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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There are 37 state parks in the U.S. state of West Virginia . The West Virginia Division of Natural Resources (WVDNR) Parks and Recreation Section is the governing body for all 37 state parks and directly operates all but one of them. In addition to state parks, the WVDNR Parks and Recreation Section governs eight state forests.

The first West Virginia state park, Droop Mountain Battlefield, was acquired in 1928 and dedicated in 1929; and the newest state parks, Stonewall Jackson Lake and North Bend Rail Trail, were opened in 1990 and 1991, respectively. Four parks that later joined the state park system were established prior to Droop Mountain, the earliest being the Point Pleasant Monument (now Tu-Endie-Wei) in 1901. There are seven former West Virginia state parks: one state park was transferred to the National Park Service (NPS), one to the West Virginia Division of Culture and History, one to the West Virginia Division of Highways, and one to a municipality, and three have ceased to exist entirely. (Full article...)

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West Virginia (USA)

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people in the U.S. state of West Virginia face legal challenges not faced by non-LGBT persons. Same-sex sexual activity has been legal since 1976, and same-sex marriage has been recognized since October 2014. West Virginia statutes do not address discrimination on account of sexual orientation or gender identity; however, the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling in Bostock v. Clayton County established that employment discrimination against LGBT people is illegal. (Full article...)

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

Image 1Saturday afternoon street scene, Welch, McDowell County, 1946 (from West Virginia)
Image 2Child labor in the coal mines of West Virginia, 1908 (from West Virginia)
Image 3From left, Senator Joe Manchin, Energy Secretary Rick Perry, Senator Shelley Moore Capito, and Representative David McKinley (2017) (from West Virginia)
Image 4The Veterans Memorial Bridge carries US 22 from Weirton WV into Ohio. (from West Virginia)
Image 5Köppen climate types of West Virginia, using 1991-2020 climate normals (from West Virginia)
Image 6Escaped slave broadside, Hampshire County, West Virginia, 1845 (from West Virginia)
Image 7Historical coat of arms of West Virginia (illustrated, 1876) (from West Virginia)
Image 8John S. Carlile, a leader during the First Wheeling Convention (from History of West Virginia)
Image 9Thomas Lee, the first manager of the Ohio Company of Virginia (from West Virginia)
Image 101751 Fry-Jefferson map showing early ferries and established colonial borders before the French And Indian War (from History of West Virginia)
Image 11West Virginia population density map (from West Virginia)
Image 12Seneca Rocks, Pendleton County (from West Virginia)
Image 13Harpers 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 14West Virginia Independence Hall, site of the Wheeling Convention (from History of West Virginia)
Image 15The summit of Spruce Knob is often covered in clouds. (from West Virginia)
Image 16Map of West Virginia counties (from West Virginia)
Image 17A toll plaza on the West Virginia Turnpike (from West Virginia)
Image 18The iconic New River Gorge Bridge near Fayetteville (from West Virginia)
Image 19A view of the New River in West Virginia, the world's third-oldest river geologically (from History of West Virginia)
Image 20Map 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)

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 22Abraham Lincoln Walks at Midnight, a statue on the grounds of the West Virginia State Capitol (from West Virginia)
Image 23Bluefield, a major center for coal mining, in 2014 (from West Virginia)
Image 241715 Nicolas de Fer map showing the Native American areas known as Tionontatacaga and Calicuas (from History of West Virginia)
Image 25State of Westylvania proposed to the U.S. Congress (from West Virginia)
Image 26Turnout by county in the October 24, 1861, West Virginia statehood vote (from History of West Virginia)
Image 27Shaded relief map of the Cumberland Plateau and Ridge-and-valley Appalachians (from West Virginia)
Image 28Packed circles diagram showing estimates of the ethnic origins of people in West Virginia in 2021. (from West Virginia)
Image 29Slave woman tending to a white baby in West Virginia, 1865 (from West Virginia)
Image 30Francis H. Pierpont, a leader during the Second Wheeling Convention (from West Virginia)
Image 31Counties (in blue) approving Virginia's secession from the U.S. (from History of West Virginia)
Image 32Votes by county in the October 1861 statehood vote (from West Virginia)
Image 33Thomas Lee, the first manager of the Ohio Company of Virginia (from History of West Virginia)
Image 34Harpers Ferry, West Virginia, changed hands a dozen times during the American Civil War. (from History of West Virginia)
Image 35Bituminous coal seam in southwestern West Virginia (from West Virginia)
Image 36The 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)

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... that the California Golden Bears men's basketball team won the 1959 NCAA University Division Basketball Championship Game by a single point over West Virginia?
... that the general manager of a West Virginia TV station called changing its network affiliation "the hardest decision I've ever had to make"?
... 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 West Virginia nursing professor Christine Elizabeth Abrahamsen wrote science-fiction and Gothic novels under the pseudonyms Christabel and Kathleen Westcott?
... 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 part of West Virginia's Princeton–Deepwater District railway was so steep that only shortened coal trains could ascend it?

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