As one might expect, the Mountain State is far from level, but it isn't all mountains: The Appalachians run along the eastern side of the state where there are numerous gorges, valleys and fast-running rivers. But in the north and west, where the uplands give way to the Ohio River Valley, the state is more hilly than mountainous.
The state is divided into nine travel regions: the New River Greenbrier Valley, the Potomac Highlands, the Eastern Panhandle, Mountaineer Country, the Northern Panhandle, the Mid-Ohio Valley, the Metro Valley, the Mountain Lakes and the Hatfield-McCoy Mountains.
The Native Americans who first came to these mountains were largely hunters and gatherers, part of the Adena culture that built temple mounds in the Ohio River Valley as early as 1000 BC. The groups that Europeans encountered some 2,500 years later were only remotely related to the earlier residents. The later groups (Shawnee, Cherokee, Tutelo and others) were primarily farmers, occupying major river valleys and forested uplands.
Europeans did not really settle in West Virginia until the 1700s. George Washington was among its early colonial visitors, and Daniel Boone later spent quite a while in the region (before heading on to less-crowded lands to the west). Eventually, settlers from the English colonies began to pour in and establish communities—but not without some resistance from the French and Native American peoples.
As its name suggests, the state was originally a part of Virginia, but at the beginning of the Civil War, the state split into two regions: The eastern portion of the state seceded from the Union, but the western portion remained a part of the U.S., taking the name Kanawha. It changed its name to West Virginia before officially becoming a state in 1863.
Although the state's economy was originally agrarian, the discovery of vast coalfields changed its economy and its way of life. It's one of the country's largest producers of coal, and its livelihood has risen and fallen with that industry's fortunes. Some of the most bitter and violent labor struggles in the U.S. transpired on the state's soil as miners attempted to unionize in the early 1900s. (West Virginian Mary Harris "Mother" Jones was a leader in protesting horrendous mine conditions, and the movie Matewan, set and filmed in West Virginia, reflects the early struggles to develop a labor union.) In recent decades, the economy has begun to diversify with the growth of tourism and the introduction of chemical processing as an important industry.
West Virginia's main attractions include the mountains, rivers and forests, where white-water rafting, trout fishing, skiing, camping, hiking and hunting are predominant options for the traveler.
Travelers who love the outdoors and non-touristy areas will have a great time in West Virginia. Not all West Virginia destinations are rugged or outdoorsy, but nearly all have a relaxed and laid-back atmosphere. Distances between attractions often traverse long and winding roads, which some drivers find straining; however, motorcyclists enjoy the roads immensely.
The labor unrest in West Virginia's coal region sprang from the harsh conditions endured by miners. Poisonous, odorless "black damp" gas, explosive methane gas and standing water in the lightless mines were just a few of the hardships endured by the workers, who took home about US$0.20 for each ton of mined coal.
In 1918, inventor Thomas Edison, industrial moguls Henry Ford and Harvey Firestone, and naturalist John Burroughs got together and took a camping trip through the Potomac Highlands.
Outdoor advertising had its origin in Wheeling around 1908 when the Block Brothers Tobacco Company painted bridges and barns with the slogan: "Treat Yourself to the Best, Chew Mail Pouch."
The birthplace and home of Nobel Prize-winning author Pearl S. Buck (The Good Earth) is in Hillsboro. The house is open to visitors and filled with original furniture and memorabilia.
Parkersburg could be called the "Savings Bond Capital of America." Since the U.S. Treasury Department's Bureau of Public Debt moved to the city in 1957, every U.S. savings bond bought or redeemed has passed through Parkersburg for processing.
Because West Virginia coal burns so cleanly, it was selected to fuel ships during World War I. The lack of smoke made the boats less detectable to the enemy.
When the New River Gorge Bridge opened in 1977, the time to cross the gorge was reduced from 40 minutes to 1 minute.
The Hatfields of the Hatfield-McCoy feud were from southwestern West Virginia. The McCoys lived across the river in Kentucky.
West Virginia's nationally recognized Rails to Trails project includes more than 1,000 mi,1,610 km of tourist trails that can be used by hikers, bikers and equestrians.
Steamboat inventor James Rumsey has been neglected by history but not by Shepherdstown, where he successfully demonstrated a steamboat on the Potomac in 1787—two decades before Robert Fulton. In 1987, the Rumseian Society built a replica of Rumsey's boat, now on display at the Shepherdstown Museum.
The giant radar dishes located off Highway 92 near Green Bank are part of the National Radio Astronomy Observatory. In fact, West Virginia has several locations that rate well on the Bortle scale (which measures the levels of light pollution), including Spruce Knob and Calhoun County Park near Grantsville. In West Virginia hills, you can see the Milky Way with the naked eye.
