Series 1. Counties, Boxes 1-86

The West Virginia County series includes records for 53 of the state's 55 counties, excluding Mineral and Morgan Counties (Mineral County records are in A&M 183):

1. Barbour, boxes 1-4
2. Berkeley, boxes 4-5
3. Boone, box 5
4. Braxton, boxes 6-7
5. Brooke, box 7
6. Cabell, boxes 7-10
7. Calhoun, box 10
8. Clay, box 10
9. Doddridge, boxes 10-14
10. Fayette, boxes 14-16
11. Gilmer, boxes 16-20
12. Grant, box 20
13. Greenbrier, boxes 21-22
14. Hardy, boxes 22-23
15. Hampshire, box 23 (see also A&M 183)
16. Hancock, box 24
17. Harrison, box 24
18. Jackson, box 25
19. Jefferson, boxes 25-27
20. Kanawha, boxes 28-29
21. Lewis, box 29
22. Lincoln, box 29
23. Logan, box 30
24. Marion, box 30
25. Marshall, box 31
26. Mason, boxes 31-36
27. Mercer, boxes 37-42
xx. Mineral (in A&M 183)
28. Mingo, boxes 43-45
29. Monongalia, box 46
30. Monroe, boxes 47-53
31. McDowell, box 54
32. Nicholas, boxes 55-57
33. Ohio, boxes 57-58
34. Pendleton, box 59
35. Pleasants, box 59
36. Pocahontas, boxes 60-64
37. Preston, box 65
38. Putnam, boxes 65-67
39. Raleigh, boxes 68-70
40. Randolph, box 71
41. Ritchie, box 71
42. Roane, box 71
43. Summers, boxes 72-75
44. Taylor, boxes 76-77
45. Tucker, boxes 78-80
46. Tyler, box 80
47. Upshur, boxes 80-81
48. Wayne, box 81
49. Webster, boxes 81-83
50. Wetzel, box 83
51. Wirt, box 83
52. Wood, boxes 84-86
53. Wyoming, box 86

Each county in Series 1 contains records documenting some or all of the following 18 topics:

1. Natural Setting. Includes: photographs, clippings, recordings of personal observations, interviews, geological surveys, information from county government nurseries, and the West Virginia Blue book, describing the topography, wild life, terrain, and botanical characteristics of counties.

2. Points of Interest. Includes: narratives and research reports collected and prepared by Writers' Program staff, clippings, photographs, maps, and magazine articles regarding subjects deemed to have special significance in the counties such as historic houses, businesses, parks, public buildings, markers, forts, memorials, Native American burial mounds, and battlefields.

3. Places and Places Names. Includes: clippings, narratives, statistics, and histories regarding the naming of cities, towns, communities, and geographic features in the counties.

4. Early Life and Occupations. Includes: research reports collected and prepared by Writers' Program staff, narratives, oral histories, photographs, and illustrations documenting the lives of the first white settlers. Most occupations focused on survival and involved farming, hunting, and fur trading. There are also several narratives recording the relationships between the settlers and the Native Americans.

5. The People. Includes: research reports collected and prepared by the Writers' Program staff, clippings, census records, and magazine articles among other materials, regarding the diversity and ancestry of past and present residents in the counties, including documentation of their races, nationalities, religions, and cultures.

6. History. Includes: research reports collected and prepared by the Writers' Program staff, narratives, muster lists, poll records, oral histories, photographs, clippings, maps, and archeological information regarding the history of the counties, usually beginning with the "aborigines" or native inhabitants, the first European settlers, and the relationships between the two cultures, including conflicts; and establishment of county governments and commerce under colonial rule, and later as part of an independent nation. There is also information pertaining to local citizen involvement in battles and wars such as The French and Indian War (1755-1763), Dunmore's War (1774), The American Revolution (1775-1783), The War of 1812 (1812-1814), The Mexican-American War (1846-48), The Spanish -American War (1898), and The First World War (1917-1918).

7. Civil War History. Includes: research reports collected and prepared by the Writers' Program staff, clippings, narratives, muster rolls, causality lists, correspondence, interviews, personal memoirs, photographs, songs, and poems pertaining to the involvement of county residents, both Union and Confederate, in the "War Between the States", including accounts of battles, skirmishes, and related events, mostly in the West Virginia and Virginia region.

8. Biographical Sketches. Includes: research reports collected and prepared by the Writers' Program staff, clippings, narratives, and photographs regarding notable citizens of the counties.

9. Transportation and Communication. Includes: research reports collected and prepared by the Writers Program staff, photographs, surveys, maps, clippings, schedules, statistical charts, transcripts of court records, deeds, and contracts recording the history and development of transportation infrastructure, including roadways, bridges, railroads, waterways, and airfields in the counties, including the introduction of new modes of transportation. There is also information regarding the history and progress of communication technology such as the pony express mail delivery, the telegraph, telephones, radio, airmail delivery, and newspapers.

