West Virginia

West Virginia’s elevation runs from 240’ (Potomac River at the Virginia border) to 4,863’ (Spruce Knob).

West Virginia is only .6% water.

W.Va. is the only state with 2 panhandles – the Northern, between PA and Ohio, and the Eastern, between MD and VA.

Around 1000 B.C., indigenous people, known as Mound Builders, began to form settlements in W.Va.  The largest of the giant earthworks they built (Grave Creek Mound) grew higher over a period of 100 years as more chiefs and priests were buried there.  It ended as 69’ high and 295’ wide at the base and contains 60,000 tons of dirt, hauled a basketful at a time. 

In 1775, almost 2,000 settlers signed a petition to the Continental Congress, asking permission to form a 14^th colony called Westsylvania, to include nearly all of present-day W.Va. and parts of VA, MD, PA, and KY.  Congress ignored it.

In 1861, NW VA opposed secession and wanted to form a separate state, but the U.S. Constitution required VA's approval of the split (unlikely).  So W.Va. declared VA's secession illegal and created a "reorganized government of VA."  W.Va officially became a new state in 1863.

In 1797, salt production began in Kanawha Valley and became a big industry; there are attempts to revive the industry today.

Northern WV was once home to the world's largest pottery-making plant; pottery and glass products are still an important part of the economy.

The Hatfield-McCoy feud began in the Civil War: Hatfields were pro-South and lived in W.Va., McCoys were pro-North and lived just across the state line in KY; they had been best friends but tension smoldered from the Civil War smoldered for 20 years, and in 1882 they declared war on each other that lasted years.

W.Va. is the only state to lie completely within a mountain range (Appalachians).

Most W.Va. residents live in rural areas.

W.Va. has no lieutenant governor.

W.Va. is one of the cloudiest U.S. states and is among those with the most frequent days of precipitation.

W.Va. ranks #50 in percentage of foreign-born residents and percentage of those who speak a language other than English at home.

W.Va. has unusual wild plants, including the box huckleberry (at 6,000 years old, possibly the world’s oldest species) and the phymosia (which in the U.S. grows only in W.Va. and an island in the Kankakee R. in Illinois).

Berkeley Springs, in the Eastern Panhandle, is the oldest spa in the U.S.

New River Gorge Bridge

The New River Gorge Bridge is the world’s 2^nd longest steel arch bridge (Shanghai has the longest).  

Wheeling has the suspension bridge in the US (1849) still in use.  But because it was built during horse-and-buggy days, only a few cars at a time are allowed to  pass, and heavy vehicles are prohibited.

Berdine’s Five and Dime in Harrisville, established in 1908, is the oldest 5-and-10-cent store still in operation.

As in so many states, the post-Civil War advent of railroad service allowed many industries to flourish: logging, coal mining, oil and gas production.  Although these industries continue, WV is now developing the service sector - especially tourism.