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.
The Appalachian Mountains, often called the Appalachians, are a system of mountains in eastern to northeastern North America. The Appalachians first formed roughly 480 million years ago during the Ordovician Period. They once reached elevations similar to those of the Alps and the Rocky Mountains before experiencing natural erosion. The Appalachian chain is a barrier to east–west travel, as it forms a series of alternating ridgelines and valleys oriented in opposition to most highways and railroads running east–west.
Beckley is a city in and the county seat of Raleigh County, West Virginia, United States. The population was 17,286 at the 2020 census, making it the ninth-largest city in the state. It is the principal city of the Beckley metropolitan area of Southern West Virginia, home to 115,079 residents in 2020. Beckley was founded on April 4, 1838, and was long known for its ties to the coal mining industry. It is the home of the West Virginia University Institute of Technology, as well as campuses of Concord University and the University of Charleston.
Appalachia is a cultural region located in the central and southern sections of the Appalachian Mountains of the Eastern United States. It stretches from the western Catskill Mountains in the east end of the Southern Tier of New York State west and south into Pennsylvania, continuing on through the Blue Ridge Mountains into northern Georgia, and through the Great Smoky Mountains from North Carolina into Tennessee and northern Alabama. In 2020, the region was home to an estimated 26.1 million people, of whom roughly 80% are white.
The Chesapeake and Ohio Railway was a Class I railroad formed in 1869 in Virginia from several smaller Virginia railroads begun in the 19th century. Led by industrialist Collis P. Huntington, it reached from Virginia's capital city of Richmond to the Ohio River by 1873, where the railroad town of Huntington, West Virginia, was named for him.
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.
The Cacapon River, located in the Appalachian Mountains of West Virginia's Eastern Panhandle region, is an 81.0-mile-long (130.4 km) shallow river known for its fishing, boating, wildlife, hunting, and wilderness scenery. As part of the Potomac River watershed, it is an American Heritage River.
Three Churches is an unincorporated community in Hampshire County in the U.S. state of West Virginia. The town is located north of Romney along Jersey Mountain Road at a crossroads with Three Churches Hollow Road. Originally known as Jersey Mountain, Three Churches was renamed for the three historic white wooden churches located there: Mount Bethel Church, Mount Bethel Primitive Baptist Church, and Branch Mountain United Methodist Church. The Three Churches Post Office is no longer in service.
Back Creek is a 59.5-mile-long (95.8 km) tributary of the Potomac River that flows north from Frederick County, Virginia, to Berkeley County in West Virginia's Eastern Panhandle. Back Creek originates along Frederick County's border with Hampshire County, West Virginia, at Farmer's Gap in the Great North Mountain. Its name reflects its location to the west of North Mountain. The perspective of colonists from the east in the 18th century led them to call it "Back Creek", because it lay to the back of North Mountain.
Blair is an unincorporated community in Logan County, West Virginia, United States, on the Spruce Fork. Blair lies along West Virginia Route 17.
Cheat Mountain is an exceptionally high and rugged ridge situated in the Allegheny Mountains of eastern West Virginia, USA. It is about 50 miles (80 km) long and more than five miles (8 km) wide at its widest. Its highest point is at its southernmost end at Thorny Flat, which has an elevation of 4,848 feet (1,478 m). Several other knobs rise above 4,000 feet (1,200 m) along its length.
The West Virginia National Guard is a part of the West Virginia Department of Military Affairs and Public Safety. It comprises the West Virginia Army National Guard and the West Virginia Air National Guard. Unlike some states, West Virginia does not maintain a state defense force, nor is there a naval component to the state's military forces.
Virginia State Route 311 and West Virginia Route 311 are adjoining state highways in the U.S. states of Virginia and West Virginia. The two state highways together run 58.7 miles (94.5 km) from U.S. Route 11 in Salem, Virginia north to Interstate 64 and U.S. Route 60 near White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia. The two Virginia portions of Route 311 are maintained by the Virginia Department of Transportation, with the exception of the city-maintained portion within Salem. The West Virginia segments are maintained by the West Virginia Division of Highways.
The Episcopal Diocese of West Virginia is a diocese of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America (TEC). It encompasses all 55 counties of West Virginia. The diocese has 66 congregations, including 38 parishes, 26 missions, and 2 other churches. The diocese is headquartered in Charleston and led by The Rt. Rev. Matthew Davis Cowden who was consecrated as bishop coadjutor in March, 2022 and became bishop diocesan in October, 2022.
Ice Mountain is a mountain ridge and algific talus slope that is part of a 149-acre (60 ha) preserve near the community of North River Mills in Hampshire County, West Virginia, United States. It was designated a National Natural Landmark in 2012.
Wilson Gap, originally known as Gregory's Gap, is a wind gap in the Blue Ridge Mountain, located on the border of Loudoun County, Virginia and Jefferson County, West Virginia. The Appalachian Trail crosses the gap.
Mountain View is an unincorporated community in Logan County, West Virginia, United States. Mountain View is located near Island Creek and the junction of U.S. Route 52 and West Virginia Route 44, 7.4 miles (11.9 km) west-northwest of Gilbert.
Quinnimont is an unincorporated community in Fayette County, West Virginia, United States. Quinnimont is located on West Virginia Route 41 near the New River, 7.1 miles (11.4 km) east-southeast of Mount Hope. Quinnimont had a post office, which opened on February 23, 1874, and closed on February 1, 1997.
Tyler Mountain is an unincorporated community in Kanawha County, West Virginia, United States. Tyler Mountain is located at the junction of State routes 62 and 501, 5.5 miles (8.9 km) west-northwest of Charleston.
Dillon is an unincorporated community in Raleigh County, West Virginia, United States. It was also known as Irish Mountain and is the location of St. Colman's Roman Catholic Church and Cemetery, which is on the National Register of Historic Places.
