Emile Hodel became editor of the Beckley Post-Herald
Michael Benedum built the Bridgeport Civic Center
Reorganization transferred state mental health and penal institutions to Department of Mental Health and the Commissioner of Public Institutions
Weirton Steel purchased Browns Island for $40,000
S. Maude Kaemmerling willed 3,135 acres of land in Canaan Valley to West Virginia for recreational use
FMC developed new source of brine at Bens Run
City National Bank opened its doors under President Donald Shonk
Bishop mine explodes again
Jim Comstock founded the weekly West Virginia Hillbilly
Deer restocking program ended
Roy Bird Cook received the Award of Merit from the West Virginia Library Association
Little Jimmy Dickens left the Grand Ole Opry
Irvin Dugan retired as newspaper artist
Donald Duncan's sons took over the Duncan Yo-Yo Company
Fairfax Stone dedicated as state historic monument and became state park
Gunner Gatski played football one year for Detroit
The Knights of the South Branch was organized to revive medieval jousting
Roy Lee Harmon wrote Unto the Hills
Ken Hechler moved to West Virginia to teach at Marshall College (now University)
The first interstate highway construction contract in the state was awarded on I-64 for a bridge across a road in Cabell County
Jean Lee Latham was awarded the Boys' Clubs of America Junior Book Award for Trail Blazer of the Seas
The McClains were approached by WVU professors who feared that early West Virginia histories would be lost if not reprinted
Kyle McCormick wrote The Story of Mercer County
John Norman served on the aircraft carrier Saratoga
A group from West Virginia and Ohio purchased land to establish a college with an independent board of trustees, now Ohio Valley University
Marbon Chemical is built
The announcement of plans to merge the Pennsylvania Railroad and the New York Central System was made
Filippo Colasessano's son began selling pepperoni rolls in his Fairmont lunch spot
The Division of Disease Control began a statewide polio vaccination program
The Kanawha River bridge was opened in Winfield
Red Ribble stopped photographing southern West Virginia
Otis Rice began teaching at West Virginia Institute of Technology
The Wm. M. Ritter Lumber Company company stores were sold
The Wm. M. Ritter Lumber Company coal reserves were leased to the Island Creek Coal Company
Jay Rockefeller went to the International Christian University in Tokyo
Shenandoah Downs purchased land north of Charles Town Race Track for night harness racing
WVU Rod Hundley became All-American in basketball
Jim Sprouse began practicing law
Beckley radio station WAJR increased to 5,000 watts
Ernest T. Weir died
The last high school basketball was played under the African-American West Virginia Athletic Union
Benjamin Starks founded the Beacon Journal in Charleston
The Federation of Labor and Industrial Union Council agreed to combine as the West Virginia Labor Federation, AFL-CIO
West Virginia State College lost its federal land-grant status
Stanley H. Martin became president of West Virginia Wesleyan College
The Whipple mine shut down and the company store closed
The Winfield bridge was completed
WSAZ radio switched affiliation to NBC
