Wirt County is part of the Parkersburg-Vienna, WV Metropolitan Statistical Area.

[4] The first European pioneer was William Beauchamp (1743–1808), a veteran of the Continental Navy and a Methodist minister.

He farmed, built a mill, and laid out the town of Elizabeth, named after his daughter.

In 1863 the town was burned, along with 100,000 gallons of oil, by Confederate cavalrymen.

Later that year, 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.

Except for minor adjustments, the seven historic magisterial districts remained largely unchanged for over a century.

[7] As of the census of 2000, there were 5,873 people, 2,284 households, and 1,699 families living in the county.

22.20% of all households were made up of individuals, and 11.60% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.

As of the 2010 United States census, there were 5,717 people, 2,391 households, and 1,689 families living in the county.