United Bank

The Bank of the Valley in Virginia chartered in Winchester

Theodore Burr patented his system for covered bridges

The town Beauchamp's Mills was renamed for Elizabeth Woodland Beauchamp

Sistersville Ferry began operation from Sistersville to