN. (W.Va. Acts 1895, 22d sess., ch. 68, sec. 1/pp. 212–214)
21 February 1910
The United States Supreme Court ruled that the Deakins Line of 1788 had become the true western boundary of Maryland with West Virginia through long de facto observance [no change]. (Paullin, 79; U.S. Rpts., 217:1)
25 July 1927
KANAWHA gained small area from JACKSON [not mapped]. (W.Va. Acts 1927, 38th sess., ch. 156/pp. 336–338)
17 February 1955
LINCOLN boundaries redefined and established [no discernible change]. (W.Va. Acts 1955, 52d sess., ch. 190, sec. 1/pp. 542–543)
8 March 1955
Boundary between KANAWHA and PUTNAM redefined [no discernible change]. (W.Va. Acts 1955, 52d sess., ch. 186, sec. 1/pp. 536–539)
2 June 1959
Boundary between MONROE and ALLEGHANY (Va.) redefined [no change]. (W.Va. Acts 1959, 54th sess., ch. 26, secs. 1, 5/pp. 135–137)
13 March 1998
Boundary between JEFFERSON and LOUDOUN (Va.) clarified [no discernible change]. (W. Va. Acts 1994, 71st leg., ch. 15/pp. 46–48; W. Va. Acts 1998, 73d leg., ch. 74/pp. 338–339; Va. Acts 1998, ch. 123/pp. 213–214)