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

Festus is located in Marion County<1>.

While we don't have a date for the founding of Festus, you might consider that their post office opened in 1891.

Festus is 970 feet [296 m] above sea level.<2>.

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

Area Codes for Festus: 304 & 681<3>

Communities Also Named Festus ...

Using our Gazetteer, we found that there are 2 communities that are also named Festus - they are located in Florida and Missouri.

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

Communities near Festus ...

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

  • Fairmont
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
  • Clarksburg
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
  • Bridgeport
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
  • Grafton
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Granville
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Granville is located in Monongalia County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Granville
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,156 people
  • Pleasant Valley
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
    • Pleasant Valley is located in Marion County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Valley
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,141 people
  • Shinnston
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
  • Mannington
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
  • Stonewood
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
    • Stonewood is located in Harrison County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stonewood
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,702 people
  • Salem
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
    • 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>

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

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

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

TripAdvisor Tourism Pages for Festus ...

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

Adding Festus to Our Gazetteer ...

We originally found mention of Festus 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 Festus was in the document titled List of Post Offices from Cameron Blevins and Richard Helbock.<5>

From that list, the Festus post office opened in 1891. The Festus post office closed in 1903.

For more details, see References and Mentions for Festus.

Footnotes ...

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