West Virginia is a state in the Southern 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 largest city is Charleston which has a population of 49,055.
Charleston is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of West Virginia and the seat of Kanawha County. Located at the confluence of the Elk and Kanawha rivers, the city had a population of 48,864 at the 2020 census and an estimated population of 48,018 in 2021. The Charleston metropolitan area as a whole had an estimated 255,020 residents in 2021.
Interstate 79 (I-79) is an Interstate Highway in the Eastern United States, designated from I-77 in Charleston, West Virginia, north to Pennsylvania Route 5 (PA 5) and PA 290 in Erie, Pennsylvania. It is a primary thoroughfare through western Pennsylvania and West Virginia and makes up part of an important corridor to Buffalo, New York, and the Canadian border. Major metropolitan areas connected by I-79 include Charleston and Morgantown in West Virginia and Greater Pittsburgh and Erie in Pennsylvania.
Clendenin is a town in Kanawha County, West Virginia, United States, situated along the Elk River. The population was 850 at the 2020 census.
The Charleston Dirty Birds are an American professional baseball team based in Charleston, West Virginia. They are a member of the South Division of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball, a partner league of Major League Baseball. The Dirty Birds have played their home games at GoMart Ballpark since 2005.
U.S. Route 119 (US 119) is a spur of US 19. It is a north–south route that was an original United States highway of 1926. It is Corridor G of the Appalachian Development Highway System (ADHS) east of US 23 and KY 80 in Kentucky to Interstate 64 at Charleston, West Virginia.
GoMart Ballpark is the current home field for the Charleston Dirty Birds, a baseball team in the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball. It also has been used by the baseball programs of West Virginia University, Marshall University, and the University of Charleston. The stadium, which opened in April 2005, is located in the East End of Charleston, West Virginia. It seats 4,500 fans and cost $25 million to build. The dimensions of the field are as follows: left field - 330 feet, center field - 400 feet, right field - 320 feet.
The Charleston Coliseum & Convention Center is a municipal complex located in the downtown area of Charleston, West Virginia, United States. Originally completed in 1958, it consists of four main components: the Coliseum, the Theater, the Auditorium, and the Convention Center.
The West Fork River is a principal tributary of the Monongahela River, 103-mile (166 km) long, in north-central West Virginia, United States. Via the Monongahela and Ohio Rivers, it is part of the watershed of the Mississippi River, draining an area of 881 square miles (2,284 km²) on the unglaciated portion of the Allegheny Plateau.
West Virginia Route 150 is a 22.5-mile (36.2 km) long north–south scenic state highway in the Marlinton and Gauley Ranger Districts of the Monongahela National Forest in southeast West Virginia. The southern terminus of the route is at West Virginia Route 39 and West Virginia Route 55 northwest of Mill Point. The northern terminus is at U.S. Route 219 and WV 55 north of Edray, near Marlinton.
The Elk River Railroad was a short line that runs for 61 miles (98 km) between Gilmer and Gassaway, West Virginia and has existed since July 1989, although it was originally built in the late 19th century and was once part of the Coal and Coke Railway, formally the Charleston Clendendin and Sutton Railroad, that ran from Charleston to Elkins, and later the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. The railroad originally consisted of more trackage south of Gassaway, but this track quickly became unusable and remained in a severe state of neglect. There were two different rail lines in this section of track, the ex-B&O Elk Subdivision, from Gassaway to Dundon, which was ripped up in December 2020, and a section of the former Buffalo Creek and Gauley Railroad, which was sold to the West Virginia Rail Authority in November 2020. The Elk Sub was purchased from CSX by Bill Bright in 1989, and if he had not stepped in, this section of railroad would have most certainly been abandoned.
The Charleston Gazette-Mail is the only daily morning newspaper in Charleston, West Virginia. It is the product of a July 2015 merger between The Charleston Gazette and the Charleston Daily Mail. It is one of nine papers owned by HD Media.
Climate Ground Zero (CGZ), founded in February 2009, is a non-violent civil disobedience campaign against mountaintop removal mining based in the southern coalfields of West Virginia. According to their website, Climate Ground Zero believes “that the irrevocable destruction of the mountains of Appalachia and its accompanying toll on the air, water, and lives of Appalachians necessitates continued and direct action". The organization seeks to end mountaintop removal mining by drawing attention to the issue through protests involving trespass on the property of mining companies. By locking down to machinery on mine sites, occupying trees in the blast zone, or blockading haul roads to mine sites, protesters associated with Climate Ground Zero directly interfere with mining practices. Other protests draw attention to the alleged negligence of regulatory agencies such as the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection (WVDEP) or the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) by occupying the offices of these governmental organizations. Climate Ground Zero has been referenced in the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Washington Post, Democracy Now, and the Associated Press.
Gun laws in West Virginia regulate the sale, possession, and use of firearms and ammunition in the U.S. state of West Virginia.
The Coal and Coke Railway was a railway operated by the Coal and Coke Railway Company in central West Virginia between 1905 and 1916. The line was made up of branches acquired from other companies and new construction. It ran from Elkins, West Virginia at its northeastern terminus, to Charleston, West Virginia at its southwestern terminus. Gassaway, West Virginia was roughly the halfway point in the railway's approximate length of 196 miles.
The Elk River chemical spill occurred on January 9, 2014 when crude 4-Methylcyclohexanemethanol (MCHM) was released from a Freedom Industries facility into the Elk River, a tributary of the Kanawha River, in Charleston in the U.S. state of West Virginia.
The Webster Sycamore was an American sycamore in the U.S. state of West Virginia. Long recognized for its size, the Webster Sycamore was the largest living American sycamore tree in West Virginia until its felling in 2010. The tree stood approximately 4.5 miles (7.2 km) east of Webster Springs in Webster County, in a moist flood plain along the banks of the Back Fork Elk River, a tributary stream of the Elk River.
The Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) is an under-construction natural gas pipeline in the United States from northwestern West Virginia to southern Virginia. The MVP is 304 miles (489 km), and there is also a proposed Southgate Extension to the pipeline which runs 75 miles from Virginia into North Carolina. The completed pipeline would have a capacity of 2 million dekatherms (Dts) of natural gas per day, with a large quantity of that gas being produced from the Marcellus and Utica shale formations.
The West Side is a neighborhood in the city of Charleston in Kanawha County, West Virginia, United States containing about 9,900 residents.
Taylor Books is an independent bookstore in Charleston, West Virginia. It specializes in Appalachian culture. It is credited with revitalizing downtown Charleston. It regarded as an institution for the state's artistic community.
