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Physical Features.—The state is divided into two distinct physiographicprovinces; the Alleghany Plateau on the west, comprisingperhaps two-thirds of the area of the state, and forming a part ofthe great Appalachian Plateau Province which extends from NewYork to Alabama; and the Newer Appalachians or Great ValleyRegion on the east, being a part of the large province of the samename which extends from Canada to Central Alabama. TheAlleghany Plateau consists of nearly horizontal beds of limestone,sandstone and shales, including important seams of coal; inclinesslightly toward the north-west, and is intricately dissected byextensively branching streams into a maze of narrow canyons andsteep-sided hills. Along the Ohio river, these hills rise to an elevationof 800 to 1000 ft. above sea-level, while toward the south-east theelevation increases until 3500 and 4000 ft. are reached along thesouth-east margin of the plateau, which is known as the AlleghanyFront. The entire plateau area is drained by the Ohio river and itstributaries. Along the flood-plains of the larger rivers are fertile“bottom lands,” but the ruggedness of the plateau country as awhole has retarded the development of the state, much of which isstill sparsely populated. The coal beds are of enormous extent,and constitute an important element in the wealth of the state.Petroleum and natural gas also occur in the plateau rocks in greatquantities.

In the Newer Appalachian region, the beds which still lie horizontalin the plateau province were long ago thrown into folds andplaned off by erosion, alternate belts of hard and soft rock beingleft exposed. Uplift permitted renewed erosion to wear away thesoft belts, leaving mountain ridges of hard rock separated byparallel valleys. Hence the region is variously known as the Ridgeand Valley Belt, the Great Valley Region, or the Folded Appalachians.The mountain ridges vary in height up to 4000 ft. andmore, the highest point in the state being Spruce Knob (4860 ft.).The parallel valleys are drained by north-east and south-westflowing streams, those in the north-east being tributary to thePotomac, those farther south tributary to the Great Kanawha.Although the valleys between the ridges are not always easyof access, they give broad areas of nearly level agriculturalland.

Flora.—The plateau portion of West Virginia is largely coveredby hardwood forests, but along the Ohio river and its principaltributaries the valuable timber has been removed and considerableareas have been wholly cleared for farming and pasture lands.Among the most important trees of this area are the white andchestnut oaks, the black walnut, the yellow poplar, and the cherry,the southern portion of the state containing the largest reservesupply. In the area of the Newer Appalachian Mountains, theeastern Panhandle region has a forest similar to that of the plateaudistrict; but between these two areas of hardwood there is a longbelt where spruce and white pine cover the mountain ridges. Othertrees common in the state are the persimmon, sassafras, and, in theOhio Valley region, the sycamore. Hickory, chestnut, locust, maple,beech, dogwood, and pawpaw are widely distributed. Among theshrubs and vines are the blackberry, black and red raspberry,gooseberry, huckleberry, hazel and grape. Ginseng is an importantmedicinal plant. Wild ginger, elder and sumach are common,and in the mountain areas, rhododendrons, mountain laurel andazaleas.

Climate.—Inasmuch as the state has a range of over 4000 ft. inaltitude, the climate varies greatly in different districts. The meanannual temperatures for typical sections arc as follows: Ohio Valleynorth of the thirty-ninth parallel, 53° F.; south-western part ofstate, 56°; central plateau district, 52°; mountainous belt alongsouth-eastern boundary of state, 48° to 50°. Wellsburg, in thenorthern Panhandle, has a mean winter temperature of 27°, a summermean of 70°. Parkersburg, farther down the Ohio Valley, has awinter mean of 34° and a summer mean of 74°. Martinsburg, in theeastern Panhandle, has nearly the same means, 32° and 74°. TerraAlta, in the north-eastern mountains, has a winter mean of 26°, asummer mean of only 67°. The first killing frosts generally occurabout the middle of October in the Ohio Valley region, and about thefirst of October in the higher plateau and mountain region; theaverage dates for the last killing frosts in the same localities arethe middle and last of April respectively. In the Ohio Valley andeastern Panhandle the summer mean temperature is 74°, the wintermean 31° to 34°. The highest recorded temperature for the stateis 107°, the lowest -35°. Temperatures above 100° and below -15°are rare. Precipitation is greatest in the mountains, over 50 in.;and least over the Ohio Valley, the eastern Panhandle and theextreme south-east, 35 to 40 in. Snows are frequent during thewinter, and sometimes deep in the higher plateau and mountaindistricts. The prevailing winds are from south to west.

