Wetzel County, West Virginia: History
Wetzel County was formed in 1846 from part of Tyler County, Virginia. On June 20, 1863, at the height of the Civil War, Wetzel was one of fifty Virginia counties admitted to the Union as the state of West Virginia.
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. Wetzel County was divided into six districts: Center, Church, Grant, Green, Magnolia, and Proctor. A seventh district, Clay, was formed in the 1880s. New Martinsville, the county seat, was in Magnolia District. Except for minor adjustments, the seven historic magisterial districts remained largely unchanged for a century, until the 1980s, when they were consolidated into three new districts: District 1, District 2, and District 3.