West Union, West Virginia

West Union, WV (West Virginia), the county seat of Doddridge County, was incorporated in 1881. A village on the opposite bank of Middle Island Creek had been known as Union when the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad established a station in 1857, after which the village that developed on the west bank of the stream became known as West Union.

The community is a drive of more than 200 miles north of Union, in southern West Virginia, a community with which it is unrelated. The North Bend Rail Trail follows the former route of the B&O Railway through the town. Its population was 669 at the 2020 census.

Today, farming, timbering, oil and gas, and the county government and public education support the area, and many residents commute to jobs in Salem, Clarksburg, and Parkersburg.

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History

James Caldwell settled the area in the late 1780s on 20,000 acres, including what would become West Union. In 1807, he sold it to Nathan Davis, Jr. (1772-1866) and his brothers. They sold 16,000 acres to Lewis Maxwell (1790-1862), a Virginia congressman.

The settlement was initially called Lewisport, but Davis later suggested the name of “West Union” in deference to a proposed town of Union to be built on the eastern side of Middle Island Creek.

A first bridge across Middle Island Creek at West Union was built of hewed logs on a center abutment of stones but washed away in a 1835 flood. In 1842, civil engineer Claudius Crozet was awarded a contract to build a new covered bridge as part of a series of public works along the Northwestern Turnpike.

Ephraim Bee (1802–1888), a local blacksmith who was also a district officer, magistrate, state legislator, hotelier, and postmaster at various times, made all the bolts and bands for the West Union Covered Bridge, which was completed in 1843.

A fire devastated the town on the night of March 27, 1858. At the time, many citizens were attending the U.S. court at Clarksburg and were not available to suppress the blaze. The settlement appeared as a “mass of smoldering ruins,” though the Parkersburg and Grafton Branch of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad had just been completed, and the town revived quickly.

Nearby Maxwell Ridge, named for Congressman Maxwell’s family, is said to have a cave that the Underground Railroad used in the years before the Civil War. West Union was home to Matthew M. Neely, the grandfather of West Virginia’s 21st governor. Governor Matthew M. Neely, also a U.S. Senator, was born in 1874 just south of the town.

The region’s productive oil and gas fields provided great wealth for West Union. In the early 1900s, the oil and gas supply attracted the Ideal Glass Factory and Doddridge County Window Glass Company, which together employed about 300. A flood devastated West Union in June 1950, destroying homes, businesses, and the covered bridge.

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Historic Districts

West Union is also home to two nationally recognized historic districts—the West Union Downtown Historic District and the West Union Residential Historic District. The Lathrop Russell Charter House, Doddridge County Courthouse, Silas P. Smith Opera House, and W. Scott Stuart House are individually listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

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Lodging near West Union, West Virginia

West Union (WV) Hotels

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Climate

The climate in this area of West Union and the valley of Middle Island Creek is characterized by hot, humid summers and generally mild to cool winters. According to the Köppen Climate Classification system, it’s a humid subtropical climate.

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Location

West Union is located on highway WV-18, one mile north of the US-50 expressway and approximately eight miles northwest of New Milton, West Virginia, 25 miles southeast of Middlebourne, West Virginia, 14 miles west of Salem, West Virginia, and 15 miles east of Pennsboro, West Virginia.

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Map of West Union, West Virginia

[mappress mapid=”276″]

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Regional Information

West Union is located in the Heartland Region in north-central West Virginia.