Agriculture.—The state is primarily agricultural. In general thericher western part is devoted to crops, and the eastern part to raisinglive-stock. The crop of Indian corn in 1909 was 27,632,000 bushels,and the acreage 880,000. The wheat crop was 4,810,000 bushels,and the acreage 370,000. The crop of buckwheat was 499,000bushels (grown on 22,000 acres). The rye crop was 148,000 bushels,and the acreage 11,000. The production of oats was 2,156,000bushels (grown on 98,000 acres). In 1909 the acreage of hay alonewas 675,000 acres, and the crop was 844,000 tons, valued at$11,225,000. Tobacco is grown throughout the state; in 1909on 12,000 acres was grown a crop of 12,000,000 ℔, valued at$1,663,200.

Stock-raising is an important industry, especially in the easternpart of the state.

Mines and Quarries.—The state's great mineral wealth is in coalsof various kinds, petroleum, and natural gas.

The coal deposits underlie about 17,000 sq. m. (more than 70%of the total) of the state's area, and bituminous coal has been foundin 51 of the 55 counties; this is one of the largest continuous coalfields in the world. The principal districts are the Fairmont(or Upper Monongahela) and the Elk Garden (or Upper Potomac)in the northern, and the Pocahontas (or Flat Top) and the New andKanawha rivers districts in the southern part of the state. Thetotal output of the state was 44,648 tons in 1863, when the first shipmentsoutside the state were made; and 41,897,843 tons (valuedat $40,009,054) in 1908, when the output of West Virginia wasthird in quantity and in value among the states of the Union, beingexceeded only by that of Pennsylvania and of Illinois. The seamsare principally above water levels and in many cases have been laidbare by erosion; and the supply is varied—besides a “fat coking,gassy bituminous,” there are an excellent grade of splint coal(first mined in 1864 at Coalburg, Kanawha county) and (except thatin Kentucky) the only important supply of cannel coal in the UnitedStates. Most of the mines are operated under “non-union” rules.The bituminous coal of West Virginia is a particularly good cokingcoal, and in 1905, 1906, 1907 and 1908 West Virginia ranked second(to Pennsylvania) among the states of the Union in the amountof coke manufactured; the Flat Top district is the principal coke-makingregion.

Petroleum ranks second to coal among the state's mineral resources.In 1771 Thomas Jefferson described a “burning spring”in the Kanawha Valley, and when wells were drilled for salt brinenear Charleston petroleum and natural gas were found here beforethere was any drilling for oil in Pennsylvania. Immediately beforethe Civil War, petroleum was discovered in shallow wells nearParkersburg, and there was a great rush of prospectors and speculatorsto the Little Kanawha Valley. But the Civil War interrupteddevelopment. After the war, wells were drilled at Burning Springs,Oil Rock, California House, Volcano, Sandhill and Horseneck, andin the years 1865-1876 3,000,000 bbls. of oil, valued at $20,000,000,were taken out of these districts. A successful well in Marion county,near Mannington, far from the region of the earlier wells, was drilledin 1889, and the output of the state increased from 119,448 bbls.in 1888 to 544,113 in 1889, and to 2,406,218 in 1891; in 1893 itwas first more than 8,000,000 bbls.; and in 1900 it was 16,195,675.After 1900 it gradually decreased—although new pools in Wetzelcounty were found in 1902—and in 1908 it was 9,523,176 bbls.(valued at $16,911,865).

