Elkview, WV

Elkview takes its name from the Elk River, which runs toward the Kanawha and gives this Kanawha County CDP its geographic cue. The place also sits on a practical pair of routes: Interstate 79 reaches it at Exit 9, and U.S. 119 follows the Elk River corridor. Charleston is about twelve miles west, so Elkview works as an eastern edge of the metro area while still facing the river valley and hills on its own terms. The river remains the clearest local reference point.

Education adds a more recent chapter. Herbert Hoover High School was first associated with nearby Clendenin, but the 2016 flood damaged the old building beyond repair. A new campus opened in Elkview in 2023, turning the community into the school’s new home and giving the name a fresh civic connection. That combination tells the local story well: a place named for a river, reached by major highways, and shaped by the way a flood moved an important institution into the community.