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Ruth

Ghost town · Mercer County, West Virginia

Pocahontas Special quadrangle, USGS topographic map (1911, 1:62,500)
Pocahontas Special quadrangle, USGS topographic map (1911, 1:62,500) · U.S. Geological Survey, Historical Topographic Map Collection · Public domain

Ruth is a ghost town in Mercer County, West Virginia. It is one of 12 former communities in Mercer County on the federal names register. That ranks the county 10th among the 53 West Virginia counties with a vanished settlement on record.

The U.S. Geological Survey lists Ruth as a historical populated place on the Bramwell topographic quadrangle: the name is no longer in official use for a community, whether the settlement was abandoned, absorbed into a neighbouring town or renamed. The recorded location is 37.3382° N, 81.3415° W.

Key facts

USGS quadrangleBramwell
Elevation2,399 ft
Nearest living townBramwell, WV
Distance to it2 miles
GNIS feature ID1557322
Coordinates37.33817, -81.34149

Open the location on a map

What's there now

Ruth is no longer a community in its own right. The nearest living town is Bramwell, WV (population 129), about 2 miles away in a straight line, and the site sits at roughly 2,399 feet above sea level. Much of the land around former townsites is private; check access before you visit.

Nearby places

Questions

Where is Ruth?

Ruth is in Mercer County, West Virginia, at 37.3382, -81.3415.

How many ghost towns are in Mercer County?

Mercer County, West Virginia has 12 ghost towns on record at Wayfarrow.

Sources and licences

Facts marked "approximately" carry an uncertain date in the source. Text on this page is generated from the sources above; no encyclopedia prose is copied. Last updated 2026-11-05.