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A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
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Welcome to Besoco ...

Besoco is located in Raleigh County<1>.

While we don't have a date for the founding of Besoco, you might consider that their post office opened in 1916.

Besoco is 1,810 feet [552 m] above sea level.<2>.

Time Zone: Besoco lies in the Eastern Time Zone (EST/EDT) and observes daylight saving time

Area Codes for Besoco: 304 & 681<3>

Communities near Besoco ...

We have created a list of 10 communities that are near Besoco.

  • Beckley
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
  • Princeton
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
  • Hinton
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
  • Mullens
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
  • Mount Hope
    (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
  • Mabscott
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
    • Mabscott is located in Raleigh County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mabscott
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,251 people
  • Sophia
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
  • Athens
    (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
  • Pineville
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
  • Northfork
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)

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 Besoco. Our list includes the location of those cemeteries and we provide an overhead view. See our Cemetery List for Besoco.

Using the information from an 1895 Atlas, we've created a list of communities that were in the area of Besoco. 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 Besoco.

We also have a detailed list of newspapers that have been published in the area around Besoco. See our Newspapers Page for Besoco.

TripAdvisor Tourism Pages for Besoco ...

Looking for more information about Besoco? 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.

While we are unaware of a Tourism page that is specific to Besoco, there are neighboring communities that do have Tourism pages. A map of those communities can be found with our TripAdvisor Page for Besoco.

Adding Besoco to Our Gazetteer ...

We originally found mention of Besoco 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 (so far) for Besoco was in the document titled List of Post Offices from Cameron Blevins and Richard Helbock.<5>

From that list, the Besoco post office opened in 1916. The Besoco post office closed in 1964.

For more details, see References and Mentions for Besoco.

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>The elevation is an estimate for the area around Besoco - it will be higher in some places and lower in others.
<3>When there's a risk of an area code running out of phone numbers, an 'Overlay Area Code' is created that has the same geographic boundaries as the existing area code. In this case, the 304 code has been Overlayed with the 681 area code. New phone numbers in the Besoco area will be assigned with one of these codes: 304 or 681. As a result, placing a call in the Besoco area will require 10-digit dialing (where you enter both the area code and then the phone number).
<4>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<5>A copy of the Blevins & Helbock Post Office list with background information can be found at:

      https://cblevins.github.io/us-post-offices/data-biography/