Doddridge County
| Doddridge County, West Virginia | |
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The Doddridge County Courthouse (1899) in West Union
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 Location in the U.S. state of West Virginia |
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 West Virginia's location in the U.S. |
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| Founded | February 4, 1845 |
| Named for | Philip Doddridge |
| Seat | West Union |
| Largest town | West Union |
| Area | |
| • Total | 320 sq mi (829 km2) |
| • Land | 320 sq mi (829 km2) |
| • Water | 0.8 sq mi (2 km2), 0.2% |
| Population (est.) | |
| • (2015) | 8,176 |
| • Density | 26/sq mi (10/km²) |
| Congressional district | 1st |
| Time zone | Eastern: UTC-5/-4 |
| Website | www |
Doddridge County is a county in the U.S. state of West Virginia. Its county seat is West Union.
Doddridge County is part of the Clarksburg, West Virginia, WV Micropolitan Statistical Area.
The area that became Doddridge County, Virginia — now West Virginia — was first settled in the late 1780s by James Caldwell, who owned 20,000 acres (81 km2) of land that included present West Union. Caldwell sold this land to Nathan Davis, Jr (1772-1866) and his brothers about 1807. They in turn sold 16,000 acres (65 km2) to Lewis Maxwell (1790-1862), a Virginia Assembly delegate in the 1820s who later became a U.S. Congressman. In 1828 Ephraim Bee, Sr (1802–1888) and his wife Catherine established a log home on Meathouse Fork of Middle Island Creek, now part of West Union. They built an Inn across the "Creek" (really a river) at what was then called Lewisport (Congressman Maxwell's namesake), below a blockhouse on the Northwestern Turnpike. The "Beehive Inn" became a popular place for travelers and locals to meet, refresh themselves and re-provision. Bee operated the first local blacksmith shop; a farm, stables, tannery and horse-racing track soon followed.
According to Ephraim's father, A.A. Bee: "The first bridge across Middle Island Creek [at West Union] was of hewed logs with a center abutment of stones. In the great flood of 1835 it was washed away". In 1842, a contract was awarded to the well-known civil engineer Claudius Crozet to build a covered bridge at West Union, as part of a series of public works along the Turnpike. Ephraim Bee was by this time a district officer, magistrate, state legislator, hotelier, and postmaster. As blacksmith, he made all the bolts and bands for the West Union Covered Bridge, completed in 1843.
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