| Back to e-WV The West Virginia Encyclopedia

Wirt County

Wirt County was created by the General Assembly of Virginia, January 19, 1848, from portions of Wood and Jackson counties. It was named for William Wirt, Virginia statesman and the presidential candidate of the Anti-Masonic Party in 1832.

Mapped Points

• Elizabeth

  Elizabeth was chartered by the General Assembly in 1822. It was named for Elizabeth Woodyard Beauchamp, wife of David Beauchamp, who owned and operated a mill on the site.

• Palestine

  Private Jessica Lynch of Palestine became a widely known figure following her rescue during the Iraq War.

• Burning Springs

  The oil and gas industry in West Virginia originated at Burning Springs. The community’s name was derived from two springs from which natural gas escaped and sometimes burned. The Rathbone Well, West Virginia’s first major oil well, was drilled in 1860. On May 9, 1863, Confederate raiders. They set fire to 150,000 barrels of oil, oil tanks, engines for pumping, engine houses, wagons, and oil-laden boats.
  

  

• Little Kanawha River

  The Little Kanawha River enters the Ohio River at Parkersburg, 169 miles from its beginning near Craddock, Upshur County. As it flows westward through Braxton, Gilmer, Calhoun, Wirt, and Wood counties, the Little Kanawha gathers water from numerous creeks and streams

• Hughes River

  While exploring the Little Kanawha River Valley in 1772, frontiersman Jesse Hughes discovered a major tributary and named it in honor of himself. The Hughes River drains Ritchie County and part of Wirt.