RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of West Virginia >> Harrison County >> DespardIndex...

Welcome to Despard ...

Despard is located in Harrison County<1>.

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.<2>.

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

Area Codes for Despard: 304 & 681<3>

Communities near Despard ...

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

  • Fairmont
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Bridgeport
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
  • Grafton
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
  • Weston
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
  • Philippi
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Pleasant Valley
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Pleasant Valley is located in Marion County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Valley
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,141 people
  • Shinnston
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
  • Mannington
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
  • Salem
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
    • Salem is located in Harrison County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Salem
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,511 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Salem <4>
  • Barrackville
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Barrackville is located in Marion County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Barrackville
    • 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 (so far) for Despard was in the document titled List of Post Offices from Cameron Blevins and Richard Helbock.<5>

From that list, the Despard post office opened in 1894. The Despard post office closed in 1895.

For more details, see References and Mentions for Despard.

Footnotes ...

<1>If you're interested in how the shape of West Virginia's counties, including Harrison, have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.
<2>The elevation is an estimate for the area around Despard - 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 Despard area will be assigned with one of these codes: 304 or 681. As a result, placing a call in the Despard 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/