Middlebourn, the county-seat, is 307 miles northwesterly from Richmond, 52 miles S. of Wheeling, near the centre of the county, on Middle Island creek. It contains 3 mercantile stores, a Methodist church, and about 50 dwellings.

TYLER was formed in 1814, from Ohio, and named from John Tyler, gov. of Va. from 1808 to 1811, and father of the late President of the U. S. It is 40 miles long, with a mean breadth of 18 miles. This county declines to the west towards the Ohio, and is drained by Middle Island and Fishing creeks, both running through the county and emptying into the Ohio. The surface is exceedingly hilly and broken, but the soil is of a fair quality, and on the creek and river bottoms, excellent. About 50,000 pounds of maple sugar are annually produced. Pop.

Front Royal, the county-seat, is 139 miles NW. of Richmond and 20 SE. of Winchester, between the Shenandoah and the Blue Ridge, about a mile from the former. It was established in 1788, on 50 acres of land, the property of Solomon Vanmeter, James Moore, Robert Haines, William Cunningham, Peter Halley, John Smith, Allen Wiley, Original Wroe, George Chick, William Morris, and Henry Trout; was laid into lots and streets, and Thomas Allen, Robert Russell, William Headly, William Jennings, John Hickman, Thomas Hand, and Thomas Buck, appointed trustees.

WARREN was formed in 1836, from Frederick and Shenandoah: it is 20 miles long and 12 wide. The Shenandoah River runs through it at the base of the Blue Ridge, and receives in its passage the waters of its North Fork, which enters it from the west. There is considerable mountain land in the SW. part of the country, and the surface is generally hilly, yet there is much excellent soil. Pop. in 1840, whites 3,851, slaves 1,434, free colored 342; total, 5,627.

Elizabeth is on the Little Kanawha, and has one Methodist and 1 Baptist church, a store, some mills, and about 25 dwellings.

Parkersburg, the county-seat, is a neat village, beautifully situated on the Ohio at the mouth of the Little Kanawha, 335 miles northwesterly from Richmond, 94 below Wheeling, 12 below Marietta, and 264 miles above Cincinnati. It is the most flourishing river village in the state, below Wheeling: it contains 9 mercantile stores, a bank, 1 newspaper printing office, 2 steam grist and 2 steam saw mills, 1 steam carding factor, 1 iron foundry, 2 extensive tanneries, 1 Presbyterian, 1 Baptist, 1 Episcopalian, and 1 Methodist church, and a population of about 1,100.