Roane County, West Virginia

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Roane County, West Virginia
Map
Location in the state of West Virginia
West Virginia's location in the U.S.
Statistics
Founded	1856
Seat	Spencer
Area - Total - Land - Water	484 sq mi (1,254 km²) 0 sq mi (0 km²), 0.04%
Population - (2008) - Density	15,169 31/sq mi (12/km²)

Roane County is a county located in the U.S. state of West Virginia. As of 2000, the population was 15,446. Its county seat is Spencer.

History

Roane County was created by an act of the Virginia General Assembly on March 11, 1856. It was named for the jurist Spencer Roane of Virginia, born in Essex County April 4, 1762. The county's seat Spencer was also named for judge Roane.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 484 square miles (1,253 km²), of which, 484 square miles (1,252 km²) of it is land and 0 square miles (0 km²) of it (0.04%) is water.

Major highways

• Interstate 79
• U.S. Highway 33
• U.S. Highway 119
• West Virginia Route 14
• West Virginia Route 36

Adjacent counties

• Wirt County (north)
• Calhoun County (east)
• Clay County (southeast)
• Kanawha County (south)
• Jackson County (west)

Demographics

As of the census[2] of 2000, there were 15,446 people, 6,161 households, and 4,479 families residing in the county. The population density was 32 people per square mile (12/km²). There were 7,360 housing units at an average density of 15 per square mile (6/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 98.56% White, 0.22% Black or African American, 0.21% Native American, 0.23% Asian, 0.19% from other races, and 0.60% from two or more races. 0.67% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There were 6,161 households out of which 30.70% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 59.10% were married couples living together, 9.30% had a female householder with no husband present, and 27.30% were non-families. 23.50% of all households were made up of individuals and 11.90% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.49 and the average family size was 2.91.

In the county, the population was spread out with 23.40% under the age of 18, 8.70% from 18 to 24, 26.60% from 25 to 44, 26.50% from 45 to 64, and 14.80% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females there were 98.00 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 96.00 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $24,511, and the median income for a family was $29,280. Males had a median income of $28,738 versus $17,207 for females. The per capita income for the county was $13,195. About 17.80% of families and 22.60% of the population were below the poverty line, including 32.10% of those under age 18 and 15.50% of those age 65 or over.

Communities

Cities

• Spencer

The City of Spencer has a wonderful website with much more information, found here:

www.CityofSpencer.com

Also, the City of Spencer host an annual event called the WV Black Walnut Festival; their site is located here:

www.WVBlackWalnutFestival.org

Towns

• Reedy

Unincorporated Communities

• Amma
• Cotton
• Elana
• Lattimer
• Left Hand
• Linden
• Looneyville
• Peniel
• Walton