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Tyler County is located in the northwest section of the state, with the Ohio River forming its western boundary. Except for the river valley, the county's terrain is very hilly and broken.
The region was not permanently settled until after the American Revolution. The first settlers seem to have been Thomas and John Williamson in 1792. They were soon followed by many others in the last decade of the 18th Century. Tyler County was created from Ohio County in 1814, and named in honor of John Tyler (1747-1813), a governor of Virginia. Six years later, when the county's population was first counted, Tyler County had 2,314 residents.
Its economy depended almost entirely on agriculture until the 1890s. Then a great oil and gas boom developed, which lasted for a little over a decade. In 1894, the famous "Big Moses" well was drilled and produced 100 million cubic feet of gas per day. Money and people poured in, and by 1900 the county's population reached an all-time high of 18,252. However, the population began to drop with the decline of oil and gas production.
Middlebourne, the county seat, was established in 1813. Its name is said to come from the fact that the site was approximately halfway between the Pennsylvania state line and the salt wells on the Kanawha River.
Sistersville, named in honor of the sisters Sarah and Delilah Wells, is the county's largest town. Established in 1815, Sistersville, on the Ohio River, was the center of the oil and gas industry. The town's many fine homes testify to the wealth generated by the industry during the boom times.
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(From E. Lee North's 'The 55 West Virginias,' published by West Virginia University Press. Used with permission.)
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