10. Commerce and Industry. Includes: photographs, clippings, ephemera, statistics, geological surveys, transcripts of mine reports, and biographies of entrepreneurs regarding the major industries of the counties such as mining, oil and natural gas drilling, and the processing and transportation of coal and timber. There are also histories of once successful enterprises, including grain and lumber mills, iron ore producers, glass factories, and potteries.

11. Cultural and Social Advances. Includes: newspaper clippings, magazines articles, correspondence, ephemera, and narratives regarding museums, literary activities and libraries, the arts and theater, medical and health resources, and benevolent organizations.

12. County Government. Includes: memoirs, historical narratives, and other material regarding the formation of the counties and their governments; the location of courthouses; the establishment of laws and statutes, law enforcement, and a judicial system; and New Deal infrastructure projects. There are also transcripts of census records, and of court records such as taxes, wills, deeds, and election results.

13. Education. Includes: research reports and narratives collected and prepared by Writers' Program staff, newspaper clippings, class schedules, school enrollments, records of Boards of Education, and photographs regarding the histories, curriculums, facilities, and faculties of county public ("free") grade schools, high schools, private and parochial schools, trade schools, colleges, and West Virginia University. In addition there is information pertaining to several "Negro" or segregated schools and colleges.

14. Religion. Includes: narratives, research reports collected and prepared by the Writers' Program staff; photographs; correspondence; ephemera; and transcripts of church, court, and cemetery records. The bulk of the information pertains to the history of individual Christian churches, regional circuit riders, local clergy, denominations, church buildings, and church schools. There is also material regarding the local African-American churches such as the A.M.E. (the African Methodist Episcopal) church.

15. Annual Events. Includes: newspaper clippings, magazine articles, narratives, calendars, photographs, and ephemera documenting yearly festivals, fairs, contests, parades, jubilees, concerts, and galas among other traditional celebrations in the counties.

16. Permanent Organizations. Includes: narratives, newspaper clippings, and directories documenting clubs, charity groups, councils, associations, societies, lodges and other assemblages such as county historical societies, 4-H clubs, Daughters of the American Revolution, Kiwanis, the Rotary Club, YMCA, YWCA, Boy Scouts, and the Red Cross.

17. Correspondence. Includes: letters, telegrams, memoranda, reports, and assignment sheets with notes and comments recording communications between Writers' Program supervisors, writers, public officials, and local citizens.

18. Folklore. Includes: transcripts of stories and interviews, newspaper and magazines articles, autograph and scrapbook verses, remedies, recipes, song lyrics, and square dance calls, among other materials. The information documents West Virginia's local cultures, traditions, and lore handed down through generations such as ghost stories, legends of local heroes, treatment for physical ailments, omens, and superstitions.

Notable items in the County Series include:

information regarding Native American burial grounds and artifacts (located in Marshall County, box 31, folders 5 and 6);

a narrative explaining how the dispute over the location of the courthouse in Beverly was settled with a game of horseshoes (located in Randolph County, box 71, folder 3);

research regarding the history of transportation along the Ohio River and its tributaries, including the modes used by Native Americans and early European traders, and Ohio River lock schedules and shipping records for 1926-1936 (located in Mason County, box 33, folders 5 and 8);

a transcript of a 1776 "Petition of the Dissenters of the Tuscarora Congregation in Berkeley County" addressed to the "House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Virginia" regarding the recent "deliverance from British oppression" and a request to suspend the Ecclesiastic Establishment (located in box 4, folder 6);

a transcript of several diary entries, 1861/April to 1864/July, authored by Sue N. Riddle, a parishioner of the Presbyterian Church at Martinsburg regarding local Civil War battles, army occupations, involvement of churches in the area, destruction of property, and the arrest of local resident Andrew Hunter (the prosecutor in John Brown's trail) by the Federal Army (located in Berkeley County, box 4, folder 6);

a transcript of an eyewitness account pertaining to the formation of the Monroe Guard (Company D, 27th Virginia, Stonewall Brigade), and a transcript of a letter from Lieutenant John Tiffany of the Monroe Guard to his parents in Monroe County, West Virginia, describing the Battle of Chancellorsville (Tiffany was killed seven weeks later at Gettysburg) (located in Monroe County, box 50, folder 3);

several photographs of industrial sites and workers in southern West Virginia, ca. 1890-1930 (located in Mercer County, box 40, folder 2);

photographs documenting railroad structures, workers, trains, and passenger travel, ca. 1888-1940 (located in Mercer County, box 40, folder 7);

several copies of "The White Sulphur Springs Echo" and the "Lee Week Herald", ca. 1932-1937, recording events celebrating Confederate General Robert E. Lee and his three post-war holidays at White Sulphur Springs, 1867-1869, including facsimiles of original newsletters from ca. 1870s (located in Greenbrier County, box 22, folder 3);

and information regarding colonial pottery and artisans, such as "Master" Foulke and his apprentice, John Thompson (samples of their unique works and tools are in the Smithsonian Museum) (located in Monongalia County, box 46, folder 9).