Fifty of them existed at the time of the Wheeling Convention in 1861, during the American Civil War, when those counties seceded from the Commonwealth of Virginia to form the new state of West Virginia.

[6][7][8] The role of counties in local government had been minimized under the 1863 constitution, which vested most local government authority in a system of townships based on the New England model.

This enabled public schools to be funded more economically and saved West Virginia millions of dollars.

[1] Spruce Knob, located in Pendleton County, is the state's highest point at 4,863 feet (1,482 m).

[14] Federal Information Processing Standard (FIPS) codes, which are used by the United States government to identify counties uniquely, are five-digit numbers.