Boone County, West Virginia
county in West Virginia, United States
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.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Boone County, West Virginia” as county in West Virginia, United States. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
Why this record matters
The subject matters to the places & architecture register because the source frames it as county in West Virginia, United States. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
The strongest evidence will usually combine a dated visual record with documents produced by the authority responsible for the place. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 17, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q490925. VIAF identifies the subject as 153597012. The Library of Congress control number is n79126822. Authority coordinates are 38.020, -81.720. 5 of 5 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 2020, 1847, 1789 and 1795.
A single description cannot reconcile every naming convention, rebuilding phase or administrative transfer associated with a place. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
- Historic place names
- Jurisdictional context
- Routes into maps and plans
Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Boone County, West Virginia”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Boone County, West Virginia primary sources, Boone County, West Virginia archive and Boone research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Boone County, West Virginia”?
- What physical evidence or contemporary plan supports the description?
- Which authority defined the place, boundary or structure at the relevant date?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Boone County, West Virginia” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.