WV- A Brief History

West Virginia, the Mountain State. Its scenery contrasts stunningly with the ancient cataclysmic forces that fashioned its mountains and valleys. As early as 1671, Robert Fallum, the region's earliest known European explorer, wrote in his diary, It was a pleasing though dreadful sight to see the mountains and hills as if piled one upon another. This rugged land has long made its mark on the people who have sought to navigate its rivers and scale its mountains. Yet for all this forbidding beauty, it's the people who truly characterize West Virginia. While West Virginia is defined by its people, it's hard to define a West Virginian. The soaring mountains and cavernous valleys that divide the state geographically have shaped a number of unique cultures. In the early days, the mountains also forged sharp divisions between eastern and western Virginia, creating different economies, customs, and politics that eventually led to a split that produced the state of West Virginia. People, attracted originally by abundant plant and animal life, have been drawn to the region for at least 12,000 years. We know relatively little about these early inhabitants. By the time the first European explorers arrived in the 1600s, most Native Americans had left the area we know as West Virginia. After English settlers established Jamestown in 1607, present-day West Virginia was claimed by England as part of the Commonwealth of Virginia. One hundred years would pass before the first white settlers moved into western Virginia, which for two centuries was considered part of the American West. Pioneers gradually pushed westward across the Allegheny Mountains. Early settlers, primarily German and Scots-Irish immigrants and a few wealthy landowners, endured the harsh journey in order to make a fresh start. Countless mountains and valleys separated western Virginia into isolated regions. Thus, the culture of each settlement was distinctly different. The first white settlers in present-day West Virginia ventured into the eastern Panhandle in the early 1700s. It's believed German pioneers settled along the banks of the Potomac River in the 1720s and later founded the town of Mecklenburg, known today as Shepherdstown. Others pressed westward into the Potomac Highlands, establishing the town of Romney. The eastern Panhandle region attracted wealthy planters, many of whom served with distinction during the Revolutionary War. Much wealth centered around Berkley Springs, Martinsburg, and Charlestown, which was founded by George Washington's brother, Charles. Their farms resembled the sprawling plantations of eastern Virginia. As in the east, planters relied on slave labor to maintain their farms and houses. Nearly one-third of all slaves who lived in present-day West Virginia resided in the eastern Panhandle. And when the Civil War began, these counties supported the Confederacy more than any other region in western Virginia. Settlement spread slowly to other parts of the state due to the threat of attacks by Native Americans who claimed the right to hunt freely on these lands. Some pioneers braved the dangers of the frontier for the opportunity to own land. When the conflict ended in the late 1700s, settlers poured into all sections of western Virginia, which was at peace for the first time in nearly half a century. These pioneers, living miles from their nearest neighbors, were hard-working, self-reliant, and independent-minded. They had to clear the land, build houses, and hunt or harvest all the food they ate. They also made their own clothes, quilts, cooking utensils, and tools. One of the few social outlets on the frontier was religion. Since there were few organized churches in the mountains, ministers would travel on horseback to spread the word of God. Eventually, small one-room churches dotted the landscape, and some remain as a reminder of West Virginia's devout early settlers. The state's northern panhandle stood in stark contrast to the rural mountains. The economic center was Wheeling, which was an important transportation hub due to the presence of the Ohio River and the National Road. Wheeling was a connecting point between the eastern and western United States. The city's businesses were booming. Foremost among them was the production of cut nails, which earned the town the nickname, Nail City. Wheeling also was the most diverse city in western Virginia. Like other areas, Wheeling's early settlers were predominantly German and Scots-Irish. During the 1800s, however, a large Catholic community developed and formed the region's first hospital and orphanage. Transportation improvements led to the development of other towns in northwestern Virginia. Connected by turnpikes and the Baltimore on Ohio Railroad, Clarksburg and Parkersburg were thriving industrial towns by 1860. Political leaders from northwestern Virginia were the driving force behind West Virginia's statehood movement. These politicians held long-simmering views that the government of Virginia had neglected the western regions, particularly when it came to investment in roads, railroads, and canals. Virginia's secession from the Union when the Civil War began emboldened statehood advocates who initiated a chain of events that ended with the creation of the new state of West Virginia on June 20, 1863. Although West Virginians had developed a different way of life from that in the east, the new state was not of one voice or culture. West Virginia citizens were as split on the statehood issue as they were on the Civil War. Much of the eastern panhandle was decidedly pro-South, while many independent-minded mountaineers could not have cared less about politics. During the war, western Virginians often gave their allegiance to the side that could best protect their homes and families. In