Portal:West Virginia

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The West Virginia Portal

Panorama northwest, northeast and east from a ridge along West Virginia Route 42 between Elk Garden and Sulphur City in Mineral County, West Virginia (2016)

West Virginia is a landlocked state in the Southern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. It is bordered by Pennsylvania to the north and east, Maryland to the east and northeast, Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, and Ohio to the northwest. West Virginia is the 10th-smallest state by area and ranks as the 12th-least populous state, with a population of 1,793,716 residents. The capital and most populous city is Charleston with a population of 49,055.

West Virginia was admitted to the Union on June 20, 1863, and was a key border state during the American Civil War. It was the only state to form by separating from a Confederate state, one of two states (along with Nevada) admitted to the Union during the Civil War, and the second state to separate from another state, after Maine separated from Massachusetts in 1820. Some of its residents held slaves, but most were yeoman farmers, and the delegates provided for the gradual abolition of slavery in the new state constitution. The state legislature abolished slavery in the state, and at the same time ratified the 13th Amendment abolishing slavery nationally on February 3, 1865.

West Virginia's northern panhandle extends adjacent to Pennsylvania and Ohio to form a tristate area, with Wheeling, Weirton, and Morgantown just across the border from the Pittsburgh metropolitan area. Huntington in the southwest is close to Ohio and Kentucky, while Martinsburg and Harpers Ferry in the eastern panhandle region are considered part of the Washington metropolitan area, between Maryland and Virginia. West Virginia is often included in several U.S. geographical regions, including the Mid-Atlantic, the Upland South, and the Southeastern United States. It is the only state entirely within the area served by the Appalachian Regional Commission; the area is commonly defined as "Appalachia". (Full article...)

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Lester, circa 1969

E. Roy Lester (October 3, 1923 – May 3, 2020) was an American college and high school football coach. After a successful career at the high school level, he served as the head coach of the University of Maryland football team from 1969 to 1971. Lester was the school's fourth head coach in five years, and compiled a 7–25 record during his tenure. He was fired after the 1971 season when Maryland finished at the bottom of the Atlantic Coast Conference for the second consecutive year.

Lester returned to coach interscholastic football, including as head coach of Richard Montgomery High School where his teams compiled an 86–10–1 record and six undefeated seasons. His high school teams won three Maryland state championships. Lester attended West Virginia University where he was a three-sport athlete and earned letters in football, baseball, and basketball. He was inducted into the West Virginia University Sports Hall of Fame in 2008. (Full article...)

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From the time of the Great Depression through the 1990s, the politics of West Virginia were largely dominated by the Democratic Party. In the 2000 presidential election, George W. Bush claimed a surprise victory over Al Gore, with 52% of the vote; he won West Virginia again in 2004, with 56% of the vote. West Virginia is now a heavily Republican state, with John McCain winning the state in 2008, Mitt Romney in 2012 and Donald Trump in 2016 and 2020.

Before 2000, West Virginia had voted almost exclusively Democratic in each presidential election starting in 1932, only voting Republican amidst national landslides in 1956, 1972, and 1984. However starting with the 2000 election, West Virginia began a sharp realignment from mostly supporting Democrats to mostly supporting Republicans. By the 2010s, the state had become at the presidential level one of the most Republican in the nation. By 2015, Republicans had gained one of the state's two Senate seats, all its U.S. House seats, and both chambers of the state legislature. (Full article...)

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The following are images from various West Virginia-related articles on Wikipedia.

