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==History== The town was laid out in 1822 by Thomas Harris, who had moved his family there in 1807. The town was chartered in 1832, and the first post office opened in 1833, under the name Solus. The name was later changed to Ritchie Court House, and then changed again to Harrisville in 1895, when the town was named for Gen. Thomas Harris,<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.wvexp.com/index.php/Harrisville,_West_Virginia |title=Harrisville, West Virginia - West Virginia (WV) Cyclopedia |access-date=September 23, 2019 |archive-date=September 23, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190923022418/http://www.wvexp.com/index.php/Harrisville,_West_Virginia |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite book | url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_9V1IAAAAMAAJ | title=The Origin of Certain Place Names in the United States | publisher=Govt. Print. Off. | author=Gannett, Henry | year=1905 | pages=[https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_9V1IAAAAMAAJ/page/n150 151]}}</ref> nephew of the founder. Ritchie County was formed in 1843, and the first courthouse was built in 1844. It was replaced by a brick structure in 1874. The present courthouse, a Harrisville landmark, was completed in late 1923. The Pennsboro & Harrisville Railroad was built in 1875, operating between the two communities of its name. The broad-gauge Harrisville Southern Railroad ran to Cornwallis between about 1909 and 1929.<ref>http://www.rlhssec.org/pdfs/SEL1412.pdf {{Bare URL PDF|date=March 2022}}</ref> Harrisville High School was established on the west end of town in 1894. That structure now houses the General Thomas M. Harris School Museum. A new school built overlooking Harrisville in 1924 served as Harrisville High School until 1986. The same school building served as Ritchie County High School until it was closed in 1994. The school building was demolished on December 16, 2017. A small portion of the original school building remains and is the headquarters of βRitchie Regional Health Center.β The Harrisville High School gym still remains and is now a community workout center using the name "The Gym," restored by the Harrisville First Assembly of God using funds generated from grants, memberships and donations.<ref>https://www.facebook.com/pg/The-Gym-in-Harrisville-186076728151989/about/?ref=page_internal {{User-generated source|certain=yes|date=March 2022}}</ref> General Harris, Harrisville's most distinguished citizen, died there in 1906. A medical doctor, Union officer and state adjutant general (1869β1871), he served on the military commission that tried the conspirators responsible for the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. His son, John T. Harris, long-time clerk of the state Senate, founded the West Virginia Blue Book in 1916. The Harrisville Historic District was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2011.<ref name="wvencyclopedia.org"/> The [[Harrisville Historic District (Harrisville, West Virginia)|Harrisville Historic District]], [[Harrisville Grade School]], and the [[Ritchie County Courthouse]] are listed on the [[National Register of Historic Places]].<ref name="nris">{{NRISref|2010a}}</ref><ref name="nps">{{cite web|url=http://www.cr.nps.gov/nr/listings/20110826.htm|title=National Register of Historic Places Listings|date=August 26, 2011|work=Weekly List of Actions Taken on Properties: 8/15/11 through 8/19/11|publisher=National Park Service}}</ref> The town is home to historic [[Berdine's Five and Dime]].
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