 taylor county is a county located in the state of west virginia. as of the 2010 census, the population was 16,895. its county seat is grafton. the county was formed in 1844.http://www.wvculture.org/history/counties/taylor.html and named for senator john taylor of caroline taylor county is part of the clarksburg, wv micropolitan statistical area. ==history== this area was populated by the adena culture in the pre-columbian woodland period of the native americans in the united states. some of the first europeans to visit the area are thought to have been british army deserters from fort pitt, who reportedly fled their post in 1761 during the french and indian war and roamed northwestern virginia for several years thereafter. a european trader with the hudson's bay company reportedly set foot in these lands as early as 1764.["early history of taylor county," west virginia university http://www.polsci.wvu.edu/wv/taylor/tayhistory.html] pruntytown is the oldest remaining town in present-day taylor county. initially known as cross roads, pruntytown was renamed williamsport in honor of abraham williams, a longtime resident, on january 1, 1801. the name was changed to honor pioneer resident john prunty on january 23, 1845. the town served as the county seat of government from the county's founding in 1844 until a county election in 1878 moved that honor to grafton, west virginia. the county was established by the virginia general assembly on january 19, 1844. it was formed out of parts of barbour, harrison, and marion counties in virginia. most historians think the county was named after john taylor of caroline, while a minority believe it was named after zachary taylor. the county became part of west virginia in 1863. the county is home of anna jarvis, founder of the mother's day holiday, as well a
1844_establishments_in_the_United_States Clarksburg_micropolitan_area Counties_of_Appalachia Northwestern_Turnpike Taylor_County,_West_Virginia West_Virginia_counties