Natural gas, like petroleum, was first heard of in West Virginia inconnexion with a burning spring on the Kanawha, and there weregas springs on the Big Sandy and the Little Kanawha. In 1841natural gas was found with salt brine in a well on the Kanawha, andwas used as a fuel to evaporate the salt water. The production wasnot large until after 1895; it was valued at $1,334,023 in 1898, at$3,954,472 in 1901, at $10,075,804 in 1905, at $16,670,962 in 1907,and at $14,837,130 in 1908, when (as since 1904, when it first wasgreater than that of Indiana) it was second only in value to that ofPennsylvania. The principal field is in Wetzel county, but thereare important supplies in Lewis, Harrison, Marion, Monongahela,

Lincoln and Wayne counties. Much of the natural gas is piped out of the state into Ohio (even into the northern parts), Kentucky, Pennsylvania and Maryland; within the state gas has been utilized as a fuel in carbon black and glass factories.

Brine wells have been mentioned above; the salt industry is still carried on in Mason county, and in 1908 145,157 bbls. were produced with a value of $10,481; and there is a small output of bromine. Iron ore is found in the state in the coal hills (especially Laurel Hills and Beaver Lick Mountain), but the deposits have not been worked on a large scale. Pig iron is manufactured cheaply because of the low price of fuel; in 1907 the value of pig iron manufactured in the state was $6,454,000. There are deposits of excellent clay, especially for pottery, and in 1907 ($2,159,132) and 1908 ($2,083,821) the state ranked after Ohio and New Jersey in the value of pottery. The total value of all clay products in West Virginia was $3,261,736 in 1908. An excellent glass sand is procured from crushed sandstone near Berkeley Springs, Morgan county. Grindstones have been quarried in Wood and Jackson counties. There are black slate deposits near Martinsburg. There are mineral springs, mostly medicinal waters, in Greenbrier, Summers, Webster, Ohio and Preston counties. Among the more noted medicinal springs are: classed as calcareous and earthy, Sweet Springs, 74° F., in Monroe county, diuretic and diaphoretic; and Berkeley Springs, 74° F., in Morgan county, reputed restorative in neuralgic cases, and as containing sulphur; Salt Sulphur Springs, in Monroe county, of value in scrofula and skin diseases.

Manufactures.—Manufacturing is largely localized in the north-western part of the state along the Ohio river. The value of the factory product in 1905 was $99,040,676. The principal manufacture is iron and steel: in 1905 the product of steel works and rolling mills was $13,454,802. The iron mills are almost all in the vicinity of Wheeling. The first rolling mill west of the Alleghanies was probably one near Morgantown. Next in importance among the state's manufactures are lumber and timber, and flour and grist mills. The tanning, currying and finishing of leather, an industry largely dependent on the plentiful supply of oak and hemlock bark for tanning, is centralized in the northern and eastern parts of the state, near the forests. The glass industry began in Wheeling in 1821, and there a process was discovered by which in 1864 for soda ash bicarbonate of lime was substituted, and a lime glass was made which was as fine as lead glass; other factors contributing to the localization of the manufacture of glass here are the fine glass sand obtained in the state and the plentiful supply of natural gas for fuel.

Transportation and Commerce.—Railway development in West Virginia has been due largely to the exploitation of the coal and lumber resources of the state. The Baltimore & Ohio railway leads in trackage: it enters the state with several lines at its northern end; its main line crosses this portion of the state from east to west, striking the Ohio at Parkersburg, and one of its lines (Ohio River railway) extends nearly the length of the state from Wheeling in the north through Parkersburg to Kenova in the south. This road serves as a carrier for the northern coal producing districts. The Chesapeake & Ohio traverses the southern part of the state, from White Sulphur Springs in the east, through Charleston to the Ohio, serving the New and Kanawha rivers coal district as a freight carrier; the Norfolk & Western runs just within the south-western boundary along the valley of the Big Sandy, carrying coal both east and west from the Pocahontas coal-field; and the new Virginian railway entering at the south-east taps the coal-producing region (the Kanawha and Pocahontas districts) at Deepwater, serving in addition to the Norfolk & Western as a carrier of coal to Norfolk on the Virginia coast. The railway mileage of the state grew with great rapidity in the decade 1880-1890; it was 691 m. in 1880, 1,433.30 in 1890, 2,473.34 in 1900 and 3,215.32 in January 1909. Natural facilities for transportation, afforded by the Ohio river and its branches, the Monongahela, at the northern end of the state, and the Little Kanawha and the Great Kanawha, are of special value for the shipment of lumber and coal. The Monongahela has been improved by locks and dams to Fairmont. It is the carrier of a heavy tonnage of coal to Pittsburg, Pennsylvania. The Little Kanawha, which has also been improved, serves chiefly for the transportation of logs which are floated down to the Ohio.

