Lavalette, WV

Lavalette is a Wayne County census-designated place at the meeting of WV 152 and WV 75, about eight miles south of Huntington. Its name came from Lavalette Miller, daughter of a Norfolk & Western Railway official. Twelvepole Creek runs through the surrounding country, and Beech Fork Lake begins just outside the community, giving Lavalette a direct relationship to both the creek valley and a major reservoir.

Beech Fork Lake was built by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers as part of the Ohio River Basin flood-control system; the dam was completed in 1977 and the lake opened for recreation in 1978. The reservoir's 720-acre summer pool supports boating, fishing, launches, trails, and picnic areas, with the dam and visitors center in Lavalette and Beech Fork State Park across the county line in Cabell County. Daily life here is tied to Huntington for the larger metro connection, but the local map is easy to read: highway junction, Twelvepole water, and the lake's public facilities.