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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Entries here consist of Good and Featured articles, which meet a core set of high editorial standards.

Truman near his lodge in 1980, a few months before his death

Harry R. Truman (October 1896 – May 18, 1980) was an American businessman, bootlegger, and prospector. He lived near Mount St. Helens, an active volcano in the state of Washington, and was the owner and caretaker of Mount St. Helens Lodge at Spirit Lake near the base of the mountain. Truman came to fame as a folk hero in the months leading up to the volcano's 1980 eruption after refusing to leave his home despite evacuation orders. He was killed by a pyroclastic flow that overtook his lodge and buried the site under 150 ft (46 m) of volcanic debris.

After Truman's death, his family and friends reflected on his love for the mountain. In 1981, Art Carney portrayed Truman in the docudrama film St. Helens. He was commemorated in a book by his niece, and also in various pieces of music, including songs by Headgear, Billy Jonas, and Shawn Wright and the Brothers Band. (Full article...)

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Colonel Florence A. Blanchfield

Florence Aby Blanchfield (April 1, 1884 in Shepherdstown, West Virginia – May 12, 1971 in Washington, D.C.) was a United States Army Colonel and superintendent of the Army Nursing Corps, from 1943 to 1947. She was awarded the Distinguished Service Medal in 1945, and the Florence Nightingale Medal by the International Red Cross in 1951. In 1947 Blanchfield became the first woman to receive a military commission in the regular army. (Full article...)

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

Image 1John S. Carlile, a leader during the First Wheeling Convention (from History of West Virginia)
Image 2West Virginia Independence Hall, site of the Wheeling Convention (from History of West Virginia)
Image 3Harpers 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 4West Virginia population density map (from West Virginia)
Image 5Slave woman tending to a white baby in West Virginia, 1865 (from West Virginia)
Image 6The iconic New River Gorge Bridge near Fayetteville (from West Virginia)
Image 71715 Nicolas de Fer map showing the Native American areas known as Tionontatacaga and Calicuas (from History of West Virginia)
Image 8Seneca Rocks, Pendleton County (from West Virginia)
Image 9Turnout by county in the October 24, 1861, West Virginia statehood vote (from History of West Virginia)
Image 10Bituminous coal seam in southwestern West Virginia (from West Virginia)
Image 11Votes by county in the October 1861 statehood vote (from West Virginia)
Image 12Harpers Ferry, West Virginia, changed hands a dozen times during the American Civil War. (from History of West Virginia)
Image 13A view of the New River in West Virginia, the world's third-oldest river geologically (from History of West Virginia)
Image 14Thomas Lee, the first manager of the Ohio Company of Virginia (from History of West Virginia)
Image 15Thomas Lee, the first manager of the Ohio Company of Virginia (from West Virginia)
Image 16Francis H. Pierpont, a leader during the Second Wheeling Convention (from West Virginia)
Image 17A toll plaza on the West Virginia Turnpike (from West Virginia)
Image 18Counties (in blue) approving Virginia's secession from the U.S. (from History of West Virginia)
Image 19Bluefield, a major center for coal mining, in 2014 (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 21The 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 22Map 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 23From left, Senator Joe Manchin, Energy Secretary Rick Perry, Senator Shelley Moore Capito, and Representative David McKinley (2017) (from West Virginia)
Image 24Saturday afternoon street scene, Welch, McDowell County, 1946 (from West Virginia)
Image 25Shaded relief map of the Cumberland Plateau and Ridge-and-valley Appalachians (from West Virginia)
Image 26Map of West Virginia counties (from West Virginia)
Image 27Köppen climate types of West Virginia, using 1991-2020 climate normals (from West Virginia)
Image 28Escaped slave broadside, Hampshire County, West Virginia, 1845 (from West Virginia)
Image 29The summit of Spruce Knob is often covered in clouds. (from West Virginia)
Image 301751 Fry-Jefferson map showing early ferries and established colonial borders before the French And Indian War (from History of West Virginia)
Image 31State of Westylvania proposed to the U.S. Congress (from West Virginia)
Image 32The Veterans Memorial Bridge carries US 22 from Weirton WV into Ohio. (from West Virginia)
Image 33Abraham Lincoln Walks at Midnight, a statue on the grounds of the West Virginia State Capitol (from West Virginia)
Image 34Child labor in the coal mines of West Virginia, 1908 (from West Virginia)
Image 35Packed circles diagram showing estimates of the ethnic origins of people in West Virginia in 2021. (from West Virginia)
Image 36Historical coat of arms of West Virginia (illustrated, 1876) (from West Virginia)

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... 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 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 Flat Top Mountain's agriculture is mainly devoted to livestock and Christmas tree farming?
... 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 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 after nearly killing a man in a duel, Edgar P. Rucker went on to become the attorney general of West Virginia?

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