Brigadier General James Monroe Williams

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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.

Portrait Swisher, prior to 1897.

Howard Llewellyn Swisher (September 21, 1870 – August 27, 1945) was an American businessperson, real estate developer, orchardist, editor, writer, and historian. As a prominent businessman, he established several companies responsible for the development of businesses and real estate in Morgantown, West Virginia.

Swisher was born in 1870 near Levels, West Virginia. He became a schoolteacher there at the age of 18, then graduated from Fairmont State Normal School (present-day Fairmont State University) and West Virginia University. He then remained in Morgantown, where he established a bookstore and stationery shop. Following the success of his bookstore, Swisher organized the Main Street Building Company, the Howard L. Swisher Company, and the Morgantown Building Association, each of which constructed a large number of residences in the city. He was also the inaugural secretary-treasurer of the West Virginia Real Estate Dealers' Association. (Full article...)

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Spruce Mountain (in the distance) beyond the River Knobs (Judy Rocks, foreground) and the Fore Knobs (middle distance)

Spruce Mountain, located in eastern West Virginia, is the highest ridge of the Allegheny Mountains. The whale-backed ridge extends for only 16 miles (26 km) from northeast to southwest, but several of its peaks exceed 4,500 feet (1,400 m) in elevation. The summit, Spruce Knob (4,863 ft; 1,482 m), is the highest Allegheny Mountain point both in the state and the entire range, which spans four states. (Full article...)

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

Image 1Köppen climate types of West Virginia, using 1991-2020 climate normals (from West Virginia)
Image 2The Veterans Memorial Bridge carries US 22 from Weirton WV into Ohio. (from West Virginia)
Image 3Historical coat of arms of West Virginia (illustrated, 1876) (from West Virginia)
Image 4A view of the New River in West Virginia, the world's third-oldest river geologically (from History of West Virginia)
Image 5Turnout by county in the October 24, 1861, West Virginia statehood vote (from History of West Virginia)
Image 6Packed circles diagram showing estimates of the ethnic origins of people in West Virginia in 2021. (from West Virginia)
Image 7Counties (in blue) approving Virginia's secession from the U.S. (from History of West Virginia)
Image 81751 Fry-Jefferson map showing early ferries and established colonial borders before the French And Indian War (from History of West Virginia)
Image 9Bluefield, a major center for coal mining, in 2014 (from West Virginia)
Image 10The summit of Spruce Knob is often covered in clouds. (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 12Thomas Lee, the first manager of the Ohio Company of Virginia (from West Virginia)
Image 13State of Westylvania proposed to the U.S. Congress (from West Virginia)
Image 14John S. Carlile, a leader during the First Wheeling Convention (from History of West Virginia)
Image 15Votes by county in the October 1861 statehood vote (from West Virginia)
Image 16The iconic New River Gorge Bridge near Fayetteville (from West Virginia)
Image 17Seneca Rocks, Pendleton County (from West Virginia)
Image 18Bituminous coal seam in southwestern West Virginia (from West Virginia)
Image 19West Virginia Independence Hall, site of the Wheeling Convention (from History of West Virginia)
Image 20Abraham Lincoln Walks at Midnight, a statue on the grounds of the West Virginia State Capitol (from West Virginia)
Image 21Harpers 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 22Slave woman tending to a white baby in West Virginia, 1865 (from West Virginia)
Image 23Thomas Lee, the first manager of the Ohio Company of Virginia (from History of West Virginia)
Image 24Child labor in the coal mines of West Virginia, 1908 (from West Virginia)
Image 25Map 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 26Shaded relief map of the Cumberland Plateau and Ridge-and-valley Appalachians (from West Virginia)
Image 27Map of West Virginia counties (from West Virginia)
Image 28Harpers Ferry, West Virginia, changed hands a dozen times during the American Civil War. (from History of West Virginia)
Image 29West Virginia population density map (from West Virginia)
Image 30A toll plaza on the West Virginia Turnpike (from West Virginia)
Image 311715 Nicolas de Fer map showing the Native American areas known as Tionontatacaga and Calicuas (from History of West Virginia)
Image 32Saturday afternoon street scene, Welch, McDowell County, 1946 (from West Virginia)
Image 33From left, Senator Joe Manchin, Energy Secretary Rick Perry, Senator Shelley Moore Capito, and Representative David McKinley (2017) (from West Virginia)
Image 34Escaped slave broadside, Hampshire County, West Virginia, 1845 (from West Virginia)
Image 35Francis H. Pierpont, a leader during the Second Wheeling Convention (from West Virginia)
Image 36Racial plurality in West Virginia by county, per the 2020 U.S. census
Legend
- Non-Hispanic White
    70–80%
  
    80–90%
  
    90%+
(from West Virginia)

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... 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 part of West Virginia's Princeton–Deepwater District railway was so steep that only shortened coal trains could ascend it?
... that the first exhibit of the West Virginia Music Hall of Fame came from founder Michael Lipton's record collection?
... that West Virginia nursing professor Christine Elizabeth Abrahamsen wrote science-fiction and Gothic novels under the pseudonyms Christabel and Kathleen Westcott?
... 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 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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Ivan Pushkovitch ( | talk | history | links | watch | logs | tools) by Becky Sayles (talk · contribs · new pages (3)) started on 2024-04-28, score: 20

2024 Constitution Party presidential primaries ( | talk | history | links | watch | logs | tools) by Lukt64 (talk · contribs · new pages (5)) started on 2024-04-26, score: 20

Margaret Buchanan Cole ( | talk | history | links | watch | logs | tools) by AMM Pittsburgh (talk · contribs · new pages (11)) started on 2024-04-24, score: 36

Vulcan Bridge ( | talk | history | links | watch | logs | tools) by Kentuckian (talk · contribs · new pages (2)) started on 2024-04-24, score: 36

1992 West Virginia Democratic presidential primary ( | talk | history | links | watch | logs | tools) by Longestview (talk · contribs · new pages (20)) started on 2024-04-21, score: 40
1996 West Virginia Democratic presidential primary ( | talk | history | links | watch | logs | tools) by Longestview (talk · contribs · new pages (20)) started on 2024-04-21, score: 40

African Americans in West Virginia ( | talk | history | links | watch | logs | tools) by 12.110.37.88 (talk · contribs · new pages (8)) started on 2024-04-19, score: 40

Esmery Martínez ( | talk | history | links | watch | logs | tools) by DetroitFan7 (talk · contribs · new pages (21)) started on 2024-04-18, score: 40
Clara Gibson Maxwell ( | talk | history | links | watch | logs | tools) by Eos19 (talk · contribs · new pages (1)) started on 2024-04-17, score: 30
Archibald Campbell (abolitionist) ( | talk | history | links | watch | logs | tools) by Shonebrooks (talk · contribs · new pages (1)) started on 2024-04-17, score: 36

Tornado outbreak of April 1–3, 2024 ( | talk | history | links | watch | logs | tools) by MarioProtIV (talk · contribs · new pages (1)) started on 2024-04-11, score: 27

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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]