Original photo by Peter Hermes Furian/ Alamy Stock Photo
“West Virginia” is a bit of a misnomer, as the bordering state of Virginia actually extends farther west than its neighbor. West Virginia’s westernmost point is located just north of the town of Fort Gay along the Big Sandy River in Wayne County. You’d need to travel another 55 to 60 miles west before reaching the western edge of Virginia, which is located in Cumberland Gap National Historical Park along a three-way border shared by Kentucky and Tennessee.
The origins of this oddity can be traced to the 1820s, when the land that is now modern-day West Virginia was still part of Virginia. At the time, many western Virginian communities (i.e., those west of the Great Appalachian Valley) felt underrepresented in the state legislature, which operated out of Richmond on the east side of the state. This disconnect came to a head when Virginia seceded from the Union in 1861 at the start of the Civil War — a choice many in the future state of West Virginia disagreed with — thus causing 39 western counties to secede from Old Dominion and form a new state.
Oops, incorrect!
It's a fibThe Pentagon, in the city of Arlington, was the world’s largest office building from 1943 to 2023, at 6.67 million square feet. But it was overtaken by the Surat Diamond Bourse (7.1 million square feet) in Surat, India. The Pentagon remains the largest office building in the United States.
The original proposed name was “the State of Kanawha” after a prominent river in the region. But many locals still held the name “Virginia” in high regard, so lawmakers voted in favor of “West Virginia” instead — though the name more aptly reflects cultural differences than it does precise geography. On April 20, 1863, President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed West Virginia would become the 35th U.S. state, and it formally achieved statehood on June 20 of that same year.
Numbers Don't Lie
More Interesting Reads
Virginia was named after ______, known as the “Virgin Queen.”
Ready to reveal?
Confirm your email to play the next question?
Virginia was named after Queen Elizabeth I, known as the “Virgin Queen.”
The same person served as both the youngest and oldest governor of West Virginia.
Cecil Underwood was elected to his first term as governor of West Virginia in 1956. He took office the following year at age 34, making him the youngest person to hold the Mountain State’s highest office. At the time, West Virginia’s constitution prohibited governors from serving consecutive terms (it was later amended in 1970 to permit it), so Underwood was forced to leave the governorship in 1961 after a single four-year term.
Underwood ran again in both the 1964 and 1976 West Virginia gubernatorial elections, though he was defeated each time. But his luck changed in 1996, when he was reelected to the office after more than three decades. He reclaimed the governorship on January 13, 1997, at the age of 74, becoming the oldest governor in the state’s history.
Bennett Kleinman is a New York City-based staff writer for Inbox Studio, and previously contributed to television programs such as "Late Show With David Letterman" and "Impractical Jokers." Bennett is also a devoted New York Yankees and New Jersey Devils fan, and thinks plain seltzer is the best drink ever invented.
top picks from the Inbox Studio network
Interesting Facts is part of Inbox Studio, which publishes content that uplifts, informs, and inspires.