Executive.—The executive department consists of the governor, secretary of state, superintendent of free schools, auditor, treasurer and attorney-general, all elected by the people at the time of the presidential election and serving for four years from the fourth of March following. The governor must have been a citizen for five years preceding this election, must have attained the age of thirty and is ineligible for re-election during the four years succeeding the expiration of his term. In case of the death, resignation or other disability of the governor, the president of the Senate acts as governor, and in case of his incapability the Speaker of the House of Delegates; and these two failing, the legislature on joint ballot elects an acting governor. A new election must be called to fill the vacancy unless the unexpired term is less than one year. The governor appoints, subject to the consent of a majority of the members elected to the Senate, all officers whose appointment or election is not otherwise provided for. In case of a vacancy in the court of appeals or in the circuit court the governor appoints until the next general election, or if the unexpired term is less than two years, until the end of the term. The governor sends a message at the beginning of each session of the legislature, and may convene the houses in extraordinary session when he deems it necessary. He may veto a bill, or in case of an appropriation bill, the separate items, but this veto may be overridden by a simple majority of the total membership of each house. Any bill not returned with objections within five days after presentation becomes a law. An appropriation bill cannot be vetoed after the legislature adjourns.

Legislative.—The legislature, consisting of the Senate and the House of Delegates, meets at the capital on the first Wednesday in January of the odd years. The Senate is composed (1910) of thirty members, chosen from fifteen districts for a term of four years, but one half the membership retires biennially. A senator must be twenty-five years of age, and must have been a citizen of the state for five years and a resident of the district for one year preceding his election The Senate elects a president, confirms or rejects the nominations of the governor, and acts as a court of impeachment for the trial of public officers, besides sharing in legislative functions. The House of Delegates is composed (1910) of eighty-six members, of whom each county chooses at least one. A delegate must be a citizen and have resided one year in the county from which he is chosen. No person holding a lucrative office under the state or the United States, no salaried officer of a railroad company, and no officer of any court of record is eligible for membership in either house. Besides its legislative functions the House prepares articles of impeachment and prosecutes the proceedings before the Senate. The length of the legislative session is forty-five days,

but it may be extended by a vote of two-thirds of the memberselected to each house. No act takes effect until ninety days after itspassage unless two-thirds of the members of each house specificallyorder otherwise.

Judiciary.—The judicial power is vested in the Supreme Courtof Appeals, the Circuit courts, such inferior courts as may beestablished, county courts, the powers and duties of which are,however, chiefly police and fiscal, and in justices of the peace. TheSupreme Court of Appeals, consisting of live judges, elected forterms of twelve years, holds three terms annually, one at Wheeling,one at Charleston and one at Charles Town. It has original jurisdictionin cases ofhabeas corpus,mandamus and prohibition, andappellate jurisdiction in cases involving a greater amount than onehundred dollars; concerning title or boundary of lands, probate ofwills; the appointment or qualification of personal representatives,guardians, curators, committees, &c.; concerning a mill, roadway,ferry or landing; the right of a corporation or county to levy tollsor taxes; in cases ofquo warranto,habeas corpus,mandamus,certiorariand prohibition, and all others involving freedom or the constitutionalityof a law; in criminal cases where there has been aconviction for felony or misdemeanour in a circuit, criminal orintermediate court; and in cases relating to the public revenues.The court designates one of its members as president. Nineteenjudges elected for terms of eight years in eighteen circuits composethe circuit court, the judges of which have original jurisdiction ofmatters involving more than $50; of all cases ofhabeas corpus,mandamus,quo warranto and prohibition; of all cases in equity;and of all crimes and misdemeanours. The judges have appellatejurisdiction of cases civil and criminal coming up from the lowercourts. In order to relieve the circuit judges the legislature hasestablished by special acts inferior courts, generally with criminaljurisdiction only, in nine counties of the state. The judicial powersof the county court are confined to probate, the appointment ofexecutors, administrators and other personal representatives, andthe settlement of their accounts, matters relating to apprentices andto contested elections for county and district officers. (See belowunderLocal Government.) One or two justices of the peace (dependingon population) are elected from each magisterial district;there must be not less than three, nor more than ten, districts in eachcounty.

