Welcome to Beckley ...
The city of Beckley is located in Raleigh County<1> and is the County Seat for Raleigh County.
While we don't have a date for the founding of Beckley, you might get a feel for it by knowing that the earliest mention that we've found (so far) was on a map dated 1911.
From the Census Estimates for 2019, Beckley has a population of 16,011 people<2> (see below for details).
Beckley is 2,380 feet [725 m] above sea level.<3> In other words, the altitude of Beckley is about ½ mile above sea level.
Time Zone: Beckley lies in the Eastern Time Zone (EST/EDT) and observes daylight saving time
Telephone area codes for Beckley: (304) and (681)<4>
Websites for Beckley ...
Official Website: www.beckley.org/
Population Details ...
Taken from the 2019 Census Estimates, Beckley had an population of 16,011 people. This is a decrease of 9.1% since the 2010 Census (or a decrease of 7.2% since the 2000 Census).
At the time of the 2010 Census, Beckley had a population of 17,614 people (or 22.32% of the total population of Raleigh County). This makes Beckley the county's most populous community.
The population of Beckley represents 0.95% of the total population of West Virginia (which has 1,852,994 people), making it the state's 8th most populous community.
With a 2010 count of 17,614 people, the population of Beckley increased 2.09% from the 2000 Census (with a count of 17,254 people).
More information can be found on the Census Page for Beckley.
Communities Also Named Beckley ...
Using our Gazetteer, we found another community named Beckley - it's located in Kentucky.
For more information, see our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Beckley.
Communities near Beckley ...
We have created a list of 10 communities that are near Beckley.
- Oak Hill
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Oak Hill have been provided by the GNIS.<5> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oak Hill
- Oak Hill is located in Fayette County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 8,028 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Oak Hill <6>
- Fayetteville
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fayetteville
- Fayetteville is located in Fayette County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 2,684 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Fayetteville <6>
- Hinton
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hinton
- Hinton is located in Summers County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 2,321 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hinton <6>
- Mullens
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mullens
- Mullens is located in Wyoming County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,288 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Mullens <6>
- Mount Hope
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mount Hope have been provided by the GNIS.<5> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Hope
- Mount Hope is located in Fayette County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,259 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Mount Hope <6>
- Sophia
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sophia have been provided by the GNIS.<5> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sophia
- Sophia is located in Raleigh County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,219 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Sophia <6>
- Meadow Bridge
(18 miles [29 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Meadow Bridge have been provided by the GNIS.<5> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meadow Bridge
- Meadow Bridge is located in Fayette County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 344 people
- Lester
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest) - Rhodell
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest) - Pax
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
To Help With Your Genealogy Research ...
We have a couple of sections for those tracing their genealogy.
We created a list of cemeteries that are in the area around Beckley. Our list includes the location of those cemeteries and we provide an overhead view. See our Cemetery List for Beckley.
Using the information from an 1895 Atlas, we've created a list of communities that were in the area of Beckley. Our list includes information such as whether the 1895 community had a post office or railroad service. See our List of 1890's Communities around Beckley.
We also have a detailed list of newspapers that have been published in the area around Beckley. Our list includes 10 papers. See our Newspapers Page for Beckley.
TripAdvisor Tourism Pages for Beckley ...
Looking for more information about Beckley? A wonderful source is the TripAdvisor website. We always start with the TripAdvisor Tourism page, where you can read an overview with links that will help you find lodging, restaurants and attractions.
In addition to the Tourism page for Beckley, there are neighboring communities that also have Tourism pages. More information about those communities can be found on our TripAdvisor Page for Beckley.
Adding Beckley to Our Gazetteer ...
We originally found mention of Beckley in both the FIPS-55 and the GNIS. For more information, see the FIPS and GNIS Codes sections on our Miscellaneous Page.
From our notes, the earliest published mention we've found for Beckley was on a map titled Map of West Virginia (from Rand McNally, 1911).
We also found Beckley on a map titled Shell Oil Road Map for West Virginia (1956).
For more details, see References and Mentions for Beckley.
Off-the-Road Links ...
The official website for Beckley: www.beckley.org/
The official website for State of West Virginia: https://www.wv.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | If you're interested in how the shape of West Virginia's counties, including Raleigh, have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries. |
| <2> | Population counts have been provided by the U.S. Census Bureau. For more detail, please visit our Census Page for Beckley. |
| <3> | The elevation is an estimate for the area around Beckley - it will be higher in some places and lower in others. |
| <4> | Area code (681) is an overlay for area code (304). |
| <5> | The location has been supplied by the Geographic Names Information System - which is maintained by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). While these values should be definitive, we found that accuracy can vary and you should double-check the location if accuracy is required. |
| <6> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |