RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
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Welcome to Kale ...

Kale is located in Mercer County<1>.

While we don't have a date for the founding of Kale, you might consider that their post office opened in 1922.

Kale is 2,260 feet [689 m] above sea level.<2> In other words, the elevation of Kale is about ½ mile above sea level.

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

Area Codes for Kale: 304 & 681<3>

Communities near Kale ...

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

  • Bluefield
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
  • Princeton
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
  • Bluefield
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
  • Mullens
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
  • Athens
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
  • Gary
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
    • Gary is located in McDowell County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gary
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 759 people
  • Rich Creek
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
  • Pocahontas
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Pocahontas is located in Tazewell County (VA)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pocahontas
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 348 people
  • Bramwell
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
  • Northfork
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)

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

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

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

TripAdvisor Tourism Pages for Kale ...

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

Adding Kale to Our Gazetteer ...

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

From that list, the Kale post office opened in 1922. The Kale post office closed in 1934.

For more details, see References and Mentions for Kale.

Footnotes ...

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