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to Kerens just past Elkins, Republican Democratic Third party

and another section from Year
No. % No. % No. %
Wardensville to Davis are
complete. Other projects 1892 80,292 46.93% 84,467 49.37% 6,320 3.69%
under development are a
1888 78,171 49.03% 78,677 49.35% 2,592 1.63%
four-lane upgrade of US 35
from Scott Depot to the Ohio 1884 63,096 47.75% 67,311 50.94% 1,738 1.32%
River at Point Pleasant, 1880 46,243 41.05% 57,390 50.95% 9,008 8.00%
which is about two-thirds
complete; a four-lane 1876 41,997 42.15% 56,546 56.75% 1,104 1.11%
upgrade of WV 10 from 1872 32,320 51.74% 29,532 47.28% 615 0.98%
Logan to Man and then of
1868 29,015 58.83% 20,306 41.17% 0 0.00%
WV 80 from Man to Gilbert,
which is about half 1864 23,799 68.24% 11,078 31.76% 0 0.00%

completed; and four-lane

upgrades to US 52 from
Bluefield to Williamson,
known as the "King Coal
Highway" and from
Williamson to Huntington,
known as the "Tolsia
Highway" which are many
The iconic New River Gorge Bridge
A toll plaza on the West Virginia
years from completion. A
near Fayetteville
Turnpike project known as the
"Coalfields Expressway" is
also ongoing, and will carry
US 121 from Beckley west across Raleigh, Wyoming, and
McDowell counties, entering Virginia near Bishop.

Rail lines in the state used to be more prevalent, but many lines
have been discontinued because of increased automobile traffic.
Many old tracks have been converted to rail trails for recreational
use, although the coal-producing areas still have railroads
running at near capacity. Amtrak's Cardinal roughly parallels I- The Veterans Memorial Bridge
64's path through the state. MARC trains serve commuters to carries US 22 from Weirton WV into
Washington, D.C. in the eastern panhandle. In 2006 Norfolk Ohio.
Southern along with the West Virginia and U.S. Government
approved a plan to modify many of the rail tunnels in West
Virginia, especially in the southern half of the state, to allow for double-stacked cars (see inter-modal
freight). This is expected to also help bring economic growth to the southern half of the state. An
Intermodal Freight Facility is located at Prichard, just south of Huntington.

Because of the mountainous nature of the entire state, West Virginia has several notable tunnels and
bridges. The most famous of these is the New River Gorge Bridge, which was at a time the longest
steel single-arch bridge in the world with a 3,031-foot (924 m) span. The bridge is also pictured on
the West Virginia State quarter. The Fort Steuben Bridge (Weirton-Steubenville Bridge) was at the
time of its construction one of only three cable-stayed steel girder trusses in the United States. "The
Veterans Memorial Bridge was designed to handle traffic from the Fort Steuben Bridge as well as its
own traffic load", to quote the Weirton Daily Times newspaper.[190] The 80-year-old Fort Steuben
Bridge (Weirton-Steubenville Bridge) was permanently closed on January 8, 2009. The Wheeling
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Suspension Bridge was the first bridge built across the Ohio River in 1849 and for a time was the
longest suspension bridge in the world. It is still the oldest vehicular suspension bridge in the United
States still in use.

Education
West Virginia is one of the lowest-scoring U.S. states for education. According to The National
Assessment of Educational Progress, it is significantly below the national average in mathematics,
reading, writing, and science. The surrounding states of Virginia, Maryland, Kentucky, Ohio, and
Pennsylvania score higher than or equal to the national average.[191]

Colleges and universities

Alderson Broaddus University
American Public University System
Appalachian Bible College
Bethany College
Bluefield State University
Blue Ridge Community and Technical
College
BridgeValley Community and Technical
College
Concord University
Davis and Elkins College
Eastern West Virginia Community and
Technical College
Fairmont State University
Future Generations Graduate School
Glenville State University
Marshall University
Mountwest Community and Technical
College
New River Community and Technical College
Pierpont Community and Technical College
Potomac State College of West Virginia
University
Salem International University
Shepherd University
Southern West Virginia Community and
Technical College
University of Charleston
West Liberty University
West Virginia Northern Community College
West Virginia School of Osteopathic Medicine
West Virginia State University
West Virginia University
West Virginia University at Parkersburg
West Virginia University Institute of
Technology
West Virginia Wesleyan College
Wheeling University

Culture

Sports
West Virginia is home to college sports teams from two schools—West Virginia and Marshall—that
play in NCAA Division I. West Virginia is also home to several professional minor league baseball,
football, hockey, and other sports teams.