Local Government.—As in Virginia, the county is the unit of government,though an unsuccessful attempt to introduce the township systemwas made in the first constitution. The county court, consistingof three commissioners elected for six years but with terms so arrangedthat one retires every two years, is the police and fiscal authority.Other officers are the clerk of the county court, elected for six years,the sheriff, who also acts as tax-collector and treasurer, the prosecutingattorney, one or two assessors, the surveyor of lands and the superintendentof free schools, all elected for the term of four years; thesheriff may not serve two consecutive full terms. In addition thereare boards appointed or elected by various authorities and chargedwith specific duties. They include the local board of health and theboard of jury commissioners. Each of the magisterial districts (ofwhich, as has been said, there must be at least three and not morethan ten in each county) elects one or two magistrates and constables,and a board of education of three members. The constitutionprovides that the legislature, on the request of any county, mayestablish a special form of county government, and several of thelarger and more populous counties have special acts.

Miscellaneous Laws.—A woman's right to hold, manage and acquireproperty is not affected by marriage, except that unless she livesapart from her husband, she may not mortgage or convey real estatewithout his consent. A woman becomes of age at twenty-one.Rights of dower and courtesy both exist. When a husband diesintestate leaving a widow and issue, the widow is entitled to the lifeuse of one-third of the real estate and to one-third of the personalestate absolutely. If there is no issue she takes the whole of thepersonal estate, while the real estate, subject to her dower, goes firstto her husband's father and then to his mother, brothers and sisters.If the wife dies intestate the husband has a right to the use of herreal estate for life, and to one-third of the personal estate if there isissue; otherwise to the whole. Neither can by will deprive the otherof the right of dower or courtesy in the real estate and of the right toone-third of the personal estate. Children may be disinherited withor without cause. Any parent or infant children of deceased parentsmay set apart personal estate not exceeding $200 in value which shallbe exempt from execution. A homestead not exceeding $1000in value may be set apart, provided that it is recorded before thedebt against which it was claimed was contracted. Marriagesbetween whites and negroes, or where either party had a wife orhusband living, or within the prohibited degrees of consanguinity,or where either was insane or physically incapable of marriage, orwhere the male was under eighteen or the female under sixteenmay be annulled. No female or male under twelve may be employedin mines, and no child under twelve may be employed in a factory,and when school is in session none under fourteen.

Charities, &c.—The state charitable and penal institutions consistof the West Virginia Hospital for the Insane at Weston, the SecondHospital for the Insane at Spencer, three miners' hospitals—one atWelch, one at McKendree and one at Fairmont; the West VirginiaAsylum for Incurables at Huntington, Schools for the Deaf andBlind at Romney, the West Virginia Penitentiary at Moundsville,the West Virginia Reform School at Grafton and the West VirginiaIndustrial Home for Girls near Salem. These are all underthe supervision of a state board of control of three members,appointed by the governor, which was created in 1909, and also hascontrol of the finances of the state educational system. There is alsoa state humane society, which was organized in 1899 for the protectionof children and of the helpless aged, and for the prevention ofcruelty to animals. The West Virginia Colored Orphans' Home nearHuntington is not under state control, but has received appropriationsfrom the legislature. In 1908 a law was enacted for establishingthe West Virginia Children's Home to be under the control of theHumane Society.

