Parkersburg, city, seat of Wood County, western West Virginia, at the confluence of the Ohio and Little Kanawha rivers; incorporated 1863. It is a manufacturing and distribution center for the surrounding agricultural and coal- and petroleum-producing region. Major products include metal, plastic and chemicals; oil-drilling and farm equipment; hand tools; and glassware. Other industries include insurance and financial services. Several junior colleges are here, and nearby is Ohio Valley College and Blennerhassett Island, in the Ohio River, where Harman Blennerhassett (1765-1831) and Aaron Burr are said to have plotted (1805) to conquer The Territory of the United States South of the River Ohio. Settled around 1785, the community was known as Newport and Stokeleyville before its present name was adopted in 1810. Population 39,967 (1980); 33,862 (1990); 33,099 (2000).
