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...)

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

Truman at his lodge, shortly before his death in 1980

Harry R. Truman (October 30, 1896 – May 18, 1980) was an American businessman, bootlegger, and prospector. He lived near Mount St. Helens, a dormant volcano in the Cascade Range in the state of Washington, and was the owner and caretaker of Mount St. Helens Lodge at Spirit Lake near the base of the mountain. After Mount St. Helens awoke from dormancy in March 1980, Truman became a folk hero in the weeks leading to the volcano's May eruption, after refusing to evacuate his home despite repeated orders from authorities. On May 18, 1980, Truman was killed in the cataclysmic eruption of Mount St. Helens by a pyroclastic flow that overtook his lodge and buried the site under 46 m (150 ft) of volcanic debris.

After Truman's death, his family and friends reflected on his love for the mountain. Actor Art Carney portrayed Truman in the docudrama film St. Helens (1981). Truman was commemorated in a book by his niece, and also in various pieces of music, including songs by Headgear, Billy Jonas, Penny Lew, and Shawn Wright and the Brothers Band. (Full article...)

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Homer Hadley Hickam Jr. (born February 19, 1943) is an American author, Vietnam War veteran, and a former NASA engineer who trained the first Japanese astronauts. His 1998 memoir Rocket Boys (also published as October Sky) was a New York Times Best Seller and was the basis for the 1999 film October Sky. Hickam's body of written work also includes several additional best-selling memoirs and novels, including the "Josh Thurlow" historical fiction novels, his 2015 best-selling Carrying Albert Home: The Somewhat True Story of a Man, his Wife, and her Alligator and in 2021 the sequel to Rocket Boys titled Don't Blow Yourself Up: The Further Adventures and Travails of the Rocket Boy of October Sky. His books have been translated into many languages. (Full article...)

List of selected articles

General images -

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

Image 1Thomas Lee, the first manager of the Ohio Company of Virginia (from West Virginia)
Image 2John S. Carlile, a leader during the First Wheeling Convention (from History of West Virginia)
Image 3Bituminous coal seam in southwestern West Virginia (from West Virginia)
Image 41715 Nicolas de Fer map showing the Native American areas known as Tionontatacaga and Calicuas (from History of West Virginia)
Image 5Child laborer photographed by Lewis Hine in the coal mines of West Virginia, 1908 (from West Virginia)
Image 6Poster by Albert M. Bender, produced by the Illinois WPA Art Project Chicago in 1935 for the CCC (from History of West Virginia)
Image 7Shaded relief map of the Cumberland Plateau and Ridge-and-valley Appalachians (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 9Map 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 10Spruce Knob (in the distance) is the highest point in West Virginia and the Allegheny Mountains. (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 12The West Virginia State Capitol in Charleston is home to the West Virginia Legislature. (from West Virginia)
Image 13The Veterans Memorial Bridge carries US 22 from Weirton into Ohio. (from West Virginia)
Image 14Harpers 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 15West Virginia population density 2020 (from West Virginia)
Image 16West Virginia Independence Hall, site of the Wheeling Convention (from History of West Virginia)
Image 17West Virginia is situated in the Appalachian Mountains, bounded by Allegheny Mountains, Ohio and Big Sandy rivers, and the Cumberland Mountains. (from West Virginia)
Image 181751 Fry-Jefferson map showing early ferries and established colonial borders before the French And Indian War (from History of West Virginia)
Image 19State of Westsylvania proposed to the U.S. Congress (from West Virginia)
Image 20Packed circles diagram showing estimates of the ethnic origins of people in West Virginia in 2021. (from West Virginia)
Image 21Overdose death rates in the United States (from West Virginia)
Image 22Köppen climate types of West Virginia, using 1991–2020 climate normals (from West Virginia)
Image 23Escaped slave broadside, Hampshire County, West Virginia, 1845 (from West Virginia)
Image 24Votes by county in the October 1861 statehood vote (from West Virginia)
Image 25A view of the New River in West Virginia, the world's third-oldest river geologically (from History of West Virginia)
Image 26The iconic New River Gorge Bridge near Fayetteville (from West Virginia)
Image 27Morgantown Personal Rapid Transit (from West Virginia)
Image 28A slave woman tending to a white baby in West Virginia, 1865 (from West Virginia)
Image 29Seneca Rocks, Pendleton County (from West Virginia)
Image 30Bluefield, a major center for coal mining, in 2014 (from West Virginia)
Image 31Percent 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 32Harpers Ferry, West Virginia, changed hands a dozen times during the American Civil War. (from History of West Virginia)
Image 33Saturday afternoon street scene, Welch, McDowell County, 1946 (from West Virginia)
Image 34Thomas Lee, the first manager of the Ohio Company of Virginia (from History of West Virginia)
Image 35Turnout by county in the October 24, 1861, West Virginia statehood vote (from History of West Virginia)
Image 36The 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)

Did you know -

... that Babydog is "a fixture in West Virginia politics"?
... 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 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 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 the Vulcan Bridge, a bridge in Vulcan, West Virginia, was constructed after the mayor requested financial aid from the Soviet Union?

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Largest cities

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Rules | Match log | Results page (for watching) | Deleted articles| Last updated: 2026-03-19 20:35 (UTC)

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Faith Christian Academy (Martinsburg) (edit | talk | history | links | watch | logs | tools | Portal:West Virginia (Q11213706) ) by Tymbarkpijący (talk · contribs · new pages (3)) started on 2026-03-19, score: 38

2012 West Virginia House of Delegates election (edit | talk | history | links | watch | logs | tools | Portal:West Virginia (Q11213706) ) by Moondragon21 (talk · contribs · new pages (107)) started on 2026-03-17, score: 40

Union Corner (edit | talk | history | links | watch | logs | tools | Portal:West Virginia (Q11213706) ) by Moondragon21 (talk · contribs · new pages (107)) started on 2026-03-12, score: 20

Java Group (edit | talk | history | links | watch | logs | tools | Java Group (Q18153572) ) by Zigismon (talk · contribs · new pages (1)) started on 2026-03-12, score: 28

Kai Newkirk (edit | talk | history | links | watch | logs | tools | Kai Newkirk (Q138644114) ) by Hawstom (talk · contribs · new pages (1)) started on 2026-03-10, score: 20
Cruz Davis (edit | talk | history | links | watch | logs | tools | Cruz Davis (Q137890325) ) by BullDawg2021 (talk · contribs · new pages (9)) started on 2026-03-09, score: 20

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WikiProject West Virginia
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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.

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