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A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
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Welcome to Willis Branch ...

Willis Branch is located in Fayette County<1>.

While we don't have a date for the founding of Willis Branch, you might consider that their post office opened in 1916.

A typical abbreviation for Willis Branch: Willis Br. (or less commonly used: Willis Brnch.)

Willis Branch is 1,630 feet [497 m] above sea level.<2>.

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

Area Codes for Willis Branch: 304 & 681<3>

Communities near Willis Branch ...

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

  • Beckley
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
  • Oak Hill
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
  • Fayetteville
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
  • Ansted
    (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
  • Mount Hope
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
  • Mabscott
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
    • Mabscott is located in Raleigh County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mabscott
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,251 people
  • Sophia
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
  • Smithers
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
  • Gauley Bridge
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
  • Whitesville
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
    • Whitesville is located in Boone County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whitesville
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 416 people
    • Former names for Whitesville:
    • Jarrods Valley
    • Pritchard City
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Whitesville <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 Willis Branch. Our list includes the location of those cemeteries and we provide an overhead view. See our Cemetery List for Willis Branch.

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

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

TripAdvisor Tourism Pages for Willis Branch ...

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

Adding Willis Branch to Our Gazetteer ...

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

From that list, the Willis Branch post office opened in 1916. The Willis Branch post office closed in 1964.

For more details, see References and Mentions for Willis Branch.

Footnotes ...

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