Wharncliffe, West Virginia

Unincorporated community in West Virginia, United States

37°33′19″N 81°57′56″W / 37.55528°N 81.96556°W / 37.55528; -81.96556CountryUnited StatesStateWest VirginiaCounty MingoElevation

850 ft (260 m)Time zoneUTC-5 (Eastern (EST)) • Summer (DST)UTC-4 (EDT)ZIP code

25651

Area code(s)304 & 681GNIS feature ID1548976^[1]

Wharncliffe is an unincorporated community in Mingo County, West Virginia, United States. It is 7 miles (11 km) southwest of Gilbert, and has a post office with ZIP code 25651.^[2]

The origin of the town's name is obscure.^[3] It shares its name with a village north of Sheffield in England called Wharncliffe Crags, and the associated Earls of Wharncliffe.

Wharncliffe was a stronghold for the Hatfield family in the infamous Hatfield–McCoy feud.^[4] In 1899, William "Devil Anse" Hatfield was arrested by a group of 50 men and several officials from Huntington, West Virginia, along with his son Robert Lee "Bob" Hatfield and son-in-law John Dingess.^[5]

Wharncliffe is a junction on the Norfolk Southern Railway (former Norfolk and Western) network, where the three states of Virginia, West Virginia and Kentucky meet.

References

^ "US Board on Geographic Names". United States Geological Survey. October 25, 2007. Retrieved January 31, 2008.
^ ZIP Code Lookup
^ Kenny, Hamill (1945). West Virginia Place Names: Their Origin and Meaning, Including the Nomenclature of the Streams and Mountains. Piedmont, WV: The Place Name Press. p. 672.
^ "A Week's Record". St. Joseph Saturday Herald. Saint Joseph, Michigan. September 16, 1899. p. 2. Retrieved July 3, 2023.
^ "Hatfield's Caught". The Calhoun Chronicle. Grantsville, W.V. September 19, 1899. p. 2. Retrieved July 3, 2023.