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 state in the Southern 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 largest city is Charleston which has 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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Official portrait, 2017

Joseph Manchin III (/ˈmæntʃɪn/ MAN-chin; born August 24, 1947) is an American politician and businessman serving as the senior United States senator from West Virginia, a seat he has held since 2010. A moderate member of the Democratic Party, Manchin was the 34th governor of West Virginia from 2005 to 2010 and the 27th secretary of state of West Virginia from 2001 to 2005. He became the state's senior U.S. senator when Jay Rockefeller retired in 2015 and has since been West Virginia's only congressional Democrat. Before entering politics, Manchin helped found and was the president of Enersystems, a coal brokerage company his family owns and operates.

Manchin won the 2004 West Virginia gubernatorial election by a large margin and was reelected by an even larger margin in 2008. He won the 2010 special election to fill the Senate seat vacated by incumbent Democrat Robert Byrd's death with 53% of the vote, and in 2012 was elected to a full term with 61% of the vote. Manchin won a second term in 2018 with just under 50% of the vote. In both elections, he over-performed the Democratic presidential ticket by more than 40 percentage points. Since 2021, Manchin has been the only Democrat holding statewide or congressional office in West Virginia, and represents what is, by a large margin, the most Republican-leaning constituency of any Democrat in Congress. (Full article...)

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

Image 1A view of the New River in West Virginia, the world's third-oldest river geologically (from History of West Virginia)
Image 2John S. Carlile, a leader during the First Wheeling Convention (from History of West Virginia)
Image 3A toll plaza on the West Virginia Turnpike (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 5Packed circles diagram showing estimates of the ethnic origins of people in West Virginia in 2021. (from West Virginia)
Image 6The summit of Spruce Knob is often covered in clouds. (from West Virginia)
Image 7Thomas Lee, the first manager of the Ohio Company of Virginia (from West Virginia)
Image 8Harpers Ferry, West Virginia, changed hands a dozen times during the American Civil War. (from History of West Virginia)
Image 9From left, Senator Joe Manchin, Energy Secretary Rick Perry, Senator Shelley Moore Capito, and Representative David McKinley in 2017 (from West Virginia)
Image 10The iconic New River Gorge Bridge near Fayetteville (from West Virginia)
Image 11The 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 12Saturday afternoon street scene, Welch, McDowell County, 1946 (from West Virginia)
Image 13Map of West Virginia counties (from West Virginia)
Image 14The Veterans Memorial Bridge carries US 22 from Steubenville into Ohio. (from West Virginia)
Image 15Counties (in blue) approving Virginia's secession from the U.S. (from History of West Virginia)
Image 16West Virginia Independence Hall, site of the Wheeling Convention (from History of West Virginia)
Image 17Turnout by county in the October 24, 1861, West Virginia statehood vote (from History of West Virginia)
Image 18Köppen climate types of West Virginia, using 1991-2020 climate normals (from West Virginia)
Image 191751 Fry-Jefferson map showing early ferries and established colonial borders before the French And Indian War (from History of West Virginia)
Image 20Thomas Lee, the first manager of the Ohio Company of Virginia (from History of 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 22Child labor in the coal mines of West Virginia, 1908 (from West Virginia)
Image 23Shaded relief map of the Cumberland Plateau and Ridge-and-valley Appalachians (from West Virginia)
Image 24Votes by county in the October 1861 statehood vote (from West Virginia)
Image 25Francis H. Pierpont, a leader during the Second Wheeling Convention (from West Virginia)
Image 26A slave wedding in Virginia, 1838 (from West Virginia)
Image 27Bluefield, a major center for coal mining, in 2014 (from West Virginia)
Image 28Seneca Rocks, Pendleton County (from West Virginia)
Image 29Abraham Lincoln Walks at Midnight, a statue on the grounds of the West Virginia State Capitol (from West Virginia)
Image 30Map 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 31West Virginia population density map (from West Virginia)
Image 32Bituminous coal seam in southwestern West Virginia (from West Virginia)
Image 331715 Nicolas de Fer map showing the Native American areas known as Tionontatacaga and Calicuas (from History of West Virginia)

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... that West Virginia nursing professor Christine Elizabeth Abrahamsen wrote science-fiction and Gothic novels under the pseudonyms Christabel and Kathleen Westcott?
... that West Virginia delegate Harry J. Capehart introduced bills establishing a state anti-lynching law, and a school for West Virginia's African-American deaf and blind students?
... that Flat Top Mountain's agriculture is mainly devoted to livestock and Christmas tree farming?
... 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 Henderson Hall Historic District contains one of the oldest extant schools in West Virginia?
... that Thomas S. Riley, the son of Irish immigrants, was West Virginia's 11th attorney general and chairperson of the West Virginia Democratic Party State Executive Committee?

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Garrett Greene (edit | talk | history | links | watch | logs | tools) by Butters.From.SouthPark (talk · contribs · new pages (35)) started on 2023-09-24, score: 40
James Dillon Armstrong (edit | talk | history | links | watch | logs | tools) by West Virginian (talk · contribs · new pages (2)) started on 2023-09-23, score: 45

Thomas Byrne (Virginia politician) (edit | talk | history | links | watch | logs | tools) by JSwift49 (talk · contribs · new pages (130)) started on 2023-09-21, score: 20
Wellsburg Bridge (edit | talk | history | links | watch | logs | tools) by .usarnamechoice (talk · contribs · new pages (1)) started on 2023-09-20, score: 36

WPMW (edit | talk | history | links | watch | logs | tools) by Sammi Brie (talk · contribs · new pages (4)) started on 2023-09-19, score: 20

Tristan Gray (edit | talk | history | links | watch | logs | tools) by Stonecold415 (talk · contribs · new pages (3)) started on 2023-09-17, score: 30

Jeff Lucas (American football) (edit | talk | history | links | watch | logs | tools) by Butters.From.SouthPark (talk · contribs · new pages (35)) started on 2023-09-16, score: 40

Jeff Campbell (West Virginia politician) (edit | talk | history | links | watch | logs | tools) by Ltbubbas (talk · contribs · new pages (1)) started on 2023-09-14, score: 40

William Burrus (edit | talk | history | links | watch | logs | tools) by Warofdreams (talk · contribs · new pages (25)) started on 2023-09-11, score: 40

Jeff Behrman (edit | talk | history | links | watch | logs | tools) by Thetreesarespeakingtome (talk · contribs · new pages (22)) started on 2023-09-10, score: 36

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Sources

^ "Biggest US Cities By Population - West Virginia - 2018 Population". Biggest US Cities. March 4, 2020. Retrieved March 4, 2020.

[1] "Biggest US Cities By Population - West Virginia - 2018 Population". Biggest US Cities. March 4, 2020. Retrieved March 4, 2020.

[1]