Image 1Thomas Lee, the first manager of the Ohio Company of Virginia (from West Virginia)
Image 2The Veterans Memorial Bridge carries US 22 from Weirton WV into Ohio. (from West Virginia)
Image 3Shaded relief map of the Cumberland Plateau and Ridge-and-valley Appalachians (from West Virginia)
Image 4Francis H. Pierpont, a leader during the Second Wheeling Convention (from West Virginia)
Image 5A toll plaza on the West Virginia Turnpike (from West Virginia)
Image 6Turnout by county in the October 24, 1861, West Virginia statehood vote (from History of West Virginia)
Image 7From left, Senator Joe Manchin, Energy Secretary Rick Perry, Senator Shelley Moore Capito, and Representative David McKinley (2017) (from West Virginia)
Image 8Escaped slave broadside, Hampshire County, West Virginia, 1845 (from West Virginia)
Image 9Köppen climate types of West Virginia, using 1991-2020 climate normals (from West Virginia)
Image 10A view of the New River in West Virginia, the world's third-oldest river geologically (from History of West Virginia)
Image 11Harpers Ferry alternated between Confederate and Union rule eight times during the American Civil War, and was finally annexed by West Virginia. (from West Virginia)
Image 12Map of Virginia dated June 13, 1861, featuring the percentage of slave population within each county at the 1860 census and the proposed state of Kanawha (from West Virginia)
Image 13West Virginia Independence Hall, site of the Wheeling Convention (from History of West Virginia)
Image 14Bluefield, a major center for coal mining, in 2014 (from West Virginia)
Image 15Packed circles diagram showing estimates of the ethnic origins of people in West Virginia in 2021. (from West Virginia)
Image 16John S. Carlile, a leader during the First Wheeling Convention (from History of West Virginia)
Image 17The summit of Spruce Knob is often covered in clouds. (from West Virginia)
Image 181715 Nicolas de Fer map showing the Native American areas known as Tionontatacaga and Calicuas (from History of West Virginia)
Image 19Harpers Ferry, West Virginia, changed hands a dozen times during the American Civil War. (from History of West Virginia)
Image 20Map of West Virginia counties (from West Virginia)
Image 21The iconic New River Gorge Bridge near Fayetteville (from West Virginia)
Image 22Seneca Rocks, Pendleton County (from West Virginia)
Image 23Saturday afternoon street scene, Welch, McDowell County, 1946 (from West Virginia)
Image 24Child labor in the coal mines of West Virginia, 1908 (from West Virginia)
Image 25The Linsly Institute building in Wheeling, West Virginia, which served as the state's first capitol building from statehood in 1863 until March 28, 1870, when the capitol was transferred to Charleston, West Virginia (from History of West Virginia)
Image 26Abraham Lincoln Walks at Midnight, a statue on the grounds of the West Virginia State Capitol (from West Virginia)
Image 27Historical coat of arms of West Virginia (illustrated, 1876) (from West Virginia)
Image 28Votes by county in the October 1861 statehood vote (from West Virginia)
Image 29Thomas Lee, the first manager of the Ohio Company of Virginia (from History of West Virginia)
Image 30Slave woman tending to a white baby in West Virginia, 1865 (from West Virginia)
Image 31West Virginia population density map (from West Virginia)
Image 321751 Fry-Jefferson map showing early ferries and established colonial borders before the French And Indian War (from History of West Virginia)

Racial plurality in West Virginia by county, per the 2020 U.S. census

Legend

Non-Hispanic White

70–80%

80–90%

90%+

(from West Virginia)

Image 34Counties (in blue) approving Virginia's secession from the U.S. (from History of West Virginia)
Image 35Bituminous coal seam in southwestern West Virginia (from West Virginia)
Image 36State of Westylvania proposed to the U.S. Congress (from West Virginia)

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... that after Lew Dickey Sr. broke into the radio business by buying a station in West Virginia, his son would go on to own Cumulus Media?
... that professor Ruth Ann Davis made the largest-ever single contribution to Potomac State College of West Virginia University to support nursing scholarships in memory of her mother?
... that West Virginia nursing professor Christine Elizabeth Abrahamsen wrote science-fiction and Gothic novels under the pseudonyms Christabel and Kathleen Westcott?
... that William H. Davis was the first teacher of Booker T. Washington and the first African American to be nominated as a candidate for West Virginia governor in 1888?
... that West Virginia lawyer Arthur G. Froe served as D.C. Recorder of Deeds under three presidents and was appointed by President Wilson as a draft board legal advisor during World War I?
... that Flat Top Mountain's agriculture is mainly devoted to livestock and Christmas tree farming?

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