Originally, western Virginia consisted of a few very large counties. As these counties became populated, the early settlers found it extremely difficult to travel over the rough terrain for great distances to visit their county seats for legal and other purposes. Eventually, local groups of influential settlers petitioned the Burgesses, and later the legislature to create a county in their immediate surroundings. This subdivision of counties continued for about a hundred years resulting in our present 55 small counties. Curt in Fairfax ----- Original Message ----- From: <Allegewi2@aol.com> To: <WVPENDLE-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Wednesday, March 15, 2000 1:40 PM Subject: Curiosity > Hi, > > In looking at a map of West Virginia I was struck by how very many > counties there are, and how small so many of them are. Does anyone have an > answer? Just curious . . . Una > >