Crime Scene and Trauma Cleanup in Bluefield, WV

Bluefield is a city in Mercer County in far southern West Virginia, lying in the Appalachian Mountains directly across the state line from its twin city, Bluefield, Virginia.

Bluefield is the principal city of the Bluefield WV-VA micropolitan area, which had a population of 106,363 at the 2020 census, and it remains the largest city in Mercer County.

European-American settlement of the area began in the 18th century, when the Davidson and Bailey families settled in this rugged part of what is now southern West Virginia.

In 1882 the Davidson and Bailey descendants sold part of their land as the Norfolk and Western Railway built through the hills, and the railroad selected Bluefield as a repair center and major division point, igniting a coal-fueled boom.

The city of Bluefield was officially incorporated on November 20, 1889.

Bluefield takes its name from the chicory flowers, or bluets, that painted the local landscape a purplish blue during the summer.

Bluefield is home to Bluefield State University, a public historically Black university founded in 1895 as the Bluefield Colored Institute and serving nearly 1,300 students.

The 2020 census counted 9,658 residents in Bluefield, down from a peak of 21,506 in 1950 as coal mechanization and transportation changes eroded the city's economy.

The 2020 census counted 4,191 households and 5,198 housing units in Bluefield.

Bluefield's progressive 1921 city charter made it just the second city in the nation to adopt the city manager form of local government.