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The land that is now called West Virginia was once home to moundbuilding peoples such as the Adena
culture. Over time, the Mound Builders moved away, and were followed in settlement by the Woodland
peoples. More modern Native Americans such as the Cherokee, Shawnee, and Delaware peoples made the
land their home until European exploration.
Europeans began exploring this area of the Appalachian Mountains in the 1600s, and what is now
modern West Virginia became part of England’s Virginia Colony. The first settlers were Germans and
Scotch-Irish that arrived from Pennsylvania. The Germans founded a settlement known as Mecklenburg,
which is now named Shepherdstown, in 1727. West Virginia’s rugged topography prevented rapid
settlement.
The land in the Ohio Valley became the subject of disputes in the 1740s between the French, British,
and Native Americans. The Native Americans ultimately allied with the French, and as a result, the
French and Indian Wars played out in the late 18th century in Appalachia. The British captured the
area of present-day Pittsburgh and therefore secured the Ohio Valley; after the end of the French and
Indian War in 1763, the Treaty of Paris gave the British all property east of the Mississippi River.
With the French defeated, the Native Americans were left alone to struggle against expansion into
their ancestral lands. Attacks by the Native Americans against forts along the Allegheny Mountains
were quelled, and settlement of the land accelerated. Tensions and violence between colonists and
Native Americans grew until the American Revolution. The Battle of Point Pleasant on October 10, 1774
resulted in the elimination of the Native American forces. The American Revolution essentially opened
up the territory west of the Allegheny Mountains to settlement, and the lands beyond the Ohio Valley
became a new frontier for exploration.
The Louisiana Purchase in 1803 brought about continued expansion. In the decades that followed
prosperity increased; the advent of railroads, along with timber and coal production, aided the region’s
economy. However, tension grew between eastern and western Virginia, with differing standpoints on
slavery, taxation, education, and equal representation forming a schism. While Virginia left the Union
in 1861 in the American Civil War, some western areas chose to stay with the Union, and chose to form
their own state. West Virginia became the 35th state on June 20, 1863.
The late 19th century brought about increased coal and lumber production. Coal mining became
important, as did the chemical industry, particularly in the 20th century. The mines and steel mills
of West Virginia experienced boom periods as a result of the two World Wars. The dangers of mine
working led to labor disputes and violence, and despite reforms, many chose to leave the field. As
coal mining became more automated, this led to difficult economic times for the state in the middle of
the 20th century.
West Virginia experienced economic improvements in the 1960s, with the assistance of federal aid and
efforts to diversify the state’s economy. The energy crisis of the 1970s resulted in prosperous times
for the state’s coal industry, but the 1980s brought about low energy prices and subsequently greater
urgency for further economic diversification. Today, West Virginia is still famous for its natural
resources, but now the resource focus is on tourism. The Mountain State’s mountains and rivers result
in a much sought-after getaway within close proximity to much of the eastern Untied States. High
technology and biotechnology are at the forefront of new business opportunities that will surely
increase prosperity for all West Virginians.
Many famous individuals have called West Virginia their home. Among these are author Pearl S. Buck,
test pilot and Air Force general Chuck Yeager, baseball players Steve Yeager and George Brett, sopranos
Phyllis Curtin and Eleanor Steber, television host Peter Marshall, actors Don Knotts and Joanne Dru,
gymnast Mary Lou Retton, Confederate general Thomas Stonewall Jackson, and many others.
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