Portal:West Virginia

Portal topics: Activities; Culture; Geography; Health; History; Mathematics; Nature; People; Philosophy; Religion; Society; Technology; Random portal

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. It is bordered by Pennsylvania to the north and east, Maryland to the east and 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 1,793,716 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 was the only state to form by separating from a Confederate state, one of two states (along with Nevada) admitted to the Union during the Civil War, and the second state to separate from another state, after Maine separated from Massachusetts in 1820. Some of its residents held slaves, but most were yeoman 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...)

Refresh with new selections below (purge)

Recognized content - show another

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

The Great Seal of the State of West Virginia

The attorney general of West Virginia is the chief legal advisor to the West Virginia state government and is the state's chief law enforcement officer. The office was created by Article VII, Section 1 of the first Constitution of West Virginia in 1863. Under the current state constitution (1872), the attorney general is an executive department-level state constitutional officer, along with the governor, secretary of state, auditor, treasurer, and commissioner of agriculture. The attorney general is the ex officio reporter of the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia. The constitution further specifies that the attorney general shall reside in the seat of state government, Charleston, during their term of office. In Charleston, they are to maintain public records, books, and papers pertaining to their office, and perform all duties prescribed by state law. the attorney general receives a salary of $95,000 per year.

The attorney general gives their written opinions and advice upon questions of law to state officials, heads of state institutions, and prosecuting attorneys. They are also responsible for all litigation on behalf of the state government and state agencies and departments. The attorney general represents the state in all claims processed by the United States Court of Claims, prosecutes civil actions as prescribed by law, enforces the state consumer, antitrust, and preneed burial statutes, and enforces the West Virginia Human Rights Act and the West Virginia Fair Housing Act. The attorney general is also an ex officio member of the Board of Public Works, Council of Finance and Administration, Public Land Corporation, West Virginia Housing Fund, West Virginia Sheriff’s Bureau, Department of Public Safety Retirement Board, Bid Suspension Review Board, State Building Commission, Commission on Charitable Contributions, Women’s Commission, Multistate Tax Compact Advisory Committee, Records Management, and Preservation Advisory Committee. (Full article...)

List of recognized articles

More recognized content

Selected article - show another

Virginia v. West Virginia, 78 U.S. (11 Wall.) 39 (1871), is a 6-3 ruling by the Supreme Court of the United States that held that if a governor has discretion in the conduct of the election, the legislature is bound by his action and cannot undo the results based on fraud. The Court implicitly affirmed that the breakaway Virginia counties had received the necessary consent of both the Commonwealth of Virginia and the United States Congress to become a separate U.S. state. The Court also explicitly held that Berkeley County and Jefferson County were part of the new State of West Virginia. (Full article...)

List of selected articles

General images - load new batch

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 2Child labor in the coal mines of West Virginia, 1908 (from West Virginia)
Image 3Bituminous coal seam in southwestern West Virginia (from West Virginia)
Image 4From left, Senator Joe Manchin, Energy Secretary Rick Perry, Senator Shelley Moore Capito, and Representative David McKinley (2017) (from West Virginia)
Image 5Harpers 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 6A toll plaza on the West Virginia Turnpike (from West Virginia)
Image 7John S. Carlile, a leader during the First Wheeling Convention (from History of West Virginia)
Image 8The summit of Spruce Knob is often covered in clouds. (from West Virginia)
Image 9Slave woman tending to a white baby in West Virginia, 1865 (from West Virginia)
Image 10Harpers Ferry, West Virginia, changed hands a dozen times during the American Civil War. (from History of West Virginia)
Image 11Votes by county in the October 1861 statehood vote (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 13The Linsly Institute building in Wheeling, West Virginia, which 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 14Map of West Virginia counties (from West Virginia)
Image 15Escaped slave broadside, Hampshire County, West Virginia, 1845 (from West Virginia)
Image 16Historical coat of arms of West Virginia (illustrated, 1876) (from West Virginia)
Image 171751 Fry-Jefferson map showing early ferries and established colonial borders before the French And Indian War (from History of West Virginia)
Image 18Thomas Lee, the first manager of the Ohio Company of Virginia (from West Virginia)
Image 19West Virginia Independence Hall, site of the Wheeling Convention (from History of West Virginia)
Image 20Francis H. Pierpont, a leader during the Second Wheeling Convention (from West Virginia)
Image 21Thomas Lee, the first manager of the Ohio Company of Virginia (from History of West Virginia)
Image 22Shaded relief map of the Cumberland Plateau and Ridge-and-valley Appalachians (from West Virginia)
Image 23A view of the New River in West Virginia, the world's third-oldest river geologically (from History of West Virginia)
Image 24Packed circles diagram showing estimates of the ethnic origins of people in West Virginia in 2021. (from West Virginia)
Image 25Saturday afternoon street scene, Welch, McDowell County, 1946 (from West Virginia)
Image 26Counties (in blue) approving Virginia's secession from the U.S. (from History of West Virginia)
Image 27State of Westylvania proposed to the U.S. Congress (from West Virginia)
Image 28Bluefield, a major center for coal mining, in 2014 (from West Virginia)
Image 29Köppen climate types of West Virginia, using 1991-2020 climate normals (from West Virginia)
Image 30Map 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 31Abraham Lincoln Walks at Midnight, a statue on the grounds of the West Virginia State Capitol (from West Virginia)
Image 32The iconic New River Gorge Bridge near Fayetteville (from West Virginia)
Image 33West Virginia population density map (from West Virginia)
Image 34Seneca Rocks, Pendleton County (from West Virginia)
Image 35The Veterans Memorial Bridge carries US 22 from Weirton WV into Ohio. (from 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 - load new batch