Education.—Each magisterial district constitutes a school districtand there are also a few independent school districts. For eachschool district there is a board of education consisting of a presidentand two commissioners, each elected for a term of four years, onecommissioner every two years. This board is authorized to establishand alter sub-districts. A law enacted in 1908 requires that childrenbetween eight and fifteen years of age shall attend school twenty-fourweeks each year, provided the public school in their district is in sessionthat length of time. The county supervision of public schools is vestedin a county superintendent, who is elected for a term of four years.The state supervision is vested in a state superintendent, who is electedfor a term of four years. A state board of education, consisting ofthe state superintendent and five other persons appointed by him,constitutes a state board of examiners (for special primary, highschool and professional certificates) and prescribes the course ofstudy. There is also a state school book commission, consisting ofthe state superintendent and eight other members appointed by thegovernor. The state maintains six normal schools for whites (atHuntington, Fairmont, West Liberty, Glenville, Shepherdstown,Athens) and two for negroes (at Institute and at Bluefield). Theyare governed by a board of regents consisting of the state superintendentand six other members appointed by the governor. Atthe head of the educational system is the West Virginia University(1867) atMorgantown (q.v.). The principal institutions of higherlearning not under state control are Bethany College (Christian,1841), at Bethany; Morris Harvey College (Methodist Episcopal,Southern, 1888), at Barboursville; West Virginia Wesleyan College(Methodist Episcopal, 1890), at Buckhannon; and Davis and ElkinsCollege (Presbyterian, 1904), at Elkins.

Finance.—The state revenue is derived mainly from a general propertytax, licence taxes levied on various businesses and occupations,a collateral inheritance tax and a capitation tax. For the year endingon the 30th of September 1908 the receipts were $3,382,131.66and the disbursements $3,482,317.03. West Virginia's share of theVirginia debt which existed when West Virginia was set off fromVirginia has not yet been determined (see below, §History), butother than this the state has no debt, and the contraction of astate debt other than “to meet casual deficits in the revenue, toredeem a previous liability of the state, to suppress insurrection,repel invasion or defend the state in time of war” is forbiddenby the constitution. The indebtedness of a county, municipalityor school district is limited to 5% of the value of its taxableproperty.

Bibliography.—For general description see Henry Gannett,Gazetteer of West Virginia (Washington, 1904), being Bulletin 233of the U.S. Geological Survey; theReports, and theBulletinsof the Geological Survey of West Virginia (Morgantown, 1901 sqq.).Bulletin 1 is aBibliography of Works upon the Geology and NaturalResources of West Virginia, by S. S. Brown; folios 26, 28, 32,34, 44, 69, 72, 77 and 160 of theGeologic Atlas of the United States;M. F. Maury and W. M. Fontaine,Resources of West Virginia(Charleston, 1876); and George W. Summers,The Mountain State(ibid. 1893). For administration and history see theManual ofWest Virginia (Charleston, 1907), issued by the Secretary of State;West Virginia Public Documents (ibid. 1902 sqq.);The Code ofWest Virginia (St Paul, 1906); A. R. Whitehill,History of Educationin West Virginia (Washington, 1902), a Circular of Information ofthe U.S. Bureau of Education; aHistory of Education in WestVirginia (Charleston, 1904), by the State Superintendent of FreeSchools; V. A. Lewis,History of West Virginia (new ed., New York,1904), andHistory and Government of West Virginia (Chicago, 1896);R. E. Fast and Hu Maxwell,History and Government of West Virginia(Morgantown, 1901; new edition, 1908); A. S. Withers,Chroniclesof Border Warfare (1831, reprinted Cincinnati, 1905); J. P. Hale,Trans-Alleghany Pioneers (Cincinnati, 1887); W. P. Willey,Formationof West Virginia (Wheeling, 1901); and M. F. Callahan,Evolutionof the Constitution of West Virginia (Morgantown, 1909).

1. ↑Title contested by Nathan Goff. Contest settled by legislatureFeb. 4, 1890, until which time Governor Wilson held over.