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History / Prehistory

The history and prehistory of West Virginia reveal a fascinating journey from ancient Native American cultures to its role in America’s story. Prehistoric sites, such as the Grave Creek Mound, showcase the region’s mound-building cultures that left behind impressive burial mounds and earthworks. Later, European settlers ventured into the rugged Appalachian Mountains, forging frontier communities and thriving amidst challenging terrain. During the American Civil War, West Virginia famously seceded from Virginia to remain loyal to the Union, becoming the 35th state in 1863. Coal mining played a vital role in shaping West Virginia’s economy and identity, fueling America’s industrial growth and leaving a lasting legacy in the state’s communities and culture. Today, visitors can explore historic towns, Civil War battlefields, and preserved pioneer homesteads that tell the rich, enduring story of West Virginia’s resilient spirit and deep mountain roots.

An illustration contrasts two American frontiers—the forested mountains of early West Virginia and the open prairie later immortalized by Laura Ingalls Wilder—revealing how pioneer life unfolded across very different landscapes and generations.
History / Prehistory

Loved Little House on the Prairie? Discover West Virginia’s earlier frontier

by Clyde Craig

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Netflix’s new adaptation of Little House on the Prairie is introducing a new generation to the hardships and hope of life on the American frontier. Viewers are following the Ingalls family as they struggle to build a home on the Kansas prairie, where survival depends on hard work, perseverance, and family strength. For West Virginians—and … Read more

George Washington meets Seneca leader Guyasuta beside the Ohio River during his 1770 expedition into the western frontier. Washington later wrote that Native ceremonial customs delayed his departure as the two men discussed the country beyond the Ohio, a meeting that reflected the diplomacy shaping the future American frontier.
History / Prehistory

Before he was president, George Washington explored the Ohio Valley of today’s W.Va.

by David Sibray

RAVENSWOOD, W.Va. — Six years before the Declaration of Independence and nearly two decades before he became the first president of the United States, George Washington embarked on one of the most remarkable journeys of his life. The 38-year-old Virginian rode horseback across the Allegheny Mountains, climbed into a canoe at Fort Pitt, and spent … Read more

Alone in the vast Appalachian wilderness, Jenny Wiley follows a rocky mountain stream toward freedom in this imagined late nineteenth-century-style wood engraving inspired by her legendary escape.
History / Prehistory

Before West Virginia, there was wilderness: Why Appalachia still remembers Jenny Wiley

by David Sibray

BIG SANDY VALLEY, W.Va. — Long before West Virginia became a state, before railroads climbed its mountains or highways threaded its valleys, the Appalachian wilderness began where civilization ended. To Americans living in Philadelphia or the young nation’s capital on the Potomac, the mountains beyond the Blue Ridge marked the edge of the known world. … Read more

Wounded Confederate Capt. DeLaguel receives water and shelter from the White family after reportedly crawling for three days through the Allegheny wilderness following the Battle of Rich Mountain in July 1861. The scene is based on a long-preserved Randolph County tradition. (WVExplorer illustration)
History / Prehistory

The wounded captain who crawled off Rich Mountain

by David Sibray

BEVERLY, W.Va. — Every battlefield has its stories. Some are preserved in military reports and official records, while others endure because generations of local families refused to let them be forgotten. Among the most enduring tales from the Battle of Rich Mountain is that of Confederate Capt. DeLaguel, who, according to Randolph County tradition, spent … Read more

Before air conditioning became widespread, families across West Virginia escaped oppressive summer heat by gathering at cool mountain streams, a tradition that reached its peak during the record-breaking heat waves of the early 1900s and Dust Bowl era.
History / Prehistory

How hot can West Virginia get? A look at the Mountain State’s worst heat waves

by Bianca Bosworth

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — As another round of dangerous summer heat settles across much of the eastern United States, many West Virginians will find relief in the Mountain State’s mountains, forests, and cool streams. Yet history shows that the state has endured some of the nation’s most remarkable heat waves, including two days when temperatures soared … Read more

Visitors gather around the historic bandstand in Berkeley Springs State Park, where many first-time travelers discover that the town's official name is actually Bath, a distinction that has endured since 1776. (WVExplorer photo)
History / Prehistory

Why visitors to Berkeley Springs in eastern West Virginia keep asking, “Where’s Bath?”

by David Sibray

BERKELEY SPRINGS, W.Va. — It happens often enough that locals know where the conversation is headed. A visitor walks into a shop or hotel and asks a front-desk clerk a seemingly simple question: “So, where is Bath?” The answer usually surprises them: “You’re in Bath.” Although the Morgan County community is widely known as Berkeley … Read more