Below is a list of archives located in West Virginia, United States, and a brief description of their collections.
| Belington Public Library | Public Library | Berkeley County | Bellington Public Library hosts a collection of historic photographs, genealogical records, and the City of Bellington Historical Collection.[1] | |
| Berkeley County Historical Society | Community Organization | Berkeley County | The Berkeley County Historical Society has records pertaining to Berkeley County including birth records, death records, marriage records, wills, tax records, church records, courthouse records, survey and maps, newspapers, and photographs.[2] | |
| Martinsburg-Berkeley County Public Libraries | Public Library | Berkeley County | The Martinsburg-Berkeley County Public Library holds scrapbooks, ephemera, rare books, and other materials related to the history of Martinsburg and Berkeley County. | |
| American Defenders of Bataan and Corregidor (ADBC) Museum at the Brooke County Public Library | Museums | Brooke County | The ADBC Museum possesses the largest collection of artifacts related to the fall of Bataan and Corregidor. The museum holds over 20,000 photographs, 1,600 diaries, 800 books on World War II, 20 original uniforms, and over a million pages of documents.[3] | |
| T. W. Phillips Memorial Library at Bethany College | Academic Library | Brooke County | The T. W. Phillips Memorial Library houses the Bethany College archives, James Marcus (Ridenour) Schuyler collection, Hiram J. Lester, Jr. Papers, James Cummins Hazlett Civil War Collection, and many more. The collection also includes rare books, college yearbooks and catalogs, and senior projects.[4] | |
| Cabell County Public Library | Public Library | Cabell County | The Cabell County Public Library houses birth announcements,[5] obituaries,[6] marriage announcements,[7] and historical images, which include festivals, elementary schools, Huntington floods, and Huntington State Hospital.[8] | |
| Marshall University Special Collections at Marshall University | Academic Library | Cabell County | Marshall University Archives and Special Collections houses nearly 1,000 archival collections related to West Virginia and Marshall University. Collection strengths include materials related to folk life, women's history, Huntington, and more.[9] Notable collections include the papers of Ken Hechler, representative for West Virginia's 4th congressional district between 1959 and 1977.[10] | |
| Fayette County Public Library | Public Library | Fayette County | The Fayette County Public Library houses microfilm records of census records from 1840 to 1930, newspapers from 1906-present, WV county death, marriage, and birth records, Fayette County yearbooks, local magazines, family collections, the West Virginia Collection, and other miscellaneous collections about West Virginia.[11] | |
| Glenville State College | Academic Library | Gilmer County | Glenville State College houses materials pertaining to the history of the college, publications, yearbooks, oral histories, alumni materials, building information and history, college catalogues, sports collections, and photographs.[12] | |
| Academic Library | Greenbrier County | The West Virginia School of Osteopathic Medicine at the James R. Stookey Library's history room is home to materials documenting institutional history as well as the history of osteopathic medicine.[13] | ||
| Mary H. Weir Public Library | Public Library | Hancock County | The Mary H. Weir Public Library houses microfilms of newspapers, microfiche of magazines, local government documents,[14] genealogy,[15] Weirton Daily Times obituaries,[16] scrapbooks, yearbooks, and items pertaining to local history. | |
| Hardy County Public Library | Public Library | Hardy County | The Hardy County Public Library is home to family papers, photographs, and other collections documenting the history of Hardy County. | |
| Harrison County WV Historical Society | Community Organization | Harrison County | The Harrison County Historical Society houses cemetery records, some family records, maps, yearbooks, yearbooks,[17] photographs of historic buildings and families,[18] and a variety of artifacts.[19] | |
| Waldomore at the Clarksburg-Harrison Public Library | Public Library | Harrison County | Waldomore is a historic house that preserves items of historical and genealogical significance for Clarksburg, Harrison County, and North Central West Virginia. The genealogical materials include records and information for the eastern panhandle, Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey.[20] The Waldomore also houses the archives of the Clarksburg-Harrison Public Library, which includes photographs, portraits, diaries, letters, posters, maps, handouts, and artifacts. | |
| Jackson County Public Library | Public Library | Jackson County | Jackson County Public Library contains materials related to West Virginia local history, genealogy, literature, folklore, nature, coal and labor issues. | |
