Welcome to TheseUnitedStates - West Virginia

West Virginia, our 35th state, was admitted to the Union June 20, 1863.   The 2000 census has West Virginia's population at 1,808,344, ranking  37th in the US.  With a total area of  24,230 square miles, the state ranks 41st  in size.  West Virginia's capital, Charleston, is also its largest city.

Useful Internet Links for West Virginia:

Official Website of West Virginia  

http://www.state.wv.us

Travel and Tourism Department  

http://www.callwva.com

Call toll free 1-800-CALLWVA

Congress.org - West Virginia Elected Officials

West Virginia Weather from Weather.com

National Park Service Sites in West Virginia

West Virginia News from USA Today

West Virginia fun facts:

West Virginia State Bird:  Cardinal

West Virginia State Flower:  Big rhododendron

West Virginia State Motto:  Mountaineers are always free

West Virginia State Songs: The West Virginia Hills; West Virginia, My Home, Sweet Home

West Virginia State Tree:  Sugar Maple

Nickname:  Mountain State

The geographic center of West Virginia lies in Braxton County, four miles east of Sutton.  At 4,861 feet, Spruce Knob, in the Monongahela National Forest, is the state's highest point.  West Virginia received its name when western counties of Virginia refused to secede from the US in 1863. 

Brief History:  The area was sparsely inhabited at the time of European contacts, serving primarily as Native American hunting grounds.  British explorers Thomas Batts and Robert Fallam reached the New River in 1671.  Early American explorers included George Washington and Daniel Boone.  Frontiersmen defeated an allied Indian uprising at Point Pleasant in 1774.  The area was part of Virginia, but chafed under rule from the eastern part of the state.  When Virginia seceded from the Union in 1861, the Wheeling Convention repudiated the act and created the new state of Kanawha, later renamed West Virginia.  It was admitted to the Union in 1863.

Popular Mountain State destinations include Harpers Ferry National Historic park; Science and Cultural Center, Charleston; White Sulphur (in Greenbrier) and Berkeley Springs mineral water spas; New River Gorge, Fayetteville; Winter Place and Exhibition Coal Mine, both in Beckley; Monongahela National Forest; Fenton Glass, Williamstown; Viking Glass, New Martinsville; Blenko Glass, Milton; Sternwheel Regatta, Charleston; Mountain State Forest Festival; Snowshoe Ski Resort, Slaty Fork; Canaan State Park, Davis; Mountain State Arts & Crafts Fair, Ripley; Ogle Bay, Wheeling; and white water rafting in several locations throughout the state.

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