Boone County, West Virginia facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Boone County
U.S. county
Boone County Courthouse in Madison
Seal
Location within the U.S. state of West Virginia
West Virginia's location within the U.S.
Country	United States
State	West Virginia
Founded	March 11, 1847
Named for	Daniel Boone
Seat	Madison
Largest city	Madison
Area
• Total	503.19 sq mi (1,303.3 km2)
• Land	501.53 sq mi (1,299.0 km2)
• Water	1.66 sq mi (4.3 km2)
Population  (2020)
• Total	21,809
• Estimate  (2021)	21,312
• Density	43.48/sq mi (16.79/km2)
Time zone	UTC−5 (Eastern)
• Summer (DST)	UTC−4 (EDT)
Congressional district	1st

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.

History

The county was formed in 1847 with territories annexed from Kanawha, Cabell, and Logan counties. It was named for frontiersman Daniel Boone, who lived in the Great Kanawha Valley from 1789 until 1795.

In 1863, West Virginia's counties were divided into civil townships, with the intention of encouraging local government. This proved impractical in the heavily rural state, and in 1872 the townships were converted into magisterial districts. Boone County was divided into five districts: Crook, Peytona, Scott, Sherman, and Washington. Between 1980 and 1990, the county was redivided into three magisterial districts: District 1, District 2, and District 3.

On February 1, 2006, two fatal mining accidents occurred in the communities of Uneeda and Wharton in Boone County. These two deaths with the addition of January's Sago Mine disaster and the Aracoma Alma Mine disaster caused West Virginia Governor Joe Manchin to close all of West Virginia's mines in a "mine safety stand-down."

Geography

Boone County lies in the central southwestern part of West Virginia. Its terrain consists of low wooded mountains, carved with drainages. The terrain slopes to the north and west, with its highest point at its south corner, at 3,212 ft (979 m) ASL. The county has a total area of 503 square miles (1,300 km²), of which 502 square miles (1,300 km²) is land and 1.7 square miles (4.4 km²) (0.3%) is water.

Major highways

Adjacent counties

Demographics

2010 census

As of the census of 2010, there were 24,629 people, 9,928 households, and 7,014 families in the county. The population density was 49.1 people per square mile (19.0 people/km²). There were 11,070 housing units at an average density of 22.1 units per square mile (8.5 units/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 98.5% white, 0.5% black or African American, 0.1% Asian, 0.1% American Indian, 0.2% from other races, and 0.6% from two or more races. Those of Hispanic or Latino origin made up 0.4% of the population. In terms of ancestry, 15.4% were German, 13.3% were American, 12.9% were Irish, and 8.3% were English.

Of the 9,928 households, 32.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 54.0% were married couples living together, 11.3% had a female householder with no husband present, 29.4% were non-families, and 25.7% of all households were made up of individuals. The average household size was 2.47 and the average family size was 2.94. The median age was 40.7 years.

The median income for a household in the county was $39,783 and the median income for a family was $47,981. Males had a median income of $51,740 versus $32,110 for females. The per capita income for the county was $20,457. About 15.6% of families and 19.3% of the population were below the poverty line, including 25.9% of those under age 18 and 13.4% of those age 65 or over.

Education

Madison

• Brookview Elementary School
• Madison Elementary School
• Ramage Elementary School
• Madison Middle School
• Scott High School

Van

• Van Elementary School
• Van Jr./Sr. High School

Seth

• Ashford-Rumble Elementary School
• Sherman Elementary School
• Whitesville Elementary School
• Sherman Junior High School
• Sherman Senior High School

Communities

City

• Madison (county seat)

Towns

• Danville
• Sylvester
• Whitesville

Magisterial districts

• District 1
• District 2
• District 3

Census-designated places

Unincorporated communities

Notable people

• Hasil Adkins, musician
• Billy Edd Wheeler, songwriter
• D. Ray White, mountain dancer, father of Jesco White
• Jesco White, "the Dancing Outlaw", mountain dancer, son of D. Ray White, uncle of local sports hero Derek "Derkie" Cook Castle White

See also

In Spanish: Condado de Boone (Virginia Occidental) para niños