| Submitted By Several of our Readers
1. West Virginia is the only state to be created from
another state (Virginia...in 1863).
2. Berkley Springs, a resort town, has more massage
therapists than lawyers.
3. Berkley Springs is the only place in the U.S. to
boast: "George Washington bathed here."
4. W.V. has had one of the nation's lowest crime rates for
years.
5. During the Cold War, a sprawling 112,000 sq. ft.
bomb shelter was built to shelter members of congress
in the event of a nuclear attack. It was located
beneath the famous Greenbrier Resort in White Sulphur
Springs.
6. White Sulphur Springs has the only private
residence in the U.S. that is made out of coal.
7. The city of Bluefield, WV bills itself as
"America's Air-conditioned City." They back up their
boast by serving free lemonade anytime the
temperature reaches 90 degrees.
8. St. Andrews Methodist Church in Grafton was the
site of the first Mother's Day celebration in 1908.
9. Two West Virginia men have built castles for their
wives. Stephen Elkins built "Halliehurst" in 1890 for
his wife Hallie Davis Elkins...the only woman in
American history to be the daughter, the wife, and
the mother of a U.S. senator.
10. In 1885, whiskey distiller Taylor Suite began
building Berkley Castle for his new bride, Rosa
Pelham, who was 31 years his junior. He died in 1908,
a year before the project was finished. Rosa
completed the castle but went on the squander her
inheritance on extravagant living and wild parties and
ended up losing the castle and living in a shack and
raising chickens to make ends meet.
11. Philippi, WV was the site of the first land
battle of the Civil War.
12. In 1921, West Virginia became the first state to
have a sales tax.
13. The mother of Abraham Lincoln, Nancy Hanks, was
born near Romney, WV.
14. The largest single shipment of matches...20
railroad cars full...was sent from Wheeling, WV to
Memphis, TN in 1933.
15. In 1947, Chuck Yeager, a native of Hamlin, WV,
became the first person to fly faster than the speed
of sound.
16. The Old Stone Church, in Lewisburg, was built in
1796 while George Washington was President and has
been in continuous service ever since. (It is
Presbyterian)
17. At the end of the "Guilded Age" in the late
1890's, the town of Bramwell, WV had more millionaires
per square mile than any other city in the U.S. Many
of their mansions have been restored and can be
visited by the public.
18. With an average altitude of 1,500 feet, WV is the
highest state east of the Mississippi.
19. The first brick street in the world was laid in
the city of Charleston in 1873.
20. The first concrete street in the world was laid
in the town of Webster Springs, WV in 1903.
21. Indirect artillery fire (action against an unseen
target was used for the first time in military
history at the Battle of Fayetteville on
May 20, 1863 by a 19-year old Confederate, Sgt.
Milton Humphreys. Virtually all modern artillery fire
is now indirect fire.
22. James Rumsey of Shepardstown, WV invented the
first steamboat. After he died suddenly in England,
while raising funds for his project, his friend,
Robert Fulton, took his plans and completed the work
and is now credited with the invention of the first
steamboat.
23. In 1956, Cecil Underwood (age 34) became the
youngest governor in the U.S. In 1996, Underwood ran
again and became the oldest governor in the U.S.
24. The hardwood flooring in the famous
Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York was manufactured by
the Meadow River Lumber Co. of Rainelle, WV.
25. West Virginia has the oddest shape of any state.
This was because Union officials, during the Civil
War, arranged all the pro-Union counties of Virginia
into a state which then seceded from that Confederate
State.
26. The state is the highest in home ownership, albeit humble they might be.
27. The state has contributed among the highest number of soldiers serving America in its wars.
28. The state has among the lowest crime rates in America.
29. The state ranks no. 4 in the number of grandparents raising their grandchildren.
30. In most national polls, the state has the unhealthiest citizens.
31. The state ranks near the worst in personal income and educational achievement.
32. Despite all its shortcomings, it is loved by its citizens who like their neighbors, a state that is among the most forested in the US, with great vistas and rivers.
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