Raleigh County, West Virginia
| Raleigh County, West Virginia | ||
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The Raleigh County Courthouse in Beckley
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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 | 1850 | |
| Named for | Sir Walter Raleigh | |
| Seat | Beckley | |
| Largest city | Beckley | |
| Area | ||
| • Total | 609 sq mi (1,577 km2) | |
| • Land | 605 sq mi (1,567 km2) | |
| • Water | 4.0 sq mi (10 km2), 0.7% | |
| Population (est.) | ||
| • (2015) | 77,510 | |
| • Density | 129/sq mi (50/km²) | |
| Congressional district | 3rd | |
| Time zone | Eastern: UTC-5/-4 | |
| Website | www |
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Raleigh County is a county located in the U.S. state of West Virginia. As of the 2010 census, the population was 78,859. Its county seat is Beckley. The county was founded in 1850 and is named for Sir Walter Raleigh.
Raleigh County is included in the Beckley, West Virginia Metropolitan Statistical Area.
Raleigh County was formed on January 23, 1850 from portions of Fayette County, then a part of Virginia.
Alfred Beckley (1802–1888) said he gave Raleigh County its name in honor of Sir Walter Raleigh (1552–1618), the "enterprising and far-seeing patron of the earliest attempts to colonize our old Mother State of Virginia", according to Raleigh County: West Virginia by Jim Wood.
The county was the scene in 1914 of the Eccles Mine Disaster, the second-worst coal mining disaster in West Virginia history. The death toll was at least 180. More recently, the Upper Big Branch Mine disaster of 2010, which killed 29, also occurred in Raleigh County.
Longtime Senator Robert Byrd's home town was Sophia.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 609 square miles (1,580 km2), of which 605 square miles (1,570 km2) is land and 4.0 square miles (10 km2) (0.7%) is water.
As of the census of 2000, there were 79,220 people, 31,793 households, and 22,096 families residing in the county. The population density was 130 people per square mile (50/km²). There were 35,678 housing units at an average density of 59 per square mile (23/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 89.63% White, 8.52% Black or African American, 0.19% Native American, 0.72% Asian, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 0.12% from other races, and 0.80% from two or more races. 0.92% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. This number is around 0.3% based on a 2006 Census Estimate by the U.S. Census Bureau
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