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 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.

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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The West Virginia Mountaineers football team represents West Virginia University (also referred to as "WVU" or "West Virginia") in the NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of college football. West Virginia plays its home games at Milan Puskar Stadium on the campus of West Virginia University in Morgantown, West Virginia. The Mountaineers have won or shared a total of 15 conference championships, including eight Southern Conference titles and seven Big East Conference titles. The Mountaineers compete in the Big 12 Conference and are led by head coach Neal Brown. (Full article...)

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

Image 1Turnout by county in the October 24, 1861, West Virginia statehood vote (from History of West Virginia)
Image 2Map 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 3Historical coat of arms of West Virginia (illustrated, 1876) (from West Virginia)
Image 4Seneca Rocks, Pendleton County (from West Virginia)
Image 5Bluefield, 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 7The 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 8Votes by county in the October 1861 statehood vote (from West Virginia)
Image 9The summit of Spruce Knob is often covered in clouds. (from West Virginia)
Image 10State of Westylvania proposed to the U.S. Congress (from West Virginia)
Image 11Slave woman tending to a white baby in West Virginia, 1865 (from West Virginia)
Image 12From left, Senator Joe Manchin, Energy Secretary Rick Perry, Senator Shelley Moore Capito, and Representative David McKinley (2017) (from West Virginia)
Image 13West Virginia Independence Hall, site of the Wheeling Convention (from History of West Virginia)
Image 14John S. Carlile, a leader during the First Wheeling Convention (from History of West Virginia)
Image 15Thomas Lee, the first manager of the Ohio Company of Virginia (from History of West Virginia)
Image 16Map of West Virginia counties (from West Virginia)
Image 17Shaded relief map of the Cumberland Plateau and Ridge-and-valley Appalachians (from West Virginia)
Image 18The iconic New River Gorge Bridge near Fayetteville (from West Virginia)
Image 19Harpers 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 20The Veterans Memorial Bridge carries US 22 from Weirton WV into Ohio. (from West Virginia)
Image 21Counties (in blue) approving Virginia's secession from the U.S. (from History of West Virginia)
Image 22Francis H. Pierpont, a leader during the Second Wheeling Convention (from West Virginia)
Image 23Bituminous coal seam in southwestern West Virginia (from West Virginia)
Image 24Saturday afternoon street scene, Welch, McDowell County, 1946 (from West Virginia)
Image 25Abraham Lincoln Walks at Midnight, a statue on the grounds of the West Virginia State Capitol (from West Virginia)
Image 26Escaped slave broadside, Hampshire County, West Virginia, 1845 (from West Virginia)
Image 27Child labor in the coal mines of West Virginia, 1908 (from West Virginia)
Image 28Thomas Lee, the first manager of the Ohio Company of Virginia (from West Virginia)
Image 29Köppen climate types of West Virginia, using 1991-2020 climate normals (from West Virginia)
Image 30West Virginia population density map (from West Virginia)
Image 31A view of the New River in West Virginia, the world's third-oldest river geologically (from History of West Virginia)
Image 32Packed circles diagram showing estimates of the ethnic origins of people in West Virginia in 2021. (from West Virginia)
Image 33Harpers Ferry, West Virginia, changed hands a dozen times during the American Civil War. (from History of 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 35A toll plaza on the West Virginia Turnpike (from West Virginia)
Image 361715 Nicolas de Fer map showing the Native American areas known as Tionontatacaga and Calicuas (from History of West Virginia)

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... that the 1967 Fairmont State Falcons won West Virginia's first national title in football?
... that the first exhibit of the West Virginia Music Hall of Fame came from founder Michael Lipton's record collection?
... that the general manager of a West Virginia TV station called changing its network affiliation "the hardest decision I've ever had to make"?
... that West Virginia nursing professor Christine Elizabeth Abrahamsen wrote science-fiction and Gothic novels under the pseudonyms Christabel and Kathleen Westcott?
... that part of West Virginia's Princeton–Deepwater District railway was so steep that only shortened coal trains could ascend it?
... 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?

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