Van, WV

Van is a census-designated place in Boone County, West Virginia, United States, along the Pond Fork of the Little Coal River. The 2020 census counted 177 residents. Van was named after Van Linville, who established its post office and served as its first postmaster. Van is one of the many small communities on West Virginia Route 85, which winds through valley after valley staying close beside the Little Coal River. Van Junior-Senior High School and Van Elementary School are both located on Bulldog Blvd. The short version is that Van carries an earlier story into the places people know and use now. That is the local read on Van: its past remains attached to the places people use now. West Junction, for example, is immediately to the north and across the Little Coal.