Richwood, WV

Richwood is a Nicholas County city at the forks of the Cherry River, where the valley floor gives way to steep mountain hillsides. The 2020 census counted 1,661 residents. U.S. 19 now carries larger regional traffic toward Summersville, while State Route 39 heads east toward Marlinton and the Monongahela National Forest. The river, Oakford Avenue, and Main Street still organize the city’s older commercial core.

Richwood grew around timber, lumber mills, coal, and the rail connections that moved mountain products out of town. Its earlier reach was substantial: a clothespin factory once ranked among the world’s largest, and Richwood served as Nicholas County’s working center before four-lane U.S. 19 shifted more retail toward Summersville. The Cherry River Navy began in 1937 as a playful campaign for the road to Marlinton and still rolls down Main Street in the Cherry River Festival parade. The Ramp Festival, local hardwood mills, schools, and small businesses keep that older working identity visible. Richwood is a mountain city with a river junction, a timber past, and an unusually persistent civic sense of humor.