| Shepherd University Archives and Special Collections | Academic Library | Jackson County | Shepherd University Archives and Special Collections houses course catalogs, the college yearbook, student newspaper,[21] materials pertaining to the history of the college, local family papers, and local history papers, such as the Storer College Collection and the Serena "Violet" Dandridge Sketches.[22] | |
| Robert C. Byrd Center for Congressional History and Education | Academic Library | Jackson County | The Byrd Center houses the personal papers of five member of the U.S. Congress from West Virginia: Senator Robert C. Byrd, Congressmen Harley O. Staggers, Sr., Representative Harley O. Staggers, Jr., and Scot Faulkner, first Chief Administrative Officer of the United States House of Representatives, and the Friends of Robert C. Byrd Political Action Committee (PAC).[23] | |
| Academic Library | Kanawha County | The Drain-Jordan Library Archives and Special Collection houses materials on the history of WVSU, alumni and employees. The archive also collects information pertaining to African-Americans in West Virginia, African-American higher education, West Virginia and Appalachian region history.[24] | ||
| Kanawha County Public Library | Public Library | Kanawha County | The Kanawha County Public Library collects photographs, postcards, newspapers,[25] and audiovisual materials related to the history of Kanawha County. | |
| Morris Harvey Archives at the University of Charleston | Academic Library | Kanawha County | The Morris Harvey Archive house catalogs, yearbooks, school newspapers, minutes book, scrapbooks, photographs, films, videos, sound recordings, publications, and memorabilia.[26] Some notable collections include the Rocco Gorman collection,[27] James David Barber Collection,[28] James Swann collection,[29] and the Kendall Vintroux collection.[30] | |
| West Virginia Archives and History | Kanawha County | The West Virginia Archives and History houses materials on the state from its earliest date to the present, including letters, diaries, maps, photographs, newspapers, state government records, and audiovisual materials.[31] | ||
| The Ruth Ann Musick Library at Fairmont State University | Academic Library | Marion County | The Ruth Ann Musick Library at Fairmont State University collects materials pertaining to the history of the university. The collection includes yearbooks,[32] academic catalogs,[33] newspapers, genealogy, and local history collections. | |
| Mason County Public Library | Public Library | Mason County | The Mason County Public Library has the Mary Jo Cochran Local History Room, which consists of works regarding local city, county, and state history, as well as donated family histories, census data, and local cemetery information. | |
| Academic Library | Mercer County | The J. Frank Marsh Library collects materials relating to the history of Concord University and rare books. | ||
| Eastern Regional Coal Archives at the Craft Memorial Library | Public Library | Mercer County | The Eastern Regional Coal Archives collects and preserves the history of the coal fields, including artifacts, blueprints, company records, correspondences, diaries, films, maps, miner's tools, newspapers, oral histories, photographs, rare books, scrapbooks, and railroad memorabilia.[34] | |
| Mary F. Shipper Library at West Virginia University Potomac State College | Academic Library | Mineral County | The Mary F. Shipper Library collects materials related to the history of the campus and student life. Materials include alumni newspapers, campus and local high school yearbooks, West Virginia newspapers, and the Evelyn Bane Mineral County Genealogy Collection.[35] | |
| West Virginia Mine Wars Museum | Museums | Mingo County | The West Virginia Mine Wars Museum preserves the history of the Battle of Blair Mountain, the fight for labor justice, and the people who lived through it.[36] | |
| West Virginia & Regional History Center at West Virginia University | Academic Library | Monongalia County | The West Virginia & Regional History Center preserves and provides access to records that document the history and culture of West Virginia and Central Appalachia.[37] | |
| Museums of Oglebay Institute | Museums | Ohio County | The Museum of Oglebay Institute preserves and educates about the history of the Oglebay family, American decorative arts, and local Wheeling history.[38] | |
| The Reuther–Wheeling Library & Labor History Archive at Wheeling Academy of Law and Science (WALS) Foundation | Community Organization | Ohio County | The WALS Foundation Reuther-Wheeling Library & Archive houses materials related to the history of labor and union activity, both in West Virginia and more generally.[39] The collection includes photographs, magazines, books, booklets, brochures, and memorabilia. | |
| Archives of the Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston | Religious Institution | Ohio County | The Archives of the Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston collects and preserves materials related to the history and work of the Catholic Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston.[40] | |
