A gazetteer is a geographical dictionary or directory used in conjunction with a map or atlas that can provide detailed information about dates, locations, settlements, county boundaries, population, and more. For the historical or genealogical researcher, they are especially useful when attempting to locate an ancestor or an event in a given location 200 years prior, but that named location is no longer shown on maps or in recent literature. This work contains an extensive list, arranged alphabetically, of West Virginia place names including villages, towns, cities, counties, post villages, rivers, creeks, tributaries, mountains, and other topographical information.