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With a population of about 114,500 in its metropolitan area, Morgantown is the largest city in north-central West Virginia. Morgantown is most famous for its Morgantown Personal Rapid Transit system, which was built by the United States Department of Transportation in the 1970s as an experimental form of rapid transit. Nowadays, the system has five stations and extends for 8.65 miles (13.9 kilometers).
The area was first explored by Zackquill Morgan and his brother David in about 1767. In 1772, Zackquill Morgan established a homestead on the Monongahela River, near what is now the city's downtown. At the same time, Fort Morgan was established to protect the area from Indian attacks. Over time, another six forts were established in the area. In 1783, after returning from the American Civil War, Morgan commissioned Major William Haymond to survey his land and divide it into streets and lots. About 50 acres (20 hectares) were set aside for Morgan's Town by the Virginia General Assembly in 1785. (Up until 1863, what is now West Virginia was part of the State of Virginia). In 1838, Morgan's Town, which was eventually shortened to Morgantown, was incorporated as a city. At that time, its population was 700.
In 1867, West Virginia University was founded in Morgantown. It is the largest and most imporant university in the state, with a student body of about 27,500. Leave a Comment
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I've driven through West Virginia on I-64 twice. It is a quite reasonable highway going from Kentucky to Virginia although part of it is a toll road.
The towns along the way have very interesting names. Kenova is just over the Kentucky line at the meeting of the Big Sandy and Ohio Rivers, and then we skirt around Huntington on the Ohio River, then Pea Ridge on the Old Guyan River Road, Blue Sulphur (named for the spring with the highest sulphur content in the area), Hurricane (pronounced "her'-i-kin") and named for Hurricane Creek which was named by a party of surveyors commissioned by George Washington after a group of trees at the mouth of the river bent in one direction, and crossing the Kanawha River to Nitro, before we get to the capital Charleston.
I found Nitro a most interesting name. It comes from nitrocellulose, a component of modern gunpowder. The Nitro area was to be the US's ammunition production facility during WWI.
Then we follow the West Virginia Turnpike (and also I-77) into more sparsely inhabited territory - Coal Fork, Chesapeake {named for the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway because it is a long way from the actual Chesapeake), Westerly, and Lick Fork until we get to Beckley.
Beckley was named in honor of John James Beckley, who was the first Clerk of the House of Representatives and the first Librarian of Congress. It was founded by his son Alfred Beckley. It is a major hub in southern WV. In addition to the two interstates, there is also US 19,WV 10,WV 210,WV 3,and WV 16. You can hardly go through the south or central section of WV without going through Beckley
In Beckley, the turnpike ends, and I-77 turns south again to go to Bluefield (named after chicory flowers) while I-64 continues east to Beaver, Sandstone on the New River which the highway crosses on a really high bridge, Dawson (a WV National Guard training camp), Smoot and Lewisburg and eventually exits into Virginia at White Sulphur Springs (photo 4) the home of The Greenbrier - the southern “Queen of the Watering Places.” Leave a Comment
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The beautiful state of WV is sliced up into 55 self-serving regions called counties.
Most of the county names are in reference to famous local or national individuals and families.
A few exceptions are:
Mineral County..... for the rich mineral resources in the area
Greenbrier.... for the Greenbrier River
Wyoming County.... native american for "wide country"
Kanawha County.... for the Kanawha River
Ohio County.... for the Ohio River
the full list of counties is:
Barbour | Berkeley | Boone | Braxton | Brooke | Cabell | Calhoun | Clay | Doddridge | Fayette | Gilmer | Grant | Greenbrier | Hampshire | Hancock | Hardy | Harrison | Jackson | Jefferson | Kanawha | Lewis | Lincoln | Logan | Marion | Marshall | Mason | McDowell | Mercer | Mineral | Mingo | Monongalia | Monroe | Morgan | Nicholas | Ohio | Pendleton | Pleasants | Pocahontas | Preston | Putnam | Raleigh | Randolph | Ritchie | Roane | Summers | Taylor | Tucker | Tyler | Upshur | Wayne | Webster | Wetzel | Wirt | Wood | Wyoming
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Wheeling was first settled by Colonel Ebenezer Zane and his brothers in 1769, when they came from the Potomac River Valley in eastern Virginia to establish a land claim. The area they settled is on a flat plain along the Ohio River, with steep hills rising up from the river valley. Other settlers soon followed. The early inhabitants built Fort Fincastle to protect the settlement. In 1776, the name was changed to Fort Henry, in honor of Patrick Henry.
During the Civil War, Wheeling was the headquarters of Virginians opposed to secession from the Union. At the time, the area that is now West Virginia was part of Virginia. The Union supporters in the city organized the State of West Virginia on June 20, 1863. Wheeling served as the state capital from 1863 to 1870, and from 1875 to 1885.
Nowadays, Wheeling is the seat of Ohio County. It is the center of a metropolitan area of around 160,000 inhabitants which includes Belmont County, Ohio, across the Ohio River from Wheeling.
