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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The 2nd West Virginia Cavalry Regiment served in the Union Army during the American Civil War. It was organized in Parkersburg, Virginia (now West Virginia) during September 1861. Most of the original members of this regiment were from southeastern Ohio, and planners thought that this regiment would become the 4th Ohio Cavalry. Their application was rejected by the governor of Ohio, so the unit became the 2nd Regiment of Loyal Virginia Volunteer Cavalry. The "Loyal Virginia" part of the name was replaced with "West Virginia" after the state of West Virginia was officially admitted to the Union in 1863. Today, the National Park Service lists them as 2nd Regiment, West Virginia Cavalry under a heading of Union West Virginia Volunteers.

The regiment's first full–fledged war experience happened in early January 1862 in northeastern Kentucky, where they assisted the command of Colonel James A. Garfield. For the next two years, most of the regiment's fighting was in the mountainous backwoods of what later became the southern portion of West Virginia, especially the Kanawha River Valley. During the Kanawha Campaign in September 1862, the 2nd Regiment of Loyal Virginia Volunteer Cavalry cleared away Confederate cavalry that intended to prevent a retreating Union Army from reaching the safety of Ohio. By 1864, the regiment was part of the Army of West Virginia, and spent much of its time fighting in the western portion of today's state of Virginia. It participated in General David Hunter's unsuccessful raid on Lynchburg. It also participated in Union General Philip Sheridan's Shenandoah Valley Campaign, playing an important part in the Third Battle of Winchester. (Full article...)

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Renee Danielle Montgomery (born December 2, 1986) is an American former professional basketball player, sports broadcaster and activist who is currently vice president, part-owner, and investor of the Atlanta Dream, and one of three owners of the FCF Beasts Indoor Football Team; making her the first player in the WNBA to become an owner and executive of a team and first female owner in the FCF. During her 11-year playing career in the Women's National Basketball Association, she won two championships with the Minnesota Lynx in 2015 and 2017. During her college playing career, she won a national championship with the UConn Huskies in 2009. In 2020, Montgomery opted-out of the WNBA season in protest of police brutality, bringing forth awareness throughout the league and leading to multiple campaigns dedicated to human rights. (Full article...)

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

Image 1The 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 2Bituminous coal seam in southwestern West Virginia (from West Virginia)
Image 3Seneca Rocks, Pendleton County (from West Virginia)
Image 4Harpers 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 5Map of West Virginia counties (from West Virginia)
Image 6Shaded relief map of the Cumberland Plateau and Ridge-and-valley Appalachians (from West Virginia)
Image 7Saturday afternoon street scene, Welch, McDowell County, 1946 (from West Virginia)
Image 8John S. Carlile, a leader during the First Wheeling Convention (from History of West Virginia)
Image 9Child labor in the coal mines of West Virginia, 1908 (from West Virginia)
Image 10Köppen climate types of West Virginia, using 1991-2020 climate normals (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 12State of Westylvania proposed to the U.S. Congress (from West Virginia)
Image 13From left, Senator Joe Manchin, Energy Secretary Rick Perry, Senator Shelley Moore Capito, and Representative David McKinley (2017) (from West Virginia)
Image 14The summit of Spruce Knob is often covered in clouds. (from West Virginia)
Image 15A view of the New River in West Virginia, the world's third-oldest river geologically (from History of West Virginia)
Image 16Votes by county in the October 1861 statehood vote (from West Virginia)
Image 17Escaped slave broadside, Hampshire County, West Virginia, 1845 (from West Virginia)
Image 18Bluefield, a major center for coal mining, in 2014 (from West Virginia)
Image 19A toll plaza on the West Virginia Turnpike (from West Virginia)
Image 20Thomas Lee, the first manager of the Ohio Company of Virginia (from History of West Virginia)
Image 211715 Nicolas de Fer map showing the Native American areas known as Tionontatacaga and Calicuas (from History of West Virginia)
Image 22The iconic New River Gorge Bridge near Fayetteville (from West Virginia)
Image 23Francis H. Pierpont, a leader during the Second Wheeling Convention (from West Virginia)
Image 24Turnout by county in the October 24, 1861, West Virginia statehood vote (from History of West Virginia)
Image 25The Veterans Memorial Bridge carries US 22 from Weirton WV into Ohio. (from West Virginia)
Image 26Harpers Ferry, West Virginia, changed hands a dozen times during the American Civil War. (from History of West Virginia)
Image 27Counties (in blue) approving Virginia's secession from the U.S. (from History of West Virginia)
Image 28Map 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 29Thomas Lee, the first manager of the Ohio Company of Virginia (from West Virginia)
Image 30Historical coat of arms of West Virginia (illustrated, 1876) (from West Virginia)
Image 31Slave woman tending to a white baby in West Virginia, 1865 (from West Virginia)
Image 32Abraham Lincoln Walks at Midnight, a statue on the grounds of the West Virginia State Capitol (from West Virginia)
Image 33Packed circles diagram showing estimates of the ethnic origins of people in West Virginia in 2021. (from West Virginia)
Image 341751 Fry-Jefferson map showing early ferries and established colonial borders before the French And Indian War (from History of West Virginia)
Image 35West Virginia population density map (from West Virginia)
Image 36West Virginia Independence Hall, site of the Wheeling Convention (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 prior to becoming West Virginia's first African-American judge, Leon P. Miller was McDowell County's assistant prosecuting attorney, a Welch city councilman, and U.S. Attorney for the Virgin Islands?
... 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 West Virginia nursing professor Christine Elizabeth Abrahamsen wrote science-fiction and Gothic novels under the pseudonyms Christabel and Kathleen Westcott?
... that in 1993, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld West Virginia's largest punitive damages award in history, awarding $10 million – 526 times larger than the compensatory damages?
... 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?

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