Wharton is an

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a region that is not governed by a local municipal corporation. Widespread unincorporated communities and areas are a distinguishing feature of the United States and Canada. Most other countries of the world either have ...

and

coal town A coal town, also known as a coal camp or patch, is a type of company town or mining community established by the employer, a mining company, which imports workers to the site to work the mineral find. The company develops it and provides residen ...

on the Pond Fork River in Boone County in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sover ...

West Virginia West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian, Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States.The Census Bureau and the Association of American Geographers classify West Virginia as part of the Southern United States while the Bur ...

. Wharton lies along

West Virginia Route 85 West Virginia Route 85 is a north–south state highway in southern West Virginia. The southern terminus of the route is at West Virginia Route 10 West Virginia Route 10 is a north–south route from Cabell County to Mercer County in the w ...

. Wharton was named for Joseph Wharton, a large landowner from

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

Mining accident

On February 1, 2006, a miner was killed at Long Branch Energy's #18 mine in Wharton when a wall support popped loose. This fatality along with another one in a separate incident in Uneeda, also in Boone County, caused

West Virginia Governor The governor of West Virginia is the head of government of West VirginiaWV Constitution article VII, § 5. and the commander-in-chief of the U.S. state, state's West Virginia National Guard, military forces.WV Constitution article VII, § 12. Th ...

Joe Manchin Joseph Manchin III (born August 24, 1947) is an American politician and businessman serving as the senior United States senator from West Virginia, a seat he has held since 2010. A member of the Democratic Party, Manchin was the 34th governor of ...

to call for a "stand-down on mine safety" at West Virginia's mines. Unincorporated communities in Boone County, West Virginia Coal towns in West Virginia {{BooneCountyWV-geo-stub