Clay Magistrate is the Magistrate court of Clay county.

The Hurons, Delaware, Mingo, Iroquois and Shawnee were all occupants of this area at one time. Around 1744, ownership of West Virginia was purchased from the Iroquois by the government of Virginia. Although several European settlers roamed through the area; it was not until 1812 that the first permanent settler came to the area followed shortly by others. For a long time the major means of transportation in the area was rafting on the Elk river until the Charleston, Clendenin, Clay and Sutton Railway was completed just before the end of the 19th century furthered economic development. Yet rafts continued to transport people and goods on the Elk River into the 1920's. Shortly after the beginning of the 20th century, the Elk River Coal and Lumber Company and soon became the major source of employment for the county. The Elk River Coal and Lumber Company was organized in 1904 the county's largest employer.