Welcome to Despard ...

Despard is located in Harrison County<1>.

The location of Despard has been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (ie- the GNIS).<2>

While we don't have a date for the founding of Despard, you might consider that their post office opened  in 1894.

Despard is 1,040 feet [317 m] above sea level.<3>.

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

Area codes for Despard: (304) and (681)<4>

Communities near Despard ...

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

• Fairmont
  (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairmont
  • Fairmont is located in Marion County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 18,370 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Fairmont <5>
• Bridgeport
  (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bridgeport have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bridgeport
  • Bridgeport is located in Harrison County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 8,782 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Bridgeport <5>
• Grafton
  (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grafton
  • Grafton is located in Taylor County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 4,968 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Grafton <5>
• Weston
  (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Weston have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Weston
  • Weston is located in Lewis County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,797 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Weston <5>
• Philippi
  (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Philippi
  • Philippi is located in Barbour County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,239 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Philippi <5>
• Pleasant Valley
  (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Valley
  • Pleasant Valley is located in Marion County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,141 people
• Shinnston
  (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shinnston
  • Shinnston is located in Harrison County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,096 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Shinnston <5>
• Mannington
  (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mannington
  • Mannington is located in Marion County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,010 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Mannington <5>
• Salem
  (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Salem
  • Salem is located in Harrison County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,511 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Salem <5>
• Barrackville
  (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Barrackville have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Barrackville
  • Barrackville is located in Marion County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,270 people

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

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

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

TripAdvisor Tourism Pages for Despard ...

Looking for more information about Despard? 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 Despard, there are neighboring communities that do have Tourism pages. A map of those communities can be found with our TripAdvisor Page for Despard.

Adding Despard to Our Gazetteer ...

We originally found mention of Despard 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 Despard was in the document titled List of Post Offices from Cameron Blevins and Richard Helbock.<6>

From that list, the Despard post office opened in 1894.

For more details, see References and Mentions for Despard.

Off-the-Road Links ...

Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Despard. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.

The official website for Harrison County: www.harrisoncountywv.com/

The official website for State of West Virginia: https://www.wv.gov/