About West Virginia
Official West Virginia Website
West Virginia’s Online Encyclopedia
“We are tough, independent, inventive and honest, our character shaped by the wilderness of our state – its rushing streams, its boundless blue skies, its divine forests, and its majestic mountains.”
–Senator Joe Manchin
West Virginia Facts and Symbols
State Seal:
State Flag:
Abbreviation: WV
Nickname: The Mountain State
Admitted to the Union: West Virginia was admitted to the Union on June 20, 1863 as the 35th state. West Virginia was the only state to secede from a Confederate state (Virginia) during the American Civil War.
Capital: Charleston
Motto: Montani Semper Liberi (Mountaineers Are Always Free)
Highest Point: Spruce Knob in Pendleton County (4,863 feet)
Lowest Point: Potomac River in Jefferson County (240 feet)
State Colors: Old Gold and Blue
State Animal: Black Bear
State Bird: Northern Cardinal
State Flower: Great Rhododendron
State Tree: Sugar Maple
State Fish: The Brook Trout
State Insect: The Honey Bee
State Butterfly: Monarch
State Fruit: Golden Delicious Apple
State Soil: Monongahela Silt Loam
State Gem: Lithostrotionella
State Songs:
West Virginia, My Home Sweet Home by Julian G. Hearne, Jr. Adopted 1947
The West Virginia Hills, words and music by Ellen King and H. E. Engle. Adopted 1961
This is My West Virginia, by Iris Bell. Adopted February 28, 1963
WV Tourism:
• 2014 Official State Travel Guide
• Department of Tourism
• State Parks and Forests
Federal Officials
• U.S. Senate:
1. Joseph Manchin, III
2. John D. Rockefeller, IV
• U.S. House of Representatives:
1. 1st District David B. McKinley
2. 2nd District Shelley Moore Capito
3. 3rd District Nick J. Rahall, II
State Government
• West Virginia Legislature
• West Virginia Judiciary
• West Virginia State Constitution