West Virginia
Facts
WEST VIRGINIA
West Virginia, Article IV,
Section 3 of the United States Constitution declares “no new state shall
be formed or erected with the Jurisdiction of another state.” Had this
been enforced, the State of West Virginia would not exist today. The state
was a product of the American Civil War crisis. When, in 1861, Virginia
voted to secede from the Union, delegates from the northwestern countries
rebelled and set up their own restored Government of Virginia. This arrangement
lasted until Congress voted to admit West Virginia into the Union as the
35th state on June 20, 1863.
While the American Civil
War provided the occasion for West Virginia’s separation from Virginia,
it was not the only cause. The northwestern counties of Virginia had long
been negelected by the government in Richmond, seeing few internal improvements.
These counties were not part of the plantation economy of the South and
were home to few slaveholders. In fact, the area was geographically and
economically linked to Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Maryland. These unresolved
grievances led to the separation that the American Civil War made possible.
West Virginia, 41st of
the 50 states in order of area, is part of the Appalachian Highland region
of the eastern United States. Know as the Mountain State, West Virginia
provides bountiful opportunities as backpacking, hiking and biking. West
Virginia also is the ski capital of the Mid-Atlantic.
West Virginia offers
transportation advantages unmatched in the region. One of the newest interstate
highway systems in the country links West Virginia to Washington, D.C.,
Pittsburgh, Columbus, Cincinnati, and other major metropolitan areas. The
states’s extensive railway system and proximity to major ports on the Atlantic
Ocean provide exporting opportunities on a worldwide scale.
West Virginia is rich
in natural resources, ranking second in the nation in coal and natural
gas production. West Virginia leads the nation in coal exports, providing
more than 40 percent of the coal exported by the United States. West Virginia
is so rich in natural gas wells that the state is the only next exporter
of natural gas east of the Mississippi. These abundant natural resources
keep energy among the lowest in the nation, contributing to business and
industrial profitability.
THE LAND
West Virginia is bordered on
the north by Maryland and Pennsylvania, on the west by Ohio and Kentucky,
and on the east and south by Virginia. The state has two panhandles. The
Northern Panhandle is wedged between Ohio and Pennsylvania, and the Eastern
Panhandle lies between Maryland and Virginia. From east to west, the state
is 428 kilometers (266 miles), and from north to south it is 381 kilometers
(237 miles).
West Virginia has more
mountains than any other state east of the Rockies with two natural regions;
the Allegheny Plateau and the Great Valley. About one-sixth of the state
lies east of an escarpment know as the Allegheny Front, which divides the
water flowing to the Atlantic from those flowing to the Gulf of Mexico.
This section slopes down to Harper’s Ferry where the Shenandoah joins the
Potomac and contains both the lowest and highest elevations in the state.
To the west of the front is the Allegheny Plateau, which covers about 80
percent of the state and from which the rivers drain to the Ohio. It is
here that the New River joins the Gauley at The New River Gorge Bridge,
the longest single-span bridge in the world and the highest east of the
Mississippi River, towering 875 feet with total span of 3,030 feet.
The Great Valley Region
includes the Eastern Panhandle, with its Shenandoah Mountains and a long
narrow band of territory along the Virginia border. This region takes in
most of the Potomac River Basin. Both regions are heavily forested. Trees
cover two-thirds of the state with 12.1 million acres of timberland.
THE PEOPLE
The first European settlements
in what is now West Virginia were founded by Germans along the Potomac
River. Later came English and Scots-Irish. These groups formed the bulk
of the population until the late 19th century, when immigrants began coming
from Europe to work in coal mines and associated industries. The new arrivals
were from Italy, Poland, Austria, Hungary, Ireland, and Germany.
More than 40 percent
of the state’s population lives in or around cities. The three main population
centers are in the valleys of Ohio, Kanawha, and Monongahela rivers. Huntington
is in the west on the Ohio. Charleston lies east of Huntington on the Kanawha.
Weirton and Wheeling are on the Ohio River in the Northern Panhandle. Morgantown
lies along the Monongahela.
THE ECONOMY
West Virginia has two natural
and four economic regions. The Northern Panhandle, heavily industrialized,
is based on steel. It is part of the extensive manufacturing area stretching
from western Ohio into Pennsylvania. The eastern part of the state and
the Eastern Panhandle are chiefly agricultural: however, there has been
a significant influx of government workers into the Harper’s Ferry area.
They travel by train to work in Washington, D.C. Southern West Virginia
is coal country. The western section is the Kanawha Valley, a center of
agriculture and industry.
Although manufacturing
is the largest economic activiey, the basis of wealth is minin. Coal was
discovered in Boone County in 1742 and natural gas along the Kanawha River
in 1775. Large salt deposits attracted immigant workers in the late 18th
century.
Because it is plentiful,
coal is used to produce steam and electric power, keeping industrial electrical
rates 20 percent less than the national average. The John E. Amos thermoelectric
plant on the Kanawha River is one of the largest in the world. Coal also
is the source of chemicals used to manufacture nylon, sulpha drugs, perfume,
cosmetics, plastics, explosives, synthetic rubber, pills, and mothballs.
Other chemical industries produce fertilizers, foods, man-made fibers and
textiles, and antiseptics.
Large clay and sand deposits
in the Northern Panhandle provide the raw materials for making china, pottery,
and glass. The steel industry, centered in the Northern Panhandle at Wheeling
and Weirton, has declined in size and strength since the late 1970’s. Other
primary metals produced include nickel and aluminum. The most valuable
timbers jinclude red and white oak, yellow poplar, red and sugar maple,
black cherry, basswood, ash, birch, and hickory. Spruce, hemlock, white
pine, and elm also are processed.
EDUCATION
Since the late 1980s, West
Virginia has invested more than $7 billion in our public school system.
West Virginia is a national leader in education technology, launching telecommunications
initialtives with state businesses and placing computers in every K-6 classroom.
Among other programs, the state has established distance learning, which
utilizes satellite and fiber optic technology to give students and adults
in rural areas greater course offerings. Specialized governor’s summer
camps emphasize academics, arts, science and math.
West Virginia has nine
private and 16 public colleges and universities. More than 196,000 students
are enrolled in vocational and technical training throughout the state
in areas ranging from agriculture and home economics, to computer programming
and industrial equipment maintenance. The state also has established assistance
programs for adults, who in changing jobs, require addition education or
training.
HISTORY
What is now West Virginia was
claimed by France and England in 1669. The first permanent white settlement
was in Berkeley County in 1726. The first settlement west of the Alleghenies
came in 1749. Between the American Revolution and American Civil War the
region became distinct from the rest of Virginia, ending in separation
in 1861.
After the American Civil
War, industry grew rapidly. The state’s rich raw materials made possible
the industrialization of other states. Labor troubles increased after 1900
with attempts to bring trade unionism to the mines. This frequently violent
strike lasted until the 1930s. A period of prosperity followed during World
War II (1939-45). West Virginia has experienced a steady economic resurgence
in the 1990s with an increase in population, advancements in education,
and an influx of new industry.
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