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Research dossier · Places & Architecture

Gallipolis Ferry, West Virginia

census-designated place in Mason County, West Virginia

Architectural plans, a scale model, maps and brass measuring instruments
Places and architectureInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionApr 2, 2026
Entity authorityQ3478319 ↗
Source-derived summary

Gallipolis Ferry is a census-designated place (CDP) in Mason County, West Virginia, United States. It is situated on the Ohio River along West Virginia Route 2. As of the 2020 census, its population was 735 (down from 817 at the 2010 census). It is the site of the Robert C. Byrd Locks & Dam on the Ohio. The community was named for the fact a ferry once provided service between the town site and nearby Gallipolis, Ohio.

The community is part of the Point Pleasant, WV–OH Micropolitan Statistical Area.

Editorial summary

“Gallipolis Ferry, West Virginia” enters the record as census-designated place in Mason County, West Virginia. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Gallipolis, Ferry and West can confirm, complicate or overturn.

Editorial reviewA strong orientation record where physical form, institutional use and historical geography need to be read together. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—2020, 2010—that can be checked directly. The selected authority fields contribute no independent date. Its strongest next move is a source search built around Gallipolis, Ferry and West.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

“Gallipolis Ferry, West Virginia” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, Gallipolis, Ferry and West provides the most credible route into that argument.

Evidence profile

Place names and jurisdictional language are key evidence: both can reveal earlier catalogue descriptions and overlooked record series. The source revision retrieved here is dated Apr 2, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q3478319. Authority coordinates are 38.771, -82.199. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 2020 and 2010.

Critical limits

Architectural summaries often privilege surviving fabric and can understate demolished phases, contested use or displaced communities. 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.

Best used for
  • Historic place names
  • Jurisdictional context
  • Routes into maps and plans
Verify next

Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Gallipolis Ferry, West Virginia”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Gallipolis Ferry, West Virginia primary sources, Gallipolis Ferry, West Virginia archive and Gallipolis research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Gallipolis Ferry, West Virginia”?
  2. Which earlier names or jurisdictions may reveal additional records?
  3. What physical evidence or contemporary plan supports the description?
Subject index

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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “Gallipolis Ferry, 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.