Harrisville, WV

Harrisville is Ritchie County’s seat at the junction of State Routes 31 and 16, five miles south of U.S. 50. Thomas Harris laid out the town in 1822 after settling the area in 1807; the first post office opened as Solus in 1833, and the town’s name changed several times before returning to Harrisville. The county courthouse has been central since Ritchie County formed in 1843, with the present courthouse completed in 1923.

Railroads gave Harrisville another connection. The Pennsboro & Harrisville line opened in 1875, followed by the Harrisville Southern route to Cornwallis in the early twentieth century. The old high school now houses the General Thomas M. Harris School Museum, and the Harrisville Historic District preserves the courthouse-town streets. North Bend Lake and North Bend State Park sit just outside town, while the North Bend Rail Trail follows old railroad country. Harrisville is small, but it has the full shape of a county seat: courts, schools, banks, a library, businesses, and a park all within a few blocks.