West Virginia is the only state to be created from
another state
>> (Virginia...in 1863).
>> Berkley Springs, a resort town, has more massage
therapists than
>> lawyers.
>> Berkley Springs is the only place in the U.S. to
boast: "George
>> Washington bathed here."
>> West Virginia has had the nation's lowest crime
rate for the past 26
>> years.
>> 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's
>> located beneath the famous Greenbrier Resort in
White Sulphur
Springs,
>> White Sulphur Springs has the only private
residence in the U.S.
that
>> is made out of coal.
>> 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.
>> St. Andrews Methodist Church in Grafton was the
site of the first
>> Mother's Day celebration in 1908.
>> 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.
>> 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 to 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.
>> Philippi, WV was the site of the first land battle
of the Civil War.
>> The first officer killed in the Civil War was
General Robert S.
Garnett
>> (Confederate) at Corricks Ford (Near Parsons in
Tucker Co.)
>> In 1921, West Virginia became the first state to
have a sales tax.
>> The mother of Abraham Lincoln, Nancy Hanks, was
born near Romney,
WV.
>> The largest single shipment of matches...20
railroad cars full...was
>> sent from Wheeling, WV to Memphis, TN in 1933.
>> In 1947, Chuck Yeager, a native of Hamlin, WV,
became the first
person
>> to fly faster than the speed of sound.
>> 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)
>> At the end of the "Gilded 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
>> lisited by the public.
>> With an average altitude of 1,500 feet, WV is the
highest state east
of
>> the Mississippi.
>> The first brick street in the world was laid in
the city of
Charleston
>> in 1873.
>> The first concrete street in the world was laid in
the town of
Webster
>> Springs, WV in 1903.
>> 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.
>> 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.
>> 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.
>> The hardwood flooring in the famous Waldorf-Astoria
Hotel in New
York
>> was manufactured by the Meadow River Lumber Co. of
Rainelle, WV.
>> 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.
>> And may we add, Mingo County, WV, the Heart of the
Billion Dollar
>> Coalfield is home of the "Coal House", which holds
the Chamber of
>> Commerce. It is located in the county seat,
Williamson and is
>> constructed entirely of local coal cut into blocks.
>>
>> And lastly, WV was the first state to utilize food
stamps!
