West Virginia State Capitol in Richmond, Virginia. After Virginia seceded from the Union in 1861, the northwestern counties of Virginia loyal to the United States started the process which would ultimately create the State of West Virginia on June 20, 1863. Settling on a state capital location proved to be difficult. For several years, the capital of West Virginia shifted back and forth between Wheeling and Charleston. Other locations, including Martinsburg and Clarksburg were offered as alternatives. The state's citizens voted on the final location of their capital, Charleston, on August 7, 1877. From the state's inception in 1863, the legislature met in the
Waterways of West Virginia Waterways of West Virginia Waterways in West Virginia find their highest sources in the highland watersheds of the Allegheny Mountains. These watersheds supply drainage to the creeks often passing through deep and narrow hollows. From the hollows, rushing highland streams collect in bottom land brooks and rivers. People have lived along and boated on the waterways of what is now the Mountain State from the time of antiquity. On July 13, 1709, Louis Michel, George Ritter, and Baron Christoph de Graffenried petitioned the King of England for a land grant in the Harpers Ferry and Shepherdstown area in what is