Wheeling lies near West Virginia's coal- and natural-gas-producing region, and many of the city's industries are fueled by coal or natural gas. The city is also an important coal shipping center. The most important aspect of Wheeling's economy, however, is tourism. Visitors are attracted by the city's parks, historic sites, and local events. Leave a Comment
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Charleston West Virginia is the capitol of the state, and is quite different from the other better known Charleston in South Carolina which is in the "Low Country" an has an altitude of only about 118 feet. Charleston WV is HIGH country at over 500 feet higher
The land on which Charleston was build sold to Col. George Clendenin in 1786 by the Bullits who were the first owners. In 1788, Col. Clendenin and his company of Virginia Rangers built FOrt Lee. Some people think that Charleston is named after Col. Clendenin's father, Charles. Charles Town was later shortened to Charleston to avoid confusion with another Charleston Town in present day West Virginia
Charleston is part of Kanawha County. The origin of the word Kanawha (pronounced KAN-A-WA) comes from a West Indian Arawak word for dugout. In fact, a two-story jail was the first county structure ever built. The first floor literally dug into the bank of the Kanawha River.
After 1863, when West Virginia became a state, the capital alternated between Wheeling and Charleston. It wasn't until 1877 that Charleston was finally chose as the capitol.
We spent the night in Charleston on our way home in the spring of 2006. Leave a Comment
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I am from New York and many of our interstate highways have 55 as the speed limit with a few recently changing to 65.
If you try to do 55 or even 65 in West Virginia interstates, you are going to end up with a tractor trailer in your trunk (especially going downhill). I found that if I ran at about 76 I was staying even with the slow lane and not too many people gave me the horn to go faster.
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Don't drink much the night before your trip. If you have a hang-over being on this river is the worst place to be. You get thrown around and the trip requires a lot of paddling. I am always tired and very sore after each trip.
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If you go in September of later in the yeay, you may want to rent a wetsuit. The water is always cold and if the day is cool, it is only worst when you get wet.
I have never reserved a wetsuit, but it's probably a good idea.
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Admittedly, most folks think of beans and cornbread or grits and gravy and biscuits when they think of food and West Virginia. And we do have some pretty unique food items that are part of the state culture--ramps and pawpaws come to mind--that most folks don't know even know exist.
But pepperoni rolls were actually born in this state. You probably won't find them on a restaurant menu, unless you are in the Fairmont area (birthplace of the pepperoni roll). Where you will find them is in convenience stores and grocery stores and bakeries.
What they are is pepperoni (sometimes pepperoni slices, sometimes pepperoni sticks) which has been baked inside a yeast roll. Sometimes cheese has also been baked in the roll along with the pepperoni, sometimes not. It will usually say on the wrapper of the package if it's pepperoni or pepperoni and cheese. The cheese could be mozzarella, provolone or hot pepper cheese. But that's it--plain and simple...yeast roll, pepperoni, and maybe cheese.
According to several sources, an Italian baker, Guiseppe Argiro, who formerly worked in the mines noticed the Italian coal miners mostly bought bread and pepperoni in their lunch pails for their midday meal. Once Argiro quit mining, he opened a bakery and began experimenting with baking pepperoni inside bread until he came up with the perfect pepperoni roll.
The simplicity of the pepperoni roll makes it the perfect road food. Held in one hand, nothing to drip or slip or slop; it holds together until it's gone. And, did I mention this? It's delicious. Ramps and pawpaws are acquired tastes...but pepperoni rolls are usually love at first bite.
You can find everything you ever wanted to know about pepperoni rolls (including recipes) on the following website: http://www.fscwv.edu/users/rheffner/pepperoniroll/
By the way, pepperoni rolls are illegal in some states. No, I'm not kidding. A major difference between West Virginia and Virginia--besides the slavery thing? Pepperoni rolls are ILLEGAL in Virginia.
Why would anyone want to live in a state that didn't want to ban slavery...and does ban pepperoni rolls? ;)
It isn't illegal to eat pepperoni rolls in other states, or even to make them--it's just illegal to sell them! Seriously, it's something to do with regulations passed by the FDA, and Senator Rockefeller got an exemption for West Virginia so the bakeries here could continue to make and sell them.
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The West Virginia State Flag is a white field bordered in dark blue. In the center of the field is displayed the state coat of arms, a rock containing the date June 20, 1863, the day West Virginia became a state. Two men on either side of the rock represent farming and mining. Below them are two rifles with a "Liberty Cap" on top the rifles. A banner ribbon includes the state motto "Mountaineers Are Always Free," in Latin. Around the picture is a wreath of rhododendron and the name of the state on a red ribbon.
West Virginia split from Virginia during the War Between the States. It is the only state ever formed by presidential proclamation. The current state flag was adapted in 1929.
West Virginia State Flag Leave a Comment
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