Take Me Home Country Roads – to West Virginia.
While I have more years of Texas maps, I have more overall West Virginia maps as they published monthly in the 1940s.
State Capitol
1949 1958 1960 1963 1992 2010
West Virginia State Capitol (Photo from whereverImayroam.com)
When West Virginia was formed during the Civil War, it took years for them to settle on a permanent state capital Finally they decided Charleston is the place, and in 1932 completed this building.
State Symbol
State Firearm – Hall Flintlock Model 1819. This weapon was produced in Harpers Ferry.
Rivers and Streams
1937 – Potomac River South Branch 1940 February – Kanawha River 1941 September – New River Gorge and River 1954 – Randolph County Lake 1967 – New River Gorge and River 1986 1994 – New River Gorge and River
West Virginia has a number of rivers that served the coal industry for decades. One of those coal towns was Thurmond. Today it is a ghost town, but at one time was a center of coal production.
It is situated on the New River, which is an attraction for tourists and adventurers.
Huntington is the 2nd largest town in the state. It was founded as a railway center, and that history is celebrated with decorated model engines around downtown.
The most noteworthy is the one dedicated to those who died in the Marshall University Football team’s airplane crash in 1970.
Point Pleasant is an Ohio River town that live on the legend of the Mothman.
Mountains
1939 January 1939 February 1940 May 1974 – White Sulfur Springs 1983 2002 – Coopers Rocks 2017
Cooper’s Rocks is a scenic area above Morgantown, near the Maryland border.
Helvetia was originally a Swiss colony far back in the Appalachian Mountains.
The Greenbrier has been a premier resort since 1778, with 27 of the 45 Presidents having visited.
West Virginia is all mountains and hills, with unique histories. One of those interesting places is Matewan, where a famed labor battle occurred.
Roads and Bridges
1940 January – Canaan Valley Route 32 1962 – Interstate 77 1965 1980 – New River Gorge Bridge 1990 2011 2014
The New River Gorge Bridge is one of the highest bridges in the world.
The Ohio River Valley has a collection of old, cool and quirky bridges. Not all are still in use.
West Virginia Culture and Sights
1940 June – Rhododendron Festival 1940 August 1940 September 1940 December 1941 January – WVU Martin Hall 1943 1947 1968 1976 1978 1988 1998 2005 2006 2008
Green Bank, West Virginia is home to the National Radio Astronomy Observatory. As such it is in an area known as a National Radio Quiet Zone – no cell phones, radios, etc.
New Vrindaban is a temple built outside of Wheeling in the 1970s and 1980s.
Two now closed incarceration facilities are now tourist attractions in West Virginia, including the Trans- Allegheny Lunatic Asylum in Weston.
Not to be outdone Moundsville ha their former prison open for tours. With that we are breaking out of West Virginia and headed on….
RDZ Photography 