Prichard is a

census-designated place A census-designated place (CDP) is a Place (United States Census Bureau), concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only. CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the counte ...

(CDP) in Wayne County,

West Virginia West Virginia is a mountainous U.S. state, state in the Southern United States, Southern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States.The United States Census Bureau, Census Bureau and the Association of American ...

, United States. As of the 2020 census, its population was 461. It is located along the Big Sandy River and

U.S. Route 52 U.S. Route 52 (US 52) is a major U.S. Highway in the Central United States that extends from the northern to southeastern region of the United States. Contrary to most other even-numbered U.S. Highways, US 52 primarily follows a north ...

. It is part of the Huntington–Ashland, WV–KY–OH, Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA), which had a population of 287,702 according to the US Census (2010). The community was named after James Pritchard.

Education

Prichard Elementary School opened in 1958, replacing a two-room schoolhouse. It is the lone academic facility in Prichard. Once students reach sixth grade, they attend either Buffalo Middle School, Wayne Middle School, or Fort Gay Middle School. Upon reaching ninth grade, Prichard residents attend either Spring Valley High School, Wayne High School or Tolsia High School.

Economy

With only a limited number of employment opportunities within Prichard, the average work commute for residents was 38.7 minutes. In September 1999, Senator

Jay Rockefeller John Davison "Jay" Rockefeller IV (born June 18, 1937) is an American retired politician who served as a United States senator from West Virginia (1985–2015). He was first elected to the Senate in 1984, while in office as governor of West Vir ...

announced that Okuno International would open a hydraulic cylinder plant in Prichard, offering 50 new jobs and eventually expanding to 100. Aplicare, a manufacturer of topical antiseptic and personal care products, operated a facility which, according to their website, manufactured “all of our bottled antiseptics, our personal care product line, and several unit dose products including lubricating jelly and antiseptic hand gel. This facility closed in 2018” In 2003,

Allevard Allevard (; also known as Allevard-les-Bains) is a Communes of France, commune in the Isère Departments of France, department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of southeastern France. The commune has been awarded two flowers by the National C ...

opened a coil spring and stabilizer bar plant in Prichard originally employing approximately 90 people. In May 2008, Allevard announced plans to expand employment to approximately 150 people, but in 2009, due to the slumping economy, had to instead reduce its staff to about 40. In January 2008, construction began on the

Heartland Corridor The Heartland Corridor is a public-private partnership between the Norfolk Southern Railway (NS) and the Federal Highway Administration and three U.S. states to improve railroad freight operations. The $150 million plan was developed to fa ...

, a train route of the

Norfolk Southern Railway The Norfolk Southern Railway is a Class I freight railroad operating in the Eastern United States. Headquartered in Atlanta, the company was formed in 1982 with the merger of the Norfolk and Western Railway and Southern Railway. The comp ...

that leads from the

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

coast to

Columbus, Ohio Columbus (, ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities in Ohio, most populous city of the U.S. state of Ohio. With a 2020 United States census, 2020 census population of 905,748, it is the List of United States ...

. The corridor offers existing lines the ability to carry more cargo by double-stacking boxcars. An intermodal facility was placed in Prichard, to allow for the cars to be easily transferred between rail, highway, waterway, and airway transportation. The $35 million intermodal facility opened in 2015, but with disappointing expectations. The West Virginia Port Authority put the facility up for auction in 2020 after losing a half million dollars a year.

Government

As an unincorporated community, Prichard has no city government. Law enforcement is provided from the county and state levels.

References

{{authority control Census-designated places in Wayne County, West Virginia Census-designated places in West Virginia West Virginia populated places on the Big Sandy River