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.
The West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WVIAC) was a collegiate athletic conference which historically operated exclusively in the state of West Virginia, but briefly had one Kentucky member in its early years, and expanded into Pennsylvania in its final years. It participated in the Division II ranks of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), originally affiliated in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) until 1995, but held its final athletic competitions in spring 2013, and officially disbanded on September 1 of that year. Its football-playing members announced in June 2012 that they planned to withdraw to form a new Division II conference at the end of the 2012–13 season; this led to a chain of conference moves that saw all but one of the WVIAC's members find new conference homes.
Jefferson County is located in the Shenandoah Valley in the Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia. It is the easternmost county of the U.S. state of West Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 57,701. Its county seat is Charles Town. The county was founded in 1801, and today is part of the Washington metropolitan area.
Hampshire County is a county in the U.S. state of West Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 23,093. Its county seat is Romney, West Virginia's oldest town (1762). The county was created by the Virginia General Assembly in 1754, from parts of Frederick and Augusta Counties (Virginia) and is the state's oldest county. The county lies in both West Virginia's Eastern Panhandle and Potomac Highlands regions.
Highland County is a county located in the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 2,232, making it the state's least populous county. Its county seat is Monterey. Known as "Virginia's Switzerland" or "Virginia's Little Switzerland", Highland County is the least populous jurisdiction in Virginia, including counties and independent cities. Highland lays claim to being one of the least populous counties and one of the highest average elevations east of the Mississippi River.
The New River is a river which flows through the U.S. states of North Carolina, Virginia, and West Virginia before joining with the Gauley River to form the Kanawha River at the town of Gauley Bridge, West Virginia. Part of the Ohio River watershed, it is about 360 miles (580 km) long.
U.S. Route 33 (US 33) is a United States Numbered Highway that runs northwest–southeast for 709 miles (1,141 km) from northern Indiana to Richmond, Virginia, passing through Ohio and West Virginia en route. Although most odd-numbered U.S. routes are north–south, US 33 is labeled east–west throughout its route, except in Indiana where it is labeled north–south. It roughly follows a historic trail used by Native Americans from Chesapeake Bay to Lake Michigan.
The George Washington and Jefferson National Forests is an administrative entity combining two U.S. National Forests into one of the largest areas of public land in the Eastern United States. The forests cover 1.8 million acres (2,800 sq mi) of land in the Appalachian Mountains of Virginia, West Virginia, and Kentucky. Approximately 1 million acres (1,600 sq mi) of the forest are remote and undeveloped and 139,461 acres (218 sq mi) have been designated as wilderness areas, which prohibits future development.
Droop Mountain Battlefield State Park is a state park located on Droop Mountain in Pocahontas County, West Virginia. The park was the site of the Battle of Droop Mountain, the last major battle of the American Civil War in the state taking place on November 6, 1863. John D. Sutton, a West Virginia private in the Union Army at the battle, became the leader in the movement to create the park when he served in the West Virginia House of Delegates. Dedicated on July 4, 1928, Droop Mountain Battlefield became the first state park in West Virginia.
The Battle of Blair Mountain was the largest labor uprising in United States history and is the largest armed uprising since the American Civil War. The conflict occurred in Logan County, West Virginia, as part of the Coal Wars, a series of early-20th-century labor disputes in Appalachia.
Sky Meadows State Park is a 1,862-acre (754 ha) park in the Virginia state park system. It is located in extreme northwest Fauquier County, Virginia in the Blue Ridge Mountains, near Paris, Virginia. It is about an hour outside of the Washington, D.C. metro region.
Kanawha State Forest is a 9,300-acre (38 km2) recreation area located near the community of Loudendale, West Virginia, which is about 7 miles (11 km) from downtown Charleston, West Virginia, United States. It is managed by the West Virginia Department of Natural Resources.
Canaan Valley Resort State Park is a state park in the eastern United States, within Canaan Valley in Tucker County, West Virginia. Located in the highest valley east of the Mississippi River, the park contains the second-largest inland wetland area in the United States. The valley featured the first commercial ski development in West Virginia.
Interstate 77 (I-77) in the US state of Virginia is a 67-mile (108 km) north–south Interstate Highway serving Hillsville, Wytheville, and Bland. Running parallel to US Route 52 (US 52), I-77 passes through the Big Walker Mountain Tunnel and East River Mountain Tunnel, the latter on the West Virginia state line and one of only two land vehicular tunnels to cross a state line.
Seneca State Forest is a state forest located in Pocahontas County, West Virginia. Created in 1924, it is the oldest state forest in West Virginia. It is also West Virginia's second-largest state forest at 11,684 acres (47.28 km2).
Capon Springs, also known as Frye's Springs and Watson Town, is a national historic district in Capon Springs, West Virginia that includes a number of resort buildings ranging in age from the mid-nineteenth century to the early 20th century. The area grew around a mineral spring discovered by Henry Frye in the 1760s, so that by 1787 the town of Watson had been established. By 1850, the 168-room Mountain House Hotel had been built, enduring until it burned in 1911. Also in 1850, the state of Virginia built Greek Revival bath pavilions and the President's House. A period of decline followed the Mountain House fire, but rebuilding began in the 1930s under the ownership of Louis Austin. The resort is still in Austin family ownership.
The Mountain East Conference (MEC) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division II level and officially began competition on September 1, 2013. It consists of 11 schools, mostly in West Virginia with other members in Maryland and Ohio.
The 2014 United States Senate election in West Virginia was held on November 4, 2014, to elect a member of the United States Senate to represent the State of West Virginia, concurrently with other elections to the United States Senate in other states and elections to the United States House of Representatives and various state and local elections. This election was the fifth consecutive even-number year in which a senate election was held in West Virginia after elections in 2006, 2008, 2010, and 2012.
