Henry Ford, Thomas Edison and Harvey Firestone were joined by other innovators of their day to explore America in what was their idea of roughing it as campers. They came to West Virginia twice and documented their love for its beauty while being hailed by locals as they swept through Mountain State communities with their own personal flair. 

Most politicians come and go without leaving an impression, while some either rise to great fame or fall to great infamy. Governor William C. Marland managed to achieve both in his four-year term from 1953 to 1957. He proposed a severance tax on coal while the industry was at its height in West Virginia’s economy, which would set in motion a rebellion that changed the course of his career.

It is no surprise that a state as beautiful as West Virginia is celebrated in four different state songs with lyrics that sing about the mountainous beauty, warm friendships and sense of community that abound. Each song has a different story about how it became official, taking country roads through the West Virginia hills to arrive at a place that is home.

Of the 29 state turnpikes in the nation, West Virginia’s was the 8th to be completed when it opened in 1954.  It had a honeymoon period before the Interstate system change everything, and Turnpike became inadequate and dangerous for drivers used to four-lane modern highways. But the wheels of change came to the Turnpike and today it completes the dream of connections to the Great Lakes and Florida.

At the turn of the 20th century, there were few paved roads in America, but the proliferation of the automobile demanded a highway system. Over the next forty years, roads were developed that connected cities and states through commercially named roads while the Pennsylvania Turnpike set in motion the desire for that new concept of a “superhighway.”

The iron industry had already been a force in the Northern Panhandle when the Bessemer process brought steel into the fore.  There were steel mills in various towns around the state like Clarksburg, Huntington and Morgantown, but Wheeling and Weirton set the pace not only in the state but in steel production on the world stage. 

Anne Newport started life with all the disadvantages—poverty, loss of father, and no education. When she met the Revolutionary War’s Major William Royal, he provided her the means to gain knowledge.  After he left her a widow, she used her newfound abilities to become a force to be reckoned with, setting the standard for all working American women before even the Suffragette movement. 

Among West Virginia’s many industry, the manufacture of glass marbles is perhaps the most overlooked. Nonetheless, the Mountain State has been the center of marble making in North America for the past century. Unfortunately, marble makers have fallen on hard times and only one can remain to be king. 

Among West Virginia’s many industry, the manufacture of glass marbles is perhaps the most overlooked. Nonetheless, the Mountain State has been the center of marble making in North America for the past century. Unfortunately, marble makers have fallen on hard times and only one can remain to be king. 

The dream of the colony of Vandalia was ended by the beginning of the Revolutionary War, but the dream of separating West Virginia from Virginia remained alive with the proposed state of Westsylvania, which would also have taken land from Pennsylvania and Maryland. Meanwhile, the official boundaries between the three existing states were in a state of disarray.