Portal:West Virginia

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 landlocked state in the Southern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. Mountainous, it is bordered by Pennsylvania and Maryland to the 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 1,769,979 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 separated from Virginia and was one of two states (along with Nevada) admitted to the Union during the Civil War. Some of its residents held slaves, but most were propertied 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...)

Recognized content -

Entries here consist of Good and Featured articles, which meet a core set of high editorial standards.

John Rinehart Blue (October 13, 1905 – May 27, 1965) was an American military officer, educator, businessperson, and politician in the U.S. state of West Virginia. Blue was a Democratic member of the West Virginia House of Delegates representing Hampshire County, from 1953 until 1959.

Born in 1905 in Romney, West Virginia, Blue was a grandson of Lieutenant John Monroe Blue, a member of the 11th Virginia Cavalry during the American Civil War. Blue graduated from Presbyterian College in 1928 and completed his graduate studies at West Virginia University. He enlisted in the U.S. Army and served from 1942 until 1946, and afterward served as a first lieutenant in the 398th Airborne Infantry Regiment, 100th Airborne Division of the U.S. Army Reserve. From 1948 until his death, Blue operated a Ben Franklin five and dime variety store in Romney. He also served as principal of the West Virginia Schools for the Deaf and Blind Advanced School for the Deaf. (Full article...)

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Selected article -

West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette, 319 U.S. 624 (1943), is a landmark decision by the United States Supreme Court holding that the First Amendment protects students from being forced to salute the American flag or say the Pledge of Allegiance in public school.

Barnette overruled a 1940 decision on the same issue, Minersville School District v. Gobitis, in which the Court had stated that the proper recourse for dissent was to try to change the public-school policy democratically. This was a significant court victory for Jehovah's Witnesses, whose religion forbade them from saluting or pledging to symbols, including symbols of political institutions. Barnette relied on freedom of speech principles rather than freedom of religion. (Full article...)

List of selected articles

General images -

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 2West Virginia is situated in the Appalachian Mountains, bounded by Allegheny Mountains, Ohio and Big Sandy rivers, and the Cumberland Mountains. (from West Virginia)
Image 3Thomas Lee, the first manager of the Ohio Company of Virginia (from History of West Virginia)
Image 4Harpers Ferry, West Virginia, changed hands a dozen times during the American Civil War. (from History of West Virginia)
Image 5Morgantown Personal Rapid Transit (from West Virginia)
Image 6Bituminous coal seam in southwestern West Virginia (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 8Counties (in blue) approving Virginia's secession from the U.S. in order to join the Confederacy. (from History of West Virginia)
Image 91751 Fry-Jefferson map showing early ferries and established colonial borders before the French And Indian War (from History of West Virginia)
Image 10Harpers 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 11West Virginia population density 2020 (from West Virginia)
Image 12Escaped slave broadside, Hampshire County, West Virginia, 1845 (from West Virginia)
Image 13Votes by county in the October 1861 statehood vote (from West Virginia)
Image 14John S. Carlile, a leader during the First Wheeling Convention (from History of West Virginia)
Image 15Overdose death rates in the United States (from West Virginia)
Image 16A view of the New River in West Virginia, the world's third-oldest river geologically (from History of West Virginia)
Image 17Thomas Lee, the first manager of the Ohio Company of Virginia (from West Virginia)
Image 18Map 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 19West Virginia Independence Hall, site of the Wheeling Convention (from History of West Virginia)
Image 20Spruce Knob (in the distance) is the highest point in West Virginia and the Allegheny Mountains. (from West Virginia)
Image 21Poster by Albert M. Bender, produced by the Illinois WPA Art Project Chicago in 1935 for the CCC (from History of West Virginia)
Image 22Saturday afternoon street scene, Welch, McDowell County, 1946 (from West Virginia)
Image 23Seneca Rocks, Pendleton County (from West Virginia)
Image 24State of Westsylvania proposed to the U.S. Congress (from West Virginia)
Image 25Bluefield, a major center for coal mining, in 2014 (from West Virginia)
Image 26The Veterans Memorial Bridge carries US 22 from Weirton into Ohio. (from West Virginia)
Image 27Percent of Americans living below the poverty line in each U.S. state, and the District of Columbia. West Virginia has one of the highest poverty rates. (from West Virginia)
Image 28A slave woman tending to a white baby in West Virginia, 1865 (from West Virginia)
Image 29Child laborer photographed by Lewis Hine in the coal mines of West Virginia, 1908 (from West Virginia)
Image 30The iconic New River Gorge Bridge near Fayetteville (from West Virginia)
Image 31Shaded relief map of the Cumberland Plateau and Ridge-and-valley Appalachians (from West Virginia)
Image 32Köppen climate types of West Virginia, using 1991–2020 climate normals (from West Virginia)
Image 33Packed circles diagram showing estimates of the ethnic origins of people in West Virginia in 2021. (from West Virginia)
Image 34The West Virginia State Capitol in Charleston is home to the West Virginia Legislature. (from West Virginia)
Image 35The Linsly Institute building in Wheeling, West Virginia 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 361715 Nicolas de Fer map showing the Native American areas known as Tionontatacaga and Calicuas (from History of West Virginia)

Did you know -

... that the Vulcan Bridge, a bridge in Vulcan, West Virginia, was constructed after the mayor requested financial aid from the Soviet Union?
... that John F. Kennedy's pollster found many West Virginia voters concerned that a Pope in the White House would arrive by transatlantic tunnel?
... 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 professor Ruth Ann Davis made the largest-ever single contribution to Potomac State College of West Virginia University to support nursing scholarships in memory of her mother?
... that Babydog is "a fixture in West Virginia politics"?

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2020 West Virginia Attorney General election (edit | talk | history | links | watch | logs | tools) by Nahida (talk · contribs · new pages (18)) started on 2026-02-20, score: 43

Betsy Kelly (edit | talk | history | links | watch | logs | tools) by WikiOriginal-9 (talk · contribs · new pages (58)) started on 2026-02-20, score: 40
2016 West Virginia Secretary of State election (edit | talk | history | links | watch | logs | tools) by Nahida (talk · contribs · new pages (18)) started on 2026-02-20, score: 45

2016 West Virginia State Treasurer election (edit | talk | history | links | watch | logs | tools) by Nahida (talk · contribs · new pages (18)) started on 2026-02-15, score: 20

2008 West Virginia Commissioner of Agriculture election (edit | talk | history | links | watch | logs | tools) by Nahida (talk · contribs · new pages (18)) started on 2026-02-16, score: 40

2026 West Virginia Mountaineers baseball team (edit | talk | history | links | watch | logs | tools) by Haveagreatday26 (talk · contribs · new pages (1)) started on 2026-02-15, score: 38
2012 West Virginia Commissioner of Agriculture election (edit | talk | history | links | watch | logs | tools) by Nahida (talk · contribs · new pages (18)) started on 2026-02-14, score: 45