Editing Tyler County, West Virginia (section)

==History==
The earliest white hunters (mainly of Scotch-Irish, English, and German descent) settled in what later became Tyler County in 1792 near the present town of Friendly. This area on the banks of the Ohio River was former Indian hunting grounds.

Tyler County was officially formed from a portion of what was then [[Ohio County, West Virginia|Ohio County, Virginia]], on December 6, 1814. The following year, [[Middlebourne, West Virginia|Middlebourne]] (founded 1798) became the county seat. This vast area was diminished over the years: in 1845 a small portion went the newly established [[Doddridge County, West Virginia|Doddridge County]]; in 1846 the northern half went to make up the new [[Wetzel County, West Virginia|Wetzel County]]; and in 1851 the southern third went to [[Pleasants County, West Virginia|Pleasants County]].<ref>[https://homepages.rootsweb.com/~george/countyformations/virginiaformationmaps.html ''History of County Formations in Virginia 1617-1995'']</ref>

On June 20, 1863, at the height of the [[American Civil War|Civil War]], Tyler was one of fifty Virginia counties that entered the Union as the state of West Virginia. Later that year, the counties were divided into [[civil township]]s, with the intention of encouraging local government. This proved impractical in the heavily rural state, and in 1872 the townships were converted into [[minor civil division|magisterial districts]].<ref>Otis K. Rice & Stephen W. Brown, ''West Virginia: A History'', 2nd ed., University Press of Kentucky, Lexington (1993), p. 240.</ref> Tyler County was divided into six districts: Centreville,{{efn-lr|Also spelled "Centerville" in early records.}} Ellsworth, Lincoln, McElroy, Meade, and Union. Except for minor adjustments, these districts were largely unchanged until the 1980s, when they were consolidated into four new magisterial districts: Central, North, South, and West.<ref>[[United States Census Bureau]], [[United States Census|U.S. Decennial Census]], Tables of Minor Civil Divisions in West Virginia, 1870–2010.</ref>  The names and boundaries of the historic magisterial districts continued to exist in the form of tax and assessment districts.<ref>[http://www.state.wv.us/taxrev/ptdweb/units/oilgas/County%20District%20Codes.pdf West Virginia List of Districts by County], accessed February 2018.</ref>