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Welcome to Vivian ...

Vivian is located in McDowell County<1>.

While we don't have a date for the founding of Vivian, you might consider that their post office opened in 1892.

Vivian is 1,620 feet [494 m] above sea level.<2>.

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

Area Codes for Vivian: 304 & 681<3>

Communities Also Named Vivian ...

Using our Gazetteer, we found that there are 9 communities that are also named Vivian - they are located in Arizona, Louisiana, Manitoba, Minnesota, Nevada, Oklahoma, Ontario, South Dakota and Texas.

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

Communities near Vivian ...

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

  • Bluefield
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
  • Bluefield
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Welch
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Welch is located in McDowell County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Welch
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,575 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Welch <4>
  • Mullens
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Gary
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Gary is located in McDowell County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gary
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 759 people
  • War
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
    • War is located in McDowell County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for War
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 659 people
  • Pineville
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
  • Pocahontas
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Pocahontas is located in Tazewell County (VA)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pocahontas
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 348 people
  • Bramwell
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Davy
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Davy is located in McDowell County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Davy
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 324 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 Vivian. Our list includes the location of those cemeteries and we provide an overhead view. See our Cemetery List for Vivian.

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

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

TripAdvisor Tourism Pages for Vivian ...

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

Adding Vivian to Our Gazetteer ...

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

From that list, the Vivian post office opened in 1892. The Vivian post office closed in 1993.

For more details, see References and Mentions for Vivian.

Footnotes ...

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