Ripley is a city in and the county seat of Jackson County, West Virginia, United States. [5] . The population was 3,074 at the 2020 census. [2] Ripley was originally owned and settled by William, John, and Lewis Rodgers. They received a grant of 400 acres (1.6 km 2) in 1768 where "Sycamore Creek joins Big Mill Creek" (the current site of Ripley).