West Virginia, nicknamed the “Mountain State,” joined the Union as the 35th state on June 20, 1863. With its rugged terrain marked by the Appalachian Mountains, its statehood is unique, having been born out of the Civil War and internal divisions in Virginia over secession.
Early Inhabitants and European Exploration
The area now known as West Virginia has been inhabited for at least 12,000 years, with evidence of Paleo-Indians, followed by the mound-building Adena, Hopewell and Fort Ancient cultures.
European exploration of present-day West Virginia began in the mid-17th century, with French and English traders establishing posts and the English claiming the Ohio Valley. Although the Iroquois Confederacy controlled the fur trade in the region, various Native American tribes, including the Delaware, Shawnee and Cherokee, were allowed to live there.
Infighting among tribes with the Iroquois Confederacy (also known as the Six Nations) and land encroachment by European settlers brought violent conflict. Warfare, including the French and Indian War (1756-1763) and the Revolutionary War (1775-1783), had many tribes siding with the French and British, respectively. As a result of the wars, raids, battles, European-borne diseases and forced relocation, the Native American population was decimated.
The Civil War and Statehood
Following the American Revolution, the region, still part of Virginia, saw an increasing number of settlers drawn by natural resources, especially coal and fertile soil. Tensions grew between the eastern and western parts of Virginia, particularly over issues of representation and slavery.
The 1859 raid at Harpers Ferry, in which abolitionist John Brown and a band of abolitionists attacked the federal armory to incite an uprising among enslaved people, was unsuccessful. Brown was executed for the act, but it is often cited as a final impetus to the Civil War (1861-1865). Several significant battles occurred in the state, with approximately 32,000 West Virginians fighting for the Union and 9,000 serving the Confederacy. Notable battles in the state included Philippi, considered by some to be the war’s first land battle, and Droop Mountain, which gave the Union control of most of the state.
When Virginia voted to secede from the Union in 1861, five days after the official start of the Civil War, its western counties dissented, forming the Union-loyal Restored Government of Virginia. A constitution was drafted for the new state, and a petition for statehood was proposed to the U.S. Congress. Congress agreed, but on the condition that the state amend its constitution to require the gradual abolishment of slavery.
The amendment was made, and on June 20, 1863, by proclamation of President Abraham Lincoln, West Virginia was admitted to the Union as the nation’s 35th state. It is the only state created by breaking away from a Confederate state. Slavery, however, did not officially end in the state until February 3, 1865, when it voted to ratify the 13th Amendment.
The Hatfield and McCoy Feud
America’s most notorious feud snagged national headlines in the late 1800s as a more than two-decades-long fight escalated between the Hatfield and McCoy families. Living along the Tug Fork of the Big Sandy River, which divides the West Virginia and Kentucky border, West Virginia’s Hatfields were Confederate sympathizers, while Kentucky’s McCoys supported the Union.
Hog theft, romantic relationships between the families, arson and multiple murders led to ongoing retaliation on both sides. Legal battles ensued, and newspapers across the country often sensationalized reports about the saga.
Industrial Growth and the Coal Industry
After the war, railroad construction and expansion boosted growth in West Virginia in the second half of the 19th century. Natural resources drew workers, including immigrants from Italy, Poland, Hungary and Austria, and Southern Blacks. By the early 1900s, West Virginia was one of the country’s top coal-producing states and an important oil and natural gas producer. Additionally, the two world wars brought chemical companies to the area, producing mustard gas, rubber, plastics and more.
However, coal mining, in particular, has been a mainstay of both West Virginia’s economy and identity. Several mining disasters have also occurred since its inception, killing more than 21,000 miners since the first records were kept in 1883. Explosions from methane gas and fires, plus poor safety regulations, resulted in a series of mass deaths, including at least 361 in 1907 at Monogah.
The dangerous working conditions, low wages and environmental concerns led to the formation of labor unions in the early 20th century, including the United Mine Workers of America. This, in turn, led to what became known as the Mine Wars, with violent uprisings from 1912-1921 that resulted in labor strikes and martial law. The Paint Creek-Cabin Creek Strike (1912-1913) resulted in violent clashes and deaths. The Battle of Blair Mountain (1921) was a major armed civil uprising between miners and law enforcement.
Public outrage and state and federal reform, including the 1938 Fair Labor Standards Act, resulted in mandates for minimum wages and a 40-hour work week, and the 1933 National Industrial Recovery Act that gave the laborers the right to collective bargaining.
Post-World War II, automation and competition from other energy sources brought declines in coal mining employment in the state, while pneumoconiosis, better known as black lung, caused by breathing in coal dust, was recognized as an occupational disease by the federal government in 1969.
While coal remains important to West Virginia’s economy, jobs in the industry have significantly decreased, and natural gas, chemicals, manufacturing, tourism, agriculture and technology have diversified the economy. Meanwhile, the New River Gorge and Canaan Valley are popular destinations for hiking, rafting and skiing, and the state’s folk music tradition, including bluegrass and Appalachian ballads, has greatly influenced American music.
Quick Facts
- Date of Statehood: June 20, 1863
- Capital: Charleston
- Population: 1,793,716 (2020 Census)
- Size: 24,230 square miles
- Nickname: The Mountain State
- Motto: Montani Semper Liberi (Mountaineers Are Always Free)
- Tree: Sugar Maple
- Flower: Rhododendron
- Bird: Cardinal
Interesting West Virginia Facts
The New River Gorge Bridge is the third-highest bridge in the nation, standing 876 feet, and the longest steel span in the Western Hemisphere, measuring 3,030 feet. For one day each year, it closes to traffic, allowing pedestrians to cross it.
The invention of Mother's Day is credited to Anna Jarvis of Grafton, who organized a holiday honoring her mom in 1908. In 1910, the state issued the first Mother’s Day proclamation. Four years later, Congress designated it an annual holiday.
The gold leaf-gilded dome of the West Virginia State Capitol is the highest dome of any capitol in the nation, standing 293 feet.
Golden delicious apples are the official state fruit. The variety was discovered in Clay County in 1905.
The renowned Greenbrier, a luxury hotel and resort in White Sulphur Springs, opened in 1778 and has a long, iconic history. Pre-Civil War, it hosted five sitting presidents (and 28 presidents to date). It served as a 2,000-bed Army hospital during WWII and was home to an underground bunker during the Cold War, built as an emergency relocation center for Congress.
Pepperoni rolls were invented in West Virginia in 1927 by former coal miner and Italian immigrant Giuseppe Argioro as a portable meal for miners.
In 1967, tragedy struck the state when the Silver Bridge, a suspension bridge spanning the Ohio River that connected Point Pleasant to Gallipolis, Ohio, collapsed due to a design flaw during rush hour, killing 46 people. It led to better federal bridge safety regulations.
Notable West Virginians: Novelist Pearl Buck, actors Don Knotts and Bob Denver, Confederate Gen. Thomas Jonathan “Stonewall” Jackson, mathematician John Nash, singer Brad Paisley, gymnast Mary Lou Retton, NBA legend Jerry West, pilot Chuck Yeager, and labor leader Mother Jones.
Sources
Native American Clashes with European Settlers, West Virginia Archives and History.
West Virginia State Profile Brief History, West Virginia State Profile.
History of West Virginia, The West Virginia Encyclopedia.
West Virginia Statehood, June 20, 1863, National Archives.
The Hatfield-McCoy Feud, The West Virginia Encyclopedia.