| Academic Library | Ohio County | West Liberty University houses materials related to the history of the university as well as assorted special collections, including the Nelle M. Krise Rare Book Collection[41] and the Henry Lash Historic Sheet Music Collection.[42] | ||
| Ohio County Public Library Archives | Public Library | Ohio County | The Ohio County Public Library Archives and Special Collections Department collects and preserves unique primary source material that documents the history of Wheeling and the Upper Ohio Valley region.[43] Archives material includes photographs, scrapbooks, personal and corporate archives, journals, letters, maps, prints, pamphlets, brochures, and advertising ephemera.[44] | |
| Bishop Hodges Library at Wheeling University | Academic Library | Ohio County | Wheeling University is home to materials documenting the institution's history as well as assorted historical materials on microfilm.[45] | |
| West Virginia University Institute of Technology Library | Academic Library | Raleigh County | The WVU Institute of Technology Library collects materials related to the history of the campus and books related to West Virginia history.[46] | |
| Raleigh County Public Library | Public Library | Raleigh County | The Raleigh County Public Library collects genealogical materials and local history materials. The archives contain obituaries, Beckley newspapers, the Beckley Polk City Directories, West Virginia Blue Books, state county information, and family genealogies.[47] | |
| Beverly Heritage Center | Community Organization | Randolph County | The Beverly Heritage Center is a historic building that houses materials that tell the story of the Battle of Rich Mountain, the First Campaign of the American Civil War, the role of Staunton-Parkersburg Turnpike, and daily life in Beverly through the 19th century.[48] | |
| Booth Library's Special Collections & Archives at Davis & Elkins College | Academic Library | Randolph County | The Booth Library's Special Collection & Archives collects and preserves materials form the Davis and Elkins founding families, college materials and publications, facility publications, the Jim and Ola Cornstock collection, which includes the Pearl S. Buck Collection, and books on the history of Elkins, Randolph County, and West Virginia.[49] | |
| Elkins Randolph County Public Library | Public Library | Randolph County | The Elkins Randolph County Public Library collects books related to local history and West Virginia.[50] | |
| Roane County Public Library | Public Library | Roane County | The Roane County Public Library houses genealogy materials from all over the state[51] and the West Virginia Collection.[52] | |
| Roane County Historical Society | Community Organization | Roane County | The Roane County Historical Society collects and preserves genealogical records related to Roane County.[53] | |
| Paden City Public Library | Public Library | Tyler County | The Paden City Public Library is home to the O. O. Brown Collection of photographs, documents, and ephemera previously owned by Brown, a glassworker.[54] | |
| West Virginia Wesleyan College Archives and Special Collections | Academic Library | Upshur County | The West Virginia Wesleyan College Archives and Special Collections houses materials documenting the history of West Virginia Wesleyan College and materials documenting the Buckhannon and Upshur County area. Collections include photographs, manuscripts, newspapers, alumni magazines, and performance arts programs.[55] | |
| West Virginia United Methodist Archives at West Virginia Wesleyan College | Academic Library | Upshur County | The United Methodist Archives of the West Virginia Annual Conference, housed at West Virginia Wesleyan College, contains several collections that document the practice and traditions of West Virginia Methodism. The collation includes church files, conference journals and minutes, books, minister files, periodicals, WV Annual Conference publications, administration records, organization records, and audio-visual materials documenting many annual conference sessions.[56] | |
| Wyoming County Historical Museum | Museums | Wyoming County | The Wyoming County Historical Museum collects, preserves, and interprets the historic and prehistoric cultural heritage of the Wyoming County region.[57] | |
| Weirton Area Museum and Cultural Center | Community Organization | Brooke County | The Weirton Area Museum and Cultural Center is home to materials documenting the lived experiences of people in the Weirton area.[58] Notable collections including the Weirton Steel Employees Bulletin collection, which consists of more than 10,000 pages of a periodical that documented the lives of steel employees and their families from 1934 until 1989, and includes articles, photographs, advertisements, local sports segments, recipes and dress patterns.[59] |