About Tyler County

Tyler County, West Virginia

Founded: 1814
County Seat: Middlebourne

Tyler County is in the northwestern part of the state located northeast of Parkersburg and about 97 miles southeast of Columbus, Ohio. Its western boundary is the Ohio River which is the West Virginia state border with Ohio. It was formed in 1814 from Ohio County. The county is named after John Tyler (1747-1813), a Virginia judge, legislator, governor, and father of U.S. President John Tyler.

The county is rural with a present territory of 258 square miles and a population of about 9,340. Its towns are Friendly (pop. 159); Middlebourne (pop. 870); Paden City (pop. 2,860); and Sistersville (pop. 1,588). All of these towns are on the Ohio River except for Middlebourne, the county seat, which is in the center of the county. Paden City is divided by the county boundary with Wetzel County on the northern border, and 921 of its total population reside in Tyler County. The Ohio River is navigable and the county has rail connections.

Major employment is in manufacturing, health care and social assistance, and retail. About half of the major employment is in basic chemical manufacturing. There is some employment in the manufacture of apparels, aluminum primary metal, and fabricated metal products. General medical and surgical hospital employment is one-third and social assistance is about one-fourth of employment in health care and social assistance. Agriculturally there is some notable production of eggs and in dairying, but the major products are livestock and forage.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 261 square miles (675 kmē), of which, 258 square miles (667 kmē) of it is land and 3 square miles (8 kmē) of it (1.20%) is water.

Major highways

Adjacent counties

Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there were 9,592 people, 3,836 households, and 2,834 families residing in the county. The population density was 37 people per square mile (14/kmē). There were 4,780 housing units at an average density of 19 per square mile (7/kmē). The racial makeup of the county was 99.35% White, 0.02% Black or African American, 0.05% Native American, 0.08% Asian, 0.01% Pacific Islander, 0.03% from other races, and 0.45% from two or more races. 0.43% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There were 3,836 households out of which 30.30% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 61.40% were married couples living together, 8.60% had a female householder with no husband present, and 26.10% were non-families. 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. The average household size was 2.47 and the average family size was 2.89.

In the county, the population was spread out with 23.30% under the age of 18, 6.50% from 18 to 24, 26.90% from 25 to 44, 26.90% from 45 to 64, and 16.50% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 41 years. For every 100 females there were 95.50 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 94.90 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $29,290, and the median income for a family was $35,320. Males had a median income of $34,250 versus $18,140 for females. The per capita income for the county was $15,216. About 12.20% of families and 16.60% of the population were below the poverty line, including 24.00% of those under age 18 and 12.70% of those age 65 or over.

Cities and towns

(Information from Wikipedia)