Quick Facts: West Virginia

West Virginia is a U.S. state located in the Appalachian region of the Southern United States.. It is bordered by Kentucky and Ohio to the west; Pennsylvania and Maryland to the north, and Virginia to the south.

ABBREVIATION: WV
NICKNAME: The Mountain State
POPULATION: 1,769,979 (2024 est.)
CAPITAL: Charleston
STATE BIRD: Cardinal
STATE FLOWER: Rhododendron
AREA: 24,230 sq. mi.
TIME ZONE: Eastern
ENTERED UNION: June 20, 1863
ALTITUDE: High, 4863 ft. Spruce Knob
CLIMATE: Hot summers in valleys, mild in mountains; cool winters. Ample rainfall.

“It’s a wonderful place to work”, runs a local joke. “When you get tired in West Virginia, you can lean up against it”. Of course you really can’t lean up against West Virginia, even though it does offer a high percentage of vertical landscape.

Two thirds of craggy West Virginia lies on the rough, uplifted Allegheny Plateau, an area intricately eroded by streams hurrying through a maze of V-shaped valleys and sharply angled hills. The eastern third, dominated by the Appalachians, is a land of rocky ridges separated by parallel valleys.

Only the most hardy of the pioneers had dared settle in its wilderness when the young Virginian surveyor George Washington plied his trade in the eastern uplands. To this day, despite ample rainfall and four frost-free months each year, there is not sufficient flat land to make agriculture important to the state.

With almost 70% of its slopes and gorges still covered with towering oaks, maples, and other trees, West Virginia is one of the chief sources of American hardwoods. Forestry contributes $3.2 billion annually to West Virginia’s economy.

Nicknamed “The Mountain State”, it is only fitting that the state motto is “Mountaineers are Always Free”; West Virginians have always believed that their mountain isolation breeds an independent folk.

Thousands of colonists had settled in western Virginia before the Revolutionary War, in defiance of a royal law forbidding settlement west of the Alleghenies. Descendants of these settlers broke from Virginia during the Civil War and led their region into statehood.

Seneca Rocks, Pendleton County, West Virginia

Coal has been the state’s primary economic resources since first discovered in the 1740’s. Even though coal exports have declined in recent years, West Virginia is still the largest coal producer east of the Mississippi River, and accounts for 1/10 of the nation’s production.

The bedrock also yields petroleum, natural gases, and lime. In the northern panhandle lie over 2000 square miles of salt deposits. Today there are three principal salt-producing companies in the State, important to the chemical companies along the Kanawha River.

With four of the world’s largest chemical firms, and many related companies in the state, West Virginia has one of the highest concentrations of chemical manufacturers in the world.

Fun Facts:

Moundsville, in the northern panhandle, is one of the oldest and largest Indian burial grounds.
The first rural free mail delivery in the United States started in Charles Town on October 6, 1896.
West Virginia’s mean elevation of 1,500 feet makes it the state with the highest average elevation east of the Mississippi.
Outdoor advertising began in Wheeling as early as the 1920s when the makers of Mail Pouch tobacco painted bridges and barns with words encouraging people to chew their product.
One of the most legendary family feuds in the United States involved the Hatfield’s, who lived on the West Virginia side of the Tug Fork River, and the McCoy’s, who lived on the Kentucky side. It lasted from 1863 to 1891.
West Virginia is the only state with two panhandles.

History:

West Virginia’s history is one of rugged independence, cultural resilience, and political uniqueness. Born out of the American Civil War, West Virginia is the only U.S. state to have formed by separating from a Confederate state. Its mountainous terrain, coal-rich lands, and strong Appalachian identity have shaped its story from the earliest days of human habitation to the modern era.

Long before European settlers arrived, the land that would become West Virginia was inhabited by various Native American peoples, including the Adena, Hopewell, and later the Shawnee and Cherokee. These tribes built mound structures, hunted game in the dense forests, and traveled along river valleys for trade and migration.

European exploration began in the 1600s, as French and English settlers began pushing into the Ohio Valley. By the 1700s, settlers from Pennsylvania and Virginia were moving westward across the Appalachian Mountains.

Due to the region’s rough terrain, it developed differently from eastern Virginia. Small farms and tight-knit communities became the norm, in contrast to the large plantations and slave-based economy of the Tidewater region.

When Virginia joined the Confederacy in 1861 during the Civil War, the western counties opposed secession. These areas had fewer slaves and stronger ties to the Union. In a bold and unusual move, Unionist leaders in western Virginia organized their own government loyal to the United States and voted to break away from Virginia.

On June 20, 1863, West Virginia officially became the 35th state—the only state to form by seceding from a Confederate state during the war.

After the war, West Virginia faced economic and political challenges. The rugged geography made transportation difficult, but the discovery of vast coal and timber resources in the late 19th century transformed the state.

Coal mining became the backbone of the economy, attracting immigrants and workers from across the country. However, harsh working conditions, low pay, and company control over miners’ lives led to major labor unrest. Strikes and violent clashes, such as the Battle of Blair Mountain in 1921, became symbols of the larger labor movement in the U.S.

Despite its wealth of natural resources, West Virginia struggled with poverty, economic dependency, and population loss throughout the 20th century.

Mechanization of coal mining reduced jobs, and many young people left the state in search of better opportunities. Nevertheless, West Virginians developed a strong sense of identity, rooted in family, community, and connection to the land.

In recent decades, the state has faced efforts to diversify its economy beyond coal, with growth in tourism, education, and health care. Its natural beauty—mountains, rivers, and forests—has made it a destination for outdoor recreation and adventure tourism.

Today, West Virginia remains a place of unique history and deep cultural roots. Its formation during the Civil War, its role in labor history, and its enduring Appalachian traditions make it a distinctive and vital part of the American story.