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Club Sport League

West Virginia Mountaineers Football / Basketball Big 12 Conference

Marshall Thundering Herd Football / Basketball Sun Belt Conference

Bluefield Ridge Runners Baseball Appalachian League

Charleston Dirty Birds Baseball Atlantic League of Professional Baseball

Tri-State Coal Cats Baseball Appalachian League

West Virginia Miners Baseball Prospect League

West Virginia Black Bears Baseball MLB Draft League

Wheeling Nailers Ice hockey ECHL

West Virginia Lightning[192] Football Elite Mid-Continental Football League[193]

West Virginia United Soccer USL League Two

West Virginia Bruisers Football Women's Football Alliance

Music

Appalachian music
West Virginia's folk heritage is a part of the Appalachian folk music tradition, and includes styles of
fiddling, ballad singing, and other styles that draw on Scots-Irish music. Camp Washington-Carver, a
Mountain Cultural Arts Center located at Clifftop in Fayette County, hosts an annual Appalachian
String Band Festival.[194] The Capitol Complex in Charleston hosts The Vandalia Gathering, where
traditional Appalachian musicians compete in contests and play in impromptu jam sessions and
evening concerts over the weekend.[195] The Augusta Heritage Center sponsored by Davis & Elkins
College in Elkins in Randolph County produces the annual Augusta Heritage Festival, which includes
intensive week-long workshops in the summer that help preserve Appalachian heritage and
traditions.[196]

Classical music
The West Virginia Symphony Orchestra was founded in 1939, as the Charleston Civic Orchestra,
before becoming the Charleston Symphony Orchestra in 1943. The first conductor was William R.
Wiant, followed by the conductor Antonio Modarelli, who was written about in the November 7, 1949
Time Magazine for his composition of the River Saga, a six-section program piece about the
Kanawha River according to the Charleston Gazette 's November 6, 1999, photo essay, "Snapshots of
the 20th Century".[197] Before coming to Charleston, Modarelli had conducted the Wheeling
Symphony Orchestra and the Philadelphia Orchestra, according to the orchestra's website.[198]

The Pulitzer Prize-winning 20th-century composer George Crumb was born in Charleston and
earned his bachelor's degree there before moving outside the state. There had also been a series of
operatic-style concerts performed in Wheeling during mid-century as well.

Musical innovation
The West Virginia Cultural Center in Charleston[199] is home to the West Virginia Department of
Arts, Culture and History,[200] which helps underwrite and coordinate a large number of musical
activities. The center is also home to Mountain Stage, an internationally broadcast live-performance

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music radio program established in 1983 which is carried by many affiliates of National Public
Radio.[201] The program also travels to other venues in the state such as the West Virginia University
Creative Arts Center in Morgantown.[202]

The center hosts concerts sponsored by the Friends of Old Time Music and Dance, which brings an
assortment of acoustic roots music to West Virginians.[203] The center also hosts the West Virginia
Dance Festival, which features classical and modern dance.[204]

Huntington's historic Keith-Albee Theatre, built by brothers A.B. and S.J. Hyman, was originally
opened to the public on May 7, 1928, and hosts a variety of performing arts and music attractions.
The theatre was eventually gifted to Marshall University and is currently going through renovation to
restore it to its original splendor.

Every summer Elkins hosts the Augusta Heritage Festival, which brings folk musicians from around
the world.[205] The town of Glenville has long been home to the annual West Virginia State Folk
Festival.[206]

The Mountaineer Opera House in Milton hosts a variety of musical acts.

John Denver's hit song "Take Me Home, Country Roads" describes the experience of driving through
West Virginia. The song mentions the Shenandoah River and the Blue Ridge Mountains, both
features traversing the easternmost extremity of the state's "eastern panhandle", in Jefferson County.
On March 8, 2014, West Virginia Governor Earl Ray Tomblin signed House Concurrent Resolution
40 naming "Take Me Home, Country Roads" the fourth official state song of West Virginia.

Symphony Sunday is an annual event hosted by the West Virginia Symphony Orchestra held in June.
It is a day full day of music by community groups, food, and family fun, culminating in a free
performance by the West Virginia Symphony Orchestra with a fireworks display following. The event
began in 1982 and is held on the front lawn of the University of Charleston.

The Daily Mail Kanawha County Majorette and Band Festival is West Virginia's longest-running
music festival. It is for the eight public high schools in Kanawha County. The festival began in 1947.
It is held at the University of Charleston Stadium at Laidley Field in downtown Charleston.

See also
United States
portal

Index of West Virginia-related articles

List of West Virginia archives
List of West Virginia counties by socioeconomic factors
Outline of West Virginia
West Virginia portal

Explanatory notes
1. Elevation adjusted to North American Vertical Datum of 1988.
2. The Census Bureau and the Association of American Geographers classify West Virginia as part
of the Southern United States while the Bureau of Labor Statistics classifies the state as a part of
the Mid-Atlantic region "Mid-Atlantic Home : Mid-Atlantic Information Office: U.S. Bureau of Labor
Statistics" (https://www.bls.gov/regions/mid-atlantic/). www.bls.gov. Archived.

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3. The United States Constitution provides that no state may be divided without its consent.
4. Persons of Hispanic or Latino origin are not distinguished between total and partial ancestry.

References
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United States Department of Commerce. Retrieved October 24, 2011.
2. "Elevations and Distances in the United States" (https://web.archive.org/web/20111015012701/ht
tp://egsc.usgs.gov/isb/pubs/booklets/elvadist/elvadist.html). United States Geological Survey.
2001. Archived from the original (https://egsc.usgs.gov/isb/pubs/booklets/elvadist/elvadist.html)
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apportionment-2020-table01.pdf) (PDF). Census.gov. April 26, 2021. Retrieved April 26, 2021.
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s_and_politics/politics/2014/10/republicans_are_turning_west_virginia_red_how_the_democrats
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w_the_democrats_lost_control.html) from the original on July 21, 2017. "But by 2000, tectonic
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