... that prior to becoming West Virginia's first African-American judge, Leon P. Miller was McDowell County's assistant prosecuting attorney, a Welch city councilman, and U.S. Attorney for the Virgin Islands?
... that William H. Davis was the first teacher of Booker T. Washington and the first African American to be nominated as a candidate for West Virginia governor in 1888?
... that the California Golden Bears men's basketball team won the 1959 NCAA University Division Basketball Championship Game by a single point over West Virginia?
... 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 in 1993, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld West Virginia's largest punitive damages award in history, awarding $10 million – 526 times larger than the compensatory damages?
... that the first exhibit of the West Virginia Music Hall of Fame came from founder Michael Lipton's record collection?

Topics

Largest cities

New articles

This list was generated from these rules. Questions and feedback are always welcome! The search is being run daily with the most recent ~14 days of results. Note: Some articles may not be relevant to this project.

Rules | Match log | Results page (for watching) | Last updated: 2024-05-23 23:20 (UTC)

Note: The list display can now be customized by each user. See List display personalization for details.

1982 West Virginia judicial elections (edit | talk | history | links | watch | logs | tools) by Longestview (talk · contribs · new pages (11)) started on 2024-05-23, score: 38
Gabrielle Robinson (edit | talk | history | links | watch | logs | tools) by Hameltion (talk · contribs · new pages (53)) started on 2024-05-23, score: 20
1980 West Virginia judicial elections (edit | talk | history | links | watch | logs | tools) by Longestview (talk · contribs · new pages (11)) started on 2024-05-23, score: 40

Colebank (edit | talk | history | links | watch | logs | tools) by AllTheUsernamesAreInUse (talk · contribs · new pages (35)) started on 2024-05-18, score: 20
William Howard Adams (edit | talk | history | links | watch | logs | tools) by Acroterion (talk · contribs · new pages (1)) started on 2024-05-18, score: 20

Achilles Morris (edit | talk | history | links | watch | logs | tools) by Wvhistory1 (talk · contribs · new pages (1)) started on 2024-05-16, score: 20
Ginny Boggess (edit | talk | history | links | watch | logs | tools) by APocketJoker (talk · contribs · new pages (18)) started on 2024-05-16, score: 40

George P. Dietz (edit | talk | history | links | watch | logs | tools) by Librero2109 (talk · contribs · new pages (1)) started on 2024-05-15, score: 20
1986 United States House of Representatives elections in West Virginia (edit | talk | history | links | watch | logs | tools) by Longestview (talk · contribs · new pages (11)) started on 2024-05-14, score: 40

Zach Shrewsbury (edit | talk | history | links | watch | logs | tools) by Djflem (talk · contribs · new pages (1)) started on 2024-05-13, score: 60
Jenifer Cushman (edit | talk | history | links | watch | logs | tools) by TJMSmith (talk · contribs · new pages (17)) started on 2024-05-13, score: 24

Rosemary Ketchum (edit | talk | history | links | watch | logs | tools) by TJMSmith (talk · contribs · new pages (17)) started on 2024-05-11, score: 38
1988 United States House of Representatives elections in West Virginia (edit | talk | history | links | watch | logs | tools) by Longestview (talk · contribs · new pages (11)) started on 2024-05-11, score: 40

Tornado outbreak of May 6–9, 2024 (edit | talk | history | links | watch | logs | tools) by MarioProtIV (talk · contribs · new pages (6)) started on 2024-05-06, score: 24

List of West Virginia Senate districts (edit | talk | history | links | watch | logs | tools) by Longestview (talk · contribs · new pages (11)) started on 2024-05-09, score: 53

Related portals

WikiProjects

Associated Wikimedia

The following Wikimedia Foundation sister projects provide more on this subject:

Commons
Free media repository
Wikibooks
Free textbooks and manuals
Wikidata
Free knowledge base
Wikinews
Free-content news
Wikiquote
Collection of quotations
Wikisource
Free-content library
Wikiversity
Free learning tools
Wikivoyage
Free travel guide
Wiktionary
Dictionary and thesaurus

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.

[1]