McDowell County, West Virginia
Historic newspapers, landmarks, and county history layers for genealogists and local historians.
At a glance
SummaryThe National Register of Historic Places includes 19 listed properties in the county, first listed in 1979. Most listings are in or near Kimball, Welch, Switchback.
Summary generated automatically from the source data on this page.
Newspapers
Library of CongressNewspaper directory data for West Virginia is not yet loaded on this site. Browse McDowell titles at the Library of Congress.
National Register of Historic Places
NPS NRHP16 of 19 listings mapped; some locations are restricted by NPS to protect sensitive sites.
19 listed properties
| Property | City | Listed |
|---|---|---|
| Algoma Coal and Coke Company Store | Algoma | 1992 |
| Ashland Company Store | Ashland | 2005 |
| Carter Coal Company Store | Coalwood | 1992 |
| Carter Coal Company Store | Caretta | 1992 |
| Empire Coal Company Store | Landgraff | 1992 |
| Henrietta Dismukes Hospital Nurses Home | Kimball | 2026 |
| Houston Coal Company Store | Kimball | 1992 |
| Jones, James Ellwood, House | Switchback | 1992 |
| Lincoln, John J., House | Elkhorn | 1992 |
| McDowell County Courthouse | Welch | 1979 |
| Page Coal and Coke Company Store | Pageton | 1992 |
| Peerless Coal Company Store | Vivian | 1992 |
| Pocahontas Fuel Company Store | Maybeury | 1992 |
| Pocahontas Fuel Company Store | Switchback | 1992 |
| Pocahontas Fuel Company Store and Office Buildings | Jenkinjones | 1992 |
| U.S. Coal and Coke Company | Ream | 1992 |
| Welch Commercial Historic District | Welch | 1992 |
| Welch Commercial Historic District (Boundary Increase) | Welch | 2018 |
| World War Memorial | Kimball | 1993 |
Source: National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Property links open NRHP nomination files at the National Archives.
County formation
Newberry AHCBMcdowell was formed in 1858 (1858-02-20) from TAZEWELL (Va.
McDOWELL created by Virginia from TAZEWELL (Va.) and WYOMING; on 20 June 1863 became a county in the state of West Virginia.
Source: Newberry Library, Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.
Population by decade
CensusMcDowell County population from 1860 to 2020 (Census historical series).
| 1860 | 1880 | 1900 | 1920 | 1940 | 1950 | 1960 | 1980 | 2000 | 2020 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1,535 | 3,074 | 18,747 | 68,571 | 94,354 | 98,887 | 71,359 | 49,899 | 27,329 | 19,111 |
Sources: U.S. Census Bureau historical county population (Forstall 1790–1990) and public-domain / CC0 county population series through 2020.
Cemeteries & historical places
USGS GNIS95 cemeteries and 3 historical populated places (ghost towns / former settlements) recorded in USGS GNIS for this county.
Cemeteries — 80 of 95 listed
| Name |
|---|
| Adams Cemetery |
| Adams Cemetery |
| Algoma Cemetery |
| Allen Cemetery |
| Altizer Cemetery |
| Atwell Cemetery |
| Bailey Cemetery |
| Bailey Cemetery |
| Bailey Cemetery |
| Bailey Cemetery |
| Blankenship Cemetery |
| Blankenship Cemetery |
| Blevins Cemetery |
| Bowles Cemetery |
| Brant Cemetery |
| Buckeye Cemetery |
| Candy Cemetery |
| Cline Cemetery |
| Cline Cemetery |
| Collins Cemetery |
| Collins Cemetery |
| Collins Cemetery |
| Collins Cemetery |
| Collins Cemetery |
| Cooper Cemetery |
| Day Cemetery |
| Deskins Cemetery |
| Estep Cemetery |
| Estep Cemetery |
| Estep Cemetery |
| Hagerman Cemetery |
| Haggy Cemetery |
| Hartwell - Berwind Cemetery |
| Horn Cemetery |
| Horne Cemetery |
| Horne Cemetery |
| Hunt Cemetery |
| Hurley Cemetery |
| Iaeger Memorial Cemetery |
| Justice Cemetery |
| Keen Cemetery |
| Keen Cemetery |
| Kelly Cemetery |
| Kennedy Cemetery |
| Kennedy Cemetery |
| Knob Cemetery |
| Knob Cemetery |
| Lester Cemetery |
| Lester Cemetery |
| Lester Cemetery |
| Lockhart Cemetery |
| Lockhart Cemetery |
| Lockhart Cemetery |
| Lockhart Cemetery |
| Lomax Cemetery |
| Lowe Cemetery |
| Matney Cemetery |
| Meadows Cemetery |
| Mitchell Cemetery |
| Mitchem Cemetery |
| Mounts Cemetery |
| Mullins Cemetery |
| Mullins Cemetery |
| Mullins Cemetery |
| New Belcher Mountain Community Cemetery |
| Oak Grove Cemetery |
| Old Belcher Mountain Community Cemetery |
| Payne Cemetery |
| Payne Cemetery |
| Powell Cemetery |
| Puckett Cemetery |
| Reed Cemetery |
| Riffe Cemetery |
| Robert Cemetery |
| Robert Cemetery |
| Roberts Cemetery |
| Robertson Cemetery |
| Rockhouse Cemetery |
| Roe Cemetery |
| Rose Cemetery |
Historical populated places — 3 of 3
| Name |
|---|
| Clark |
| Eight |
| Hix |
Source: USGS Geographic Names Information System (public domain). Cemeteries from the 2021 NationalFile archive; historical places from GNIS HistoricalFeatures topical extract.
Historical markers
HMdb linkMarker text and photos from the Historical Marker Database (HMdb) are not embedded here. HMdb allows non-commercial reuse with attribution, but commercial/compensated use needs written permission; this is a commercial site, so we only link out.
Search HMdb for McDowell County, West Virginia
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