Ohio County is a county located in the Northern Panhandle of the U.S. state of West Virginia, and forms part of the Wheeling metropolitan area. As of the 2020 census, the population was 42,425. Its county seat is Wheeling. The county was formed in 1776 from the District of West Augusta, Virginia. It was named for the Ohio River, which forms its western boundary with the state of Ohio. West Liberty was designated as the county seat in 1777, serving to 1797.
Wyoming County is a county in the U.S. state of West Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 21,382. Its county seat is Pineville. The county was created in 1850 from Logan County and named for the Lenape word meaning "large plains".
Raleigh County is a county in the U.S. state of West Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 74,591. Its county seat is Beckley. The county was founded in 1850 and is named for Sir Walter Raleigh. Raleigh County is included in the Beckley, West Virginia, Metropolitan Statistical Area.
Mercer County is a county in Southern West Virginia on the southeastern border of the U.S. state of West Virginia. At the 2020 census, the population was 59,664. Its county seat is Princeton. The county was originally established in the State of Virginia by act of its General Assembly on March 17, 1837, using lands taken from Giles and Tazewell counties.
Boone County is a county in the U.S. state of West Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 21,809. Its county seat is Madison. Boone County is part of the Charleston, WV Metropolitan Statistical Area. Leading industries and chief agricultural products in Boone County include coal, lumber, natural gas, tobacco, and strawberries.
Alum Creek is a census-designated place (CDP) in Kanawha and Lincoln counties along the Coal River in the U.S. state of West Virginia. It includes the unincorporated communities of Alum Creek, Forks of Coal, and Priestley. The CDP had a population of 1,749 at the 2010 census, down from 1,839 at the 2000 census.
Pineville is a town in and the county seat of Wyoming County, West Virginia, United States, situated along the Guyandotte River. The population was 648 at the 2020 census.
Coalwood is an unincorporated coal town in McDowell County, West Virginia, United States. The coal mine in Coalwood reached its peak in the 1950s and ceased production on October 1, 1986. As of the 1990 census—the last time the town was counted separately—the population was 900. The town is the setting of Homer Hickam's best-selling 1998 memoir Rocket Boys, as well as its 1999 film adaptation, October Sky.
Southern West Virginia is a culturally and geographically distinct region in the U.S. state of West Virginia. Southern West Virginia has coal mining heritage and Southern affinity, including being part of the Bible Belt. The region is also closely identified with Southwestern Virginia and Eastern Kentucky, with close proximity to Western North Carolina and East Tennessee, which are all part of Appalachia and the Upland South.
Woodrow Wilson High School is a high school in Beckley, West Virginia, teaching grades nine through twelve. It is one of four secondary schools in the Raleigh County Public School District. The school's colors are maroon and white, and the mascot is a Flying Eagle. The school's principal is Ryan Stafford. Feeder schools are Park Middle School and Beckley Stratton Middle School. In 1967, it moved from its original location to its current location at 400 Stanaford Road.
The Dry Fork is a 47.7-mile-long (76.8 km) tributary of the Tug Fork, belonging to the Ohio River watershed. The river is located in McDowell County, West Virginia, and Tazewell County, Virginia, in the United States. The mouth of the Dry Fork into the Tug Fork is located at Iaeger.
Liberty High School is one of the three high schools in Bedford County, Virginia. Liberty High School opened in 1964. Its mascot is the "Minuteman." School colors are red, white and navy blue. The school serves students from Villamont, Thaxton, Montvale, Big Island and Bedford. The principal of Liberty High School is Mr. Justin Tucker, and the assistant principals are Dawn Verhoeff and Ernie Sawyer.
Baileysville is an unincorporated community in Wyoming County, West Virginia, United States. Most of the town was purchased by the United States Army Corps of Engineers in the 1960s and 1970s for construction of the R. D. Bailey Lake. The Post Office was closed in 1973. The geographic name lived on in the local high school, Baileysville High School, which served a regional area and was actually located outside of the town proper. The school was closed in 2002 after consolidating with nearby Oceana High to form Westside High School.
The Federal Correctional Institution, Beckley is a medium-security United States federal prison for male inmates in West Virginia. It is operated by the Federal Bureau of Prisons, a division of the United States Department of Justice. An adjacent satellite camp houses minimum-security inmates.
The Beckley-Raleigh County Convention Center is a 2,856-seat indoor arena and convention center located in Beckley, West Virginia. It is used for basketball and is home to the West Virginia University Institute of Technology and Woodrow Wilson High School basketball teams. It was built in 1961.
Independence High School is a consolidated high school in rural Raleigh County, West Virginia, located in the town of Coal City, West Virginia. The names of Independence and its sister school and rival Liberty High School reflect the fact they were both built in 1976, the U.S. Bicentennial. Independence consolidated the former Stoco and Sophia high schools and currently has over 500 students. The school nickname is Patriots and its colors are red, white, and blue.
Devils Fork was an unincorporated community located in Wyoming and Raleigh counties, West Virginia, United States.
Raleigh County Schools is a public school district in Raleigh County, West Virginia, located at 105 Adair Street, in the county seat of Beckley, West Virginia. The school district operates 27 public schools, including 17 elementary schools, 5 middle schools, and 4 high schools. The district also maintains a career-technical education center for high school students and adults. The current superintendent is Dr. Serena Starcher.
Located in Rock Creek, Raleigh County, West Virginia, Marsh Fork Elementary School accommodated a student body of around 260 children. It sat 400 yards below a 385-foot dam owned by Massey Energy.
