Barbour County is a county located in north-central West Virginia. At the 2010 census, the population was 16,589. The county seat is Philippi, which was chartered in 1844. Both county and city were named for Philip Pendleton Barbour (1783–1841), a U.S. Congressman from Virginia and Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court. The county was formed in 1843 when the region was still part of the state of Virginia.