Welcome to Lester ...
The town of Lester is located in Raleigh County<1>.
The location of Lester has been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (ie- the GNIS).<2>
While we don't have a date for the founding of Lester, you might consider that their post office opened in 1884.
From the Census Estimates for 2019, Lester has a population of 315 people<3> (see below for details).
Lester is 2,020 feet [616 m] above sea level.<4>.
Time Zone: Lester lies in the Eastern Time Zone (EST/EDT) and observes daylight saving time
Area codes for Lester: (304) & (681)<5>
Population Details ...
Taken from the 2019 Census Estimates, Lester had an population of 315 people. This is a decrease of 9.48% since the 2010 Census (or a decrease of 2.17% since the 2000 Census).
At the time of the 2010 Census, Lester had a population of 348 people. This makes Lester the county's 4th most populous community.
The population of Lester represents 0.02% of the population of West Virginia (which has 1,852,994 people), making it the state's 185th most populous community.
With a 2010 count of 348 people, the population of Lester increased 8.07% from the 2000 Census (with a count of 322 people).
More information can be found on the Census Page for Lester.
Communities Also Named Lester ...
Using our Gazetteer, we found that there are 23 communities that are also named Lester - they are located in Alabama (2), Arkansas (2), Colorado, Georgia (2), Illinois, Indiana, Iowa (2), Kansas (2), Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Utah and Washington.
For more information, see our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Lester.
Communities near Lester ...
We have created a list of 10 communities that are near Lester.
- Beckley
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beckley
- Beckley is located in Raleigh County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 15,805 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Beckley <6>
- Oak Hill
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Oak Hill have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oak Hill
- Oak Hill is located in Fayette County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 8,028 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Oak Hill <6>
- Mullens
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mullens
- Mullens is located in Wyoming County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,288 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Mullens <6>
- Mount Hope
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mount Hope have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Hope
- Mount Hope is located in Fayette County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,259 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Mount Hope <6>
- Mabscott
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast) - Oceana
(18 miles [29 km] to the west)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oceana
- Oceana is located in Wyoming County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,195 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Oceana <6>
- Pineville
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pineville
- Pineville is located in Wyoming County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 567 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Pineville <6>
- Rhodell
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the south) - Pax
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the north) - Thurmond
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Thurmond
- Thurmond is located in Fayette County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 5 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Thurmond <6>
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 Lester. Our list includes the location of those cemeteries and we provide an overhead view. See our Cemetery List for Lester.
Using the information from an 1895 Atlas, we've created a list of communities that were in the area of Lester. 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 Lester.
We also have a detailed list of newspapers that have been published in the area around Lester. See our Newspapers Page for Lester.
TripAdvisor Tourism Pages for Lester ...
Looking for more information about Lester? 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 Lester, there are neighboring communities that do have Tourism pages. A map of those communities can be found with our TripAdvisor Page for Lester.
Adding Lester to Our Gazetteer ...
We originally found mention of Lester 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 Lester was in the document titled List of Post Offices from Cameron Blevins and Richard Helbock.<7>
From that list, the Lester post office opened in 1884.
We also found Lester in the book titled Business Atlas and Shippers' Guide (1895).
For more details, see References and Mentions for Lester.
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Lester. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for State of West Virginia: https://www.wv.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | If you're interested in how the shape of West Virginia's counties, including Raleigh, have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries. |
| <2> | The location has been supplied by the Geographic Names Information System - which is maintained by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). While these values should be definitive, we found that accuracy can vary and you should double-check the location if accuracy is required. |
| <3> | Population counts have been provided by the U.S. Census Bureau. For more detail, please visit our Census Page for Lester. |
| <4> | The elevation is an estimate for the area around Lester - it will be higher in some places and lower in others. |
| <5> | Area code (681) is an overlay for area code (304). |
| <6> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <7> | A copy of their list with background information can be found at: https://cblevins.github.io/us-post-offices/data-biography/ |