[3] The earliest white hunters (mainly of Scotch-Irish, English, and German descent) settled in what later became Tyler County in 1792 near the present town of Friendly.

This area on the banks of the Ohio River was former Indian hunting grounds.

Later that year, the 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.

[5] Tyler County was divided into six districts: Centreville,[i] Ellsworth, Lincoln, McElroy, Meade, and Union.

[14] As of the census of 2000, there were 9,592 people, 3,836 households, and 2,834 families living in the county.

23.10% of all households were made up of individuals, and 12.10% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.

As of the 2010 United States census, there were 9,208 people, 3,858 households, and 2,638 families living in the county.

[15] In terms of ancestry, 23.3% were German, 16.1% were English, 12.7% were Irish, and 11.8% were American.

[18] After having leaned strongly towards the Democratic Party between the New Deal and Bill Clinton's presidency, most of West Virginia has since 2000 seen an extremely rapid swing towards the Republican Party due to declining unionization.

The only Democratic presidential candidates to have won Tyler County since West Virginia's statehood are Woodrow Wilson in 1912, who won by just 64 votes, and Bill Clinton in 1996.