History of West Virginia West Virginia continued well into the 20th century. In 1991, both state legislatures appropriated money for a boundary commission to look into of the border area. In recent years, there has been serious talk about the possibility of certain counties in the Eastern Panhandle rejoining the Commonwealth of Virginia. Frustrated by bad economic conditions and what they perceive to be neglect from the Charleston government, this movement has gained at least some momentum. In 2011, West Virginia state delegate Larry Kump sponsored legislation to allow Morgan, Berkeley, and Jefferson counties to rejoin Virginia by popular vote. The new state benefited
Virginia State Route 144 and north as a continuation of Chester Road through an interchange with the SR 288 freeway. What would become SR 144 was first commissioned in 1930 as SR 425. It was significantly shorter than today's route, only running from State Route 407 in Chester to State Route 410 in Centralia. The route was given its current designation during the 1933 Virginia state highway renumbering. In 1943, it was extended west along SR 407 for a short length, then south to US 1 and US 301 using the routing of what was at the time State Route 621, a secondary road;