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.

Front of the church

Old Pine Church, also historically known as Mill Church, Nicholas Church, and Pine Church, is a mid-19th century church located near to Purgitsville, West Virginia, United States. It is among the earliest extant log churches in Hampshire County, along with Capon Chapel and Mount Bethel Church.

The church was constructed in 1838 to serve as a nondenominational "union church". As many of the Mill Creek valley's earliest settlers were of German descent, Old Pine Church may also have been built as a meeting place for Schwarzenau Brethren adherents, known as "Dunkers" or "Dunkards". The church is believed to have also been a meeting place for German Methodist settlers. By 1870, the church was primarily used by the Brethren denomination, and in 1878, the church's congregation split into White Pine Church of the Brethren and Old Pine Church congregations. Both congregations continued to use the church until 1907. (Full article...)

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Brett in 2017

George Howard Brett (born May 15, 1953) is an American former professional baseball third baseman who played 21 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Kansas City Royals.

Brett's 3,154 career hits are second most by any third baseman in major league history (after only Adrián Beltré's 3,166) and rank 18th all-time. He is one of five players in MLB history to accumulate 3,000 hits, 300 home runs, and a career .300 batting average (the others being Hank Aaron, Willie Mays, Miguel Cabrera, and Stan Musial). He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1999 on the first ballot and is the only player in MLB history to win a batting title in three different decades. He was also a member of the Royals' 1985 World Series victory over the St. Louis Cardinals. (Full article...)

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

Image 1Shaded relief map of the Cumberland Plateau and Ridge-and-valley Appalachians (from West Virginia)
Image 21751 Fry-Jefferson map showing early ferries and established colonial borders before the French And Indian War (from History of West Virginia)
Image 3Map 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 4Abraham Lincoln Walks at Midnight, a statue on the grounds of the West Virginia State Capitol (from West Virginia)
Image 5Map of West Virginia counties (from West Virginia)
Image 6Seneca Rocks, Pendleton County (from West Virginia)
Image 7The summit of Spruce Knob is often covered in clouds. (from West Virginia)
Image 8Turnout by county in the October 24, 1861, West Virginia statehood vote (from History of West Virginia)
Image 91715 Nicolas de Fer map showing the Native American areas known as Tionontatacaga and Calicuas (from History of West Virginia)
Image 10From left, Senator Joe Manchin, Energy Secretary Rick Perry, Senator Shelley Moore Capito, and Representative David McKinley (2017) (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 13Saturday afternoon street scene, Welch, McDowell County, 1946 (from West Virginia)
Image 14West Virginia Independence Hall, site of the Wheeling Convention (from History of West Virginia)
Image 15Counties (in blue) approving Virginia's secession from the U.S. (from History of West Virginia)
Image 16Thomas Lee, the first manager of the Ohio Company of Virginia (from History of West Virginia)
Image 17The iconic New River Gorge Bridge near Fayetteville (from West Virginia)
Image 18Harpers Ferry, West Virginia, changed hands a dozen times during the American Civil War. (from History of West Virginia)
Image 19Historical coat of arms of West Virginia (illustrated, 1876) (from West Virginia)
Image 20A toll plaza on the West Virginia Turnpike (from West Virginia)
Image 21Bluefield, a major center for coal mining, in 2014 (from West Virginia)
Image 22Packed circles diagram showing estimates of the ethnic origins of people in West Virginia in 2021. (from West Virginia)
Image 23Bituminous coal seam in southwestern West Virginia (from West Virginia)
Image 24Slave woman tending to a white baby in West Virginia, 1865 (from West Virginia)
Image 25Harpers 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 26The 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 27West Virginia population density map (from West Virginia)
Image 28Escaped slave broadside, Hampshire County, West Virginia, 1845 (from West Virginia)
Image 29Votes by county in the October 1861 statehood vote (from West Virginia)
Image 30A view of the New River in West Virginia, the world's third-oldest river geologically (from History of West Virginia)
Image 31Köppen climate types of West Virginia, using 1991-2020 climate normals (from West Virginia)
Image 32John S. Carlile, a leader during the First Wheeling Convention (from History of West Virginia)
Image 33Thomas Lee, the first manager of the Ohio Company of Virginia (from West Virginia)
Image 34Child labor in the coal mines of West Virginia, 1908 (from West Virginia)
Image 35Francis H. Pierpont, a leader during the Second Wheeling Convention (from West Virginia)
Image 36The Veterans Memorial Bridge carries US 22 from Weirton WV into Ohio. (from West Virginia)

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... 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 the first exhibit of the West Virginia Music Hall of Fame came from founder Michael Lipton's record collection?
... that the China Folk House Retreat dismantled a Chinese folk house and rebuilt it in West Virginia?
... 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 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 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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