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 and Maryland to the 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.

Capon Lake Whipple Truss Bridge, looking northwest from its southeast end, in 2009

The Capon Lake Whipple Truss Bridge (locally /ˈkeɪpən/), formerly known as South Branch Bridge or Romney Bridge, is a historic Whipple truss bridge in Capon Lake, West Virginia. It is located off Carpers Pike (West Virginia Route 259) and crosses the Cacapon River. The bridge formerly carried Capon Springs Road (County Route 16) over the river, connecting Capon Springs and Capon Lake.

The bridge's Whipple truss technology was developed by civil engineer Squire Whipple in 1847. J. W. Murphy further modified Whipple's truss design in 1859 by designing the first truss bridge with pinned eyebar connections. The design of the Capon Lake Whipple Truss Bridge incorporates Murphy's later modifications with double-intersections and horizontal chords, and is therefore considered a Whipple–Murphy truss bridge. The Capon Lake Whipple Truss Bridge is West Virginia's oldest remaining example of a Whipple truss bridge and its oldest extant metal truss bridge. (Full article...)

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William Anderson "Devil Anse" Hatfield (/ˈæns/; September 9, 1839 – January 6, 1921) was the patriarch of the West Virginian Hatfield family who led the family during the Hatfield–McCoy feud. (Full article...)

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

Image 1Harpers 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 2Turnout by county in the October 24, 1861, West Virginia statehood vote (from History of West Virginia)
Image 3West Virginia population density map (from West Virginia)
Image 4Map 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 5A view of the New River in West Virginia, the world's third-oldest river geologically (from History of West Virginia)
Image 6Counties (in blue) approving Virginia's secession from the U.S. (from History of West Virginia)
Image 7Saturday afternoon street scene, Welch, McDowell County, 1946 (from West Virginia)
Image 8Shaded relief map of the Cumberland Plateau and Ridge-and-valley Appalachians (from West Virginia)
Image 9Seneca Rocks, Pendleton County (from West Virginia)
Image 10Harpers Ferry, West Virginia, changed hands a dozen times during the American Civil War. (from History of West Virginia)
Image 11A toll plaza on the West Virginia Turnpike (from West Virginia)
Image 12Francis H. Pierpont, a leader during the Second Wheeling Convention (from West Virginia)
Image 13Köppen climate types of West Virginia, using 1991-2020 climate normals (from West Virginia)
Image 14From left, Senator Joe Manchin, Energy Secretary Rick Perry, Senator Shelley Moore Capito, and Representative David McKinley (2017) (from West Virginia)
Image 15Child labor in the coal mines of West Virginia, 1908 (from West Virginia)
Image 16Votes by county in the October 1861 statehood vote (from West Virginia)
Image 17The 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 18Abraham Lincoln Walks at Midnight, a statue on the grounds of the West Virginia State Capitol (from West Virginia)
Image 19Thomas Lee, the first manager of the Ohio Company of Virginia (from History of West Virginia)
Image 201715 Nicolas de Fer map showing the Native American areas known as Tionontatacaga and Calicuas (from History of West Virginia)
Image 211751 Fry-Jefferson map showing early ferries and established colonial borders before the French And Indian War (from History of West Virginia)
Image 22Bluefield, 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 24John S. Carlile, a leader during the First Wheeling Convention (from History of West Virginia)
Image 25Escaped slave broadside, Hampshire County, West Virginia, 1845 (from West Virginia)
Image 26West Virginia Independence Hall, site of the Wheeling Convention (from History of West Virginia)
Image 27Thomas Lee, the first manager of the Ohio Company of Virginia (from West Virginia)
Image 28West Virginia is situated in the Appalachian Mountains, bounded by Allegheny Mountains, Ohio and Big Sandy rivers, and the Cumberland Mountains. (from West Virginia)
Image 29A slave woman tending to a white baby in West Virginia, 1865 (from West Virginia)
Image 30The West Virginia State Capitol in Charleston is home to the West Virginia Legislature. (from West Virginia)
Image 31State of Westylvania proposed to the U.S. Congress (from West Virginia)
Image 32Packed circles diagram showing estimates of the ethnic origins of people in West Virginia in 2021. (from West Virginia)
Image 33Bituminous coal seam in southwestern West Virginia (from West Virginia)
Image 34Spruce Knob is the highest point in West Virginia and the Allegheny Mountains. (from West Virginia)
Image 35Historical coat of arms of West Virginia (illustrated, 1876) (from West Virginia)
Image 36The iconic New River Gorge Bridge near Fayetteville (from West Virginia)
Image 37The Veterans Memorial Bridge carries US 22 from Weirton WV into Ohio. (from West Virginia)

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... that Babydog is "a fixture in West Virginia politics"?
... that part of West Virginia's Princeton–Deepwater District railway was so steep that only shortened coal trains could ascend it?
... that James Dillon Armstrong was a Virginia state senator, a delegate to West Virginia's constitutional convention, and a circuit court judge while serving for more than 43 years as a Presbyterian church elder?
... 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 the Vulcan Bridge, a bridge in Vulcan, West Virginia, was constructed after the mayor requested financial aid from the Soviet Union?
... that the general manager of a West Virginia TV station called changing its network affiliation "the hardest decision I've ever had to make"?

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