Welcome to Clay ...

The town of Clay is located in Clay County<1> and is the County Seat for Clay County.

While we don't have a date for the founding of Clay, you might consider that their post office opened in 1870.

From the Census Estimates for 2019, Clay has a population of 440 people<2> (see below for details).

Clay is 730 feet [223 m] above sea level.<3>.

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

Area Codes for Clay: 304 & 681<4>

The ZIP code for Clay: 25043<5>

Population Details ...

Taken from the 2019 Census Estimates, Clay had an population of 440 people. This is a decrease of 10.39% since the 2010 Census (or a decrease of 25.8% since the 2000 Census).

At the time of the 2010 Census, Clay had a population of 491 people (or 5.24% of the total population of Clay County). This makes Clay the county's most populous community.

The population of Clay represents 0.03% of the total population of West Virginia (which has 1,852,994 people), making it the state's 169th most populous community.

With a 2010 count of 491 people, the population of Clay decreased 17.2% from the 2000 Census (with a count of 593 people).

More information can be found on the Census Page for Clay.

Communities Also Named Clay ...

Using our Gazetteer, we found that there are 22 communities that are also named Clay - they are located in Alabama, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Illinois, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan (2), Mississippi, Missouri (2), New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia (2) and Wyoming.

For more information, see our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Clay.

Communities near Clay ...

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

Summersville
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Summersville
- Summersville is located in Nicholas County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 3,225 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Summersville <6>
- Google driving directions:
- From your current location to Summersville
- From Clay to Summersville
Clendenin
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clendenin
- Clendenin is located in Kanawha County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,098 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Clendenin <6>
- Google driving directions:
- From your current location to Clendenin
- From Clay to Clendenin
Valley Fork
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Valley Fork
- Valley Fork is located in Clay County
- Google driving directions:
- From your current location to Valley Fork
- From Clay to Valley Fork
Gould
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Gould. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<7>
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gould
- Gould is located in Clay County
- Google driving directions:
- From your current location to Gould
- From Clay to Gould
Dink
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
- Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Dink. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<7>
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dink
- Dink is located in Clay County
- Google driving directions:
- From your current location to Dink
- From Clay to Dink
Harrison
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harrison
- Harrison is located in Clay County
- Google driving directions:
- From your current location to Harrison
- From Clay to Harrison
Procious
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Procious
- Procious is located in Clay County
- Google driving directions:
- From your current location to Procious
- From Clay to Procious
Bomont
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bomont
- Bomont is located in Clay County
- Google driving directions:
- From your current location to Bomont
- From Clay to Bomont
Pigeon
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pigeon
- Pigeon is located in Roane County
- Google driving directions:
- From your current location to Pigeon
- From Clay to Pigeon
Ira
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
- Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Ira. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<7>
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ira
- Ira is located in Clay County
- Google driving directions:
- From your current location to Ira
- From Clay to Ira

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

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

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

TripAdvisor Tourism Pages for Clay ...

Looking for more information about Clay? 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 Clay, there are neighboring communities that also have Tourism pages. More information about those communities can be found on our TripAdvisor Page for Clay.

Adding Clay to Our Gazetteer ...

We originally found mention of Clay 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 Clay was in the book titled List of Post Offices in the United States (1870).

We also found Clay on a map titled Rand McNally Map of West Virginia (1911).

For more details, see References and Mentions for Clay.

Footnotes ...

<1>	If you're interested in how the shape of West Virginia's counties, including Clay, 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 Clay.
<3>	The elevation is an estimate for the area around Clay - it will be higher in some places and lower in others.
<4>	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 Clay area will be assigned with one of these codes: 304 or 681. As a result, placing a call in the Clay area will require 10-digit dialing (where you enter both the area code and then the phone number).
<5>	ZIP Codes have been created by the United States Postal Service (USPS) as a way of grouping addresses to make delivery more efficient. The boundaries of the ZIP Code can be changed, re-assigned, eliminated or overlapped with other ZIP Codes. So keep in mind that any given ZIP Code is only 'loosely' associated with a town (such as Clay). When looking for a ZIP Code, whether Clay or elsewhere, it's always best to check the website of the United States Postal Service (USPS).
<6>	While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<7>	An 'estimated' location is one where we have been given GPS coordinates, but are unable to verify the accuracy of those coordinates. That said, we have some confidence that we have placed the marker near the actual location. A typical reason for being unable to verify a location is that it might be on private property or maybe historic and gone without an obvious trace.