fact, nearly as many West Virginians fought in the Confederate Army as in the Union, and some served in both. When West Virginia entered the Union, 90% of its population lived on farms. But the economic and social landscape changed dramatically with the spread of railroads, which soon crisscrossed West Virginia in every direction, making it possible to capitalize upon vast natural resources. The financial possibilities lured out-of-state investors to buy up vast tracts of land, particularly in the southern part of the state. Many West Virginians sold the mineral rights to land where they and their ancestors had eked out a meager existence, while rich coal seams lay underneath. Much of the state fell into the hands of out-of-state corporations, giving them extraordinary control over West Virginia's economic fate. While other industries played sizable roles, King Coal significantly fueled West Virginia's economic growth. Coal companies staked out leases along railroad tracks in the rugged mountains of southern and northern West Virginia. They built not only coal operations, but also houses, stores, schools, and churches for workers and their families. From these primitive beginnings blossomed coal camps and coal towns. West Virginians left their farms in large numbers to take up picks and shovels, trading their independence for a regular paycheck. Since most coal mines were isolated geographically, miners and their families relied entirely on the coal companies for employment and for goods and services necessary to maintain family life. Conflict over workers' rights versus employers' rights occasionally boiled over into outright rebellion, as miners and mine guards who were hired by the coal companies fought deadly battles. Mining coal required more labor than West Virginia could supply. Companies turned elsewhere for workers. In the Deep South, sons of former slaves were offered a train ticket and the promise of a job. Newly arrived immigrants—Italians, Hungarians, Poles, Russians, and others— came to the coal fields with the same offer. West Virginia quickly became a melting pot. There were waves of new immigrants throughout the state. Fortunato Battaglia arrived from Italy and showed up at a McDowell County coal mine where the company assigned him a new name. From that point on, he was known as Tom Batlow. Nick Gursky, a Polish-speaking immigrant from Ukraine, came to mine coal in Boone County. Eventually, all of his sons would join him in the mines, while his wife Mary operated the town boarding house for foreign-born miners. Lebanese immigrant Thomas Michael arrived in West Virginia in 1900 and eventually opened a general store next to the Phillips Sheet and Tin Plate Company in Clarksburg. He gladly cashed the checks of the Phillips workers, who in turn would spend a portion of their money in the store. African Americans and immigrants found opportunities in the mountain state that were unavailable to them elsewhere. Although they were segregated in housing and some social activities, they formed their own communities within communities, owned businesses, and developed highly regarded schools and churches. This diversity of tradition, religion, and the arts left an indelible imprint on West Virginia. A large number of the immigrants were Eastern European Jews, who frequently were prohibited from working in mines and factories due to discrimination. Many turned to independent business ventures, selling clothes, food, and other retail items to companies and their employees. By the 1920s, West Virginia's economy was booming, increasingly the lure of a steady job enticed people to relocate from rural to urban areas. The Great Depression, however, precipitated a downward spiral, and West Virginia, like the rest of the nation, experienced the worst economic downturn in history. Although the state received an economic lift during World War II, industries began cutting back their workforces in record numbers in the 1950s. Jobs disappeared, due largely to the introduction of machines to perform the work previously done by hand. As the state's unemployment rate multiplied during the 1950s and 60s, more than a quarter million people left the state. The economic downturn hit industrial regions the hardest. Many coal company towns disappeared as quickly as they had appeared. The loss of factory jobs decimated many larger towns. While many of West Virginia's once booming towns lost businesses and population, new suburban communities sprang into existence along the routes of interstates and highway corridors, which cut through the state's former farmlands. In the 1970s, there was another wave of immigration to the Mountain State. Known as Back to the Landers, these individuals typically fled overcrowded urban areas in search of the beautiful scenery and simpler lifestyle of the Mountain State. World-class ski and golf resorts attracted people to the Greenbrier Valley and the Potomac Highlands. Due to overcrowding in the Washington, D.C. area, thousands relocated to the eastern Panhandle, boosting the population of the region. While this growth has brought wealth, it has also encroached upon the historic communities and scenic farmlands. West Virginians are well known for their sense of neighborliness and community evident wherever they gather. From annual fairs and festivals, to high school football games, to family reunions, the spirit of community flourishes in West Virginia. For thousands of years, people have been drawn to the shadows of these majestic mountains for land, for opportunity, and for freedom. Amid the rugged terrain, mountaineers have survived incredible hardships and triumphed over great adversity. This spirit has persevered throughout our history, leaving an enduring legacy of self-reliance, independence, and unapologetic individualism.