Harts, West Virginia

Harts, West Virginia
CDP
Location of Harts, West Virginia Location of Harts, West Virginia
Coordinates:
Country	United States
State	West Virginia
County	Lincoln
Government
• Type	[none]
Area
• Total	9.3 sq mi (24.1 km2)
• Land	9.2 sq mi (23.8 km2)
• Water	0.1 sq mi (0.3 km2)
Elevation	630 ft (192 m)
Population (2010)
• Total	656
• Density	71/sq mi (27/km2)
Time zone	Eastern (EST) (UTC-5)
• Summer (DST)	EDT (UTC-4)
ZIP code	25524
Area code(s)	304
FIPS code	54-35596
GNIS feature ID	1540035

Harts is a census-designated place (CDP) at the mouth of Big Harts Creek in Lincoln County, West Virginia, United States, along the Guyandotte River. As of the 2010 census, its population was 656. Harts is a part of the Huntington-Ashland, WV-KY-OH, Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA). As of the 2010 census, the MSA had a population of 287,702. New definitions from February 28, 2013 placed the population at 363,000.

Geography

Harts is located at (38.030643, -82.128147).

According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP has a total area of 9.3 square miles (24.1 km²), of which, 9.2 square miles (23.8 km²) of it is land and 0.1 square miles (0.3 km²) of it (1.44%) is water.

The census area includes both Big Harts Creek and Little Harts Creek. The West Fork of Big Harts Creek is often misidentified as "East Fork" on maps and in deeds. However, West Fork was named for a man by the name of West, not the direction of the creek.

Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there were 2,361 people, 858 households, and 700 families residing in the CDP. The population density was 78.9 people per square mile (30.5/km²). There were 1,004 housing units at an average density of 33.5/sq mi (13.0/km²). The racial makeup of the CDP was 99.36% White, 0.04% Native American, 0.17% Asian, and 0.42% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.21% of the population.

There were 858 households out of which 36.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 66.2% were married couples living together, 10.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 18.3% were non-families. 17.0% of all households were made up of individuals and 7.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.75 and the average family size was 3.07.

In the CDP the population was spread out with 24.6% under the age of 18, 10.3% from 18 to 24, 29.6% from 25 to 44, 25.2% from 45 to 64, and 10.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females there were 102.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 99.1 males.

The median income for a household in the CDP was $21,703, and the median income for a family was $24,886. Males had a median income of $31,250 versus $20,357 for females. The per capita income for the CDP was $10,697. About 22.9% of families and 26.2% of the population were below the poverty line, including 31.7% of those under age 18 and 17.3% of those age 65 or over.

History

Harts, originally Hart, is reportedly named for Stephen Hart (Heart), an Indian fighter, ginseng digger and early settler who briefly lived at the mouth of Smokehouse Fork. Originally, the town was named "Heart's Creek," then later "Hart" and more recently "Harts."Prominent early families included the Brumfield, Elkins, Toney, Dingess, Workman, Thompson, Adkins and Farley families. The early population of the region was predominantly English. In November or December of 1870, Henry S. Godby established Hart's Creek Post Office.