Welcome to Ruth ...
So far, we found very little information about Ruth. The little that we've found leads us believe that the community is historic.<1>
We've added Ruth to our Gazetteer with the hope that we can develop more information. If you can help us with Ruth, please Contact Us.
Ruth would have been located within present day Mercer County<2>.
The location of Ruth has been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (the GNIS).<3>
While we don't have a date for the founding of Ruth, you might get a feel for it by knowing that the earliest mention that we've found (so far) was on a map dated 1911.
While the community is gone, the present day location for Ruth is 2,400 feet [732 m] above sea level.<4> In other words, the altitude of Ruth is about ½ mile above sea level.
Time Zone: The area where Ruth was located is in the Eastern Time Zone (EST/EDT) and observes daylight saving time
If Ruth still existed, it would have been in the (304) and (681)<5> area codes.
Communities Also Named Ruth ...
Using our Gazetteer, we found that there are two West Virginia communities named Ruth: This one is located in Mercer County and the other is located in Kanawha County.
Beyond West Virginia, there are 26 communities that are also named Ruth - they are located in Alabama, Arkansas, California, Georgia, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky (3), Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri (2), Nevada, New Mexico, North Carolina (2), Ohio, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia and Washington (2).
For more information, see our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Ruth.
Communities near Ruth ...
We have created a list of 10 communities that are near Ruth.
- Bluefield
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bluefield
- Bluefield is located in Mercer County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 9,505 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Bluefield <6>
- Princeton
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Princeton
- Princeton is located in Mercer County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 5,599 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Princeton <6>
- Bluefield
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bluefield
- Bluefield is located in Tazewell County (VA)
- Population from the 2020 Census: 4,814 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Bluefield <6>
- Tazewell
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Tazewell have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tazewell
- Tazewell is located in Tazewell County (VA)
- Population from the 2020 Census: 4,113 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Tazewell <6>
- Welch
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Welch
- Welch is located in McDowell County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,575 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Welch <6>
- Mullens
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)- 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>
- Athens
(18 miles [29 km] to the east)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Athens
- Athens is located in Mercer County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 890 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Athens <6>
- Gary
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the west) - War
(18 miles [29 km] to the west) - Davy
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
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 Ruth. Our list includes the location of those cemeteries and we provide an overhead view. See our Cemetery List for Ruth.
Using the information from an 1895 Atlas, we've created a list of communities that were in the area of Ruth. 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 Ruth.
We also have a detailed list of newspapers that have been published in the area around Ruth. See our Newspapers Page for Ruth.
Adding Ruth to Our Gazetteer ...
We originally found mention of Ruth in the GNIS. For more information, see the Referenced GNIS Codes section on our Miscellaneous Page.
From our notes, the earliest published mention we've found for Ruth was on a map titled Map of West Virginia (from Rand McNally, 1911).
For more details, see References and Mentions for Ruth.
Off-the-Road Links ...
The official website for State of West Virginia: https://www.wv.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | We use the term 'Historic' broadly and it generally means that the community no longer exists. However, it can also mean that the community might still exist, but was significantly larger or had a more 'official' existence in the past than it does now. Unfortunately our sources of data have proven to be unreliable. If you can provide us with more specific information about Ruth, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <2> | 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. |
| <3> | 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. |
| <4> | The elevation is an estimate for the area around Ruth - 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. |