Kanawha County (pronounced
ka-NAW-ah') is a county located in the
U.S. state of West Virginia
taking its name from the Native term, Kanawha:
"place of white stone". As of 2000, the population was
200,073.
Its county seat is
Charleston
, the state capital .
Kanawha County is the most populous county in the state of West
Virginia.
Kanawha County is part of the
Charleston, WV
metropolitan area, with a 2006
Census
population estimate of 305,526 people.
Geography
According to the
U.S.
Census Bureau, the
county has a total area of 911 square miles (2,359 km²),
of which, 903 square miles (2,339 km²) of it is land and
8 square miles (20 km²) of it (0.87%) is water.
Major highways
Adjacent counties
Demographics
Kanawha County
Population by year
|
2008 191,018
2000 200,073
1990 207,619
1980 231,414
1970 229,515
1960 252,925
1950 236,629
1940 195,619
1930 157,667
1920 119,650
1910 81,457
1900 54,596
1890 42,756
1880 32,466
1870 22,349
1860 16,966
1850 15,353
1840 13,567
1830 9,326
1820 6,399
1810 3,866
1800 3,239
|
As of the
census of 2000, there were 200,073
people, 86,226 households, and 55,960 families residing in the
county. The
population density
was 222 people per square mile (86/km²). There were 93,788 housing
units at an average density of 104 per square mile (40/km²).
The racial makeup of the county was 90.46%
White, 6.97%
Black or African American, 0.21%
Native American, 0.85%
Asian, 0.02%
Pacific Islander, 0.21% from
other
races, and 1.27% from two or more races. 0.59% of the
population were
Hispanics
or Latinos of any race.
There were 86,226 households out of which 26.50% had children under
the age of 18 living with them, 49.00% were
married couples living together, 12.30% had a
female householder with no husband present, and 35.10% were
non-families. 30.80% of all households were made up of individuals
and 12.50% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or
older. The average household size was 2.28 and the average family
size was 2.84.
The age distribution was 21.30% under the age of 18, 8.40% from 18
to 24, 28.10% from 25 to 44, 25.60% from 45 to 64, and 16.50% who
were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For
every 100 females there were 90.70 males. For every 100 females age
18 and over, there were 87.10 males.
The median income for a household in the county was $33,766, and
the median income for a family was $42,568. Males had a median
income of $33,842 versus $24,188 for females. The
per capita income for the county was
$20,354. About 11.20% of families and 14.40% of the population were
below the
poverty line, including
20.60% of those under age 18 and 10.50% of those age 65 or
over.
Book banning
In 1974, Kanawha County gained national media attention for a
school textbook
controversy that erupted when conservatives complained that
material in some of the textbooks was morally offensive. Journalist
John D. Maurice won a
Pulitzer Prize for his editorials covering
the controversy.
On
12 March 1974, the
English Language Arts Textbook Committee of Kanawha County
recommended 325 books and textbooks to the school board for use in
Kanawha elementary schools. One of the school board members
rejected the books as morally offensive and asked the county for
support. The controversy that followed caused violent protests and
school closings through 1975.
Populated places
Cities
Towns
Unincorporated communities
References
External links
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(northeast)
(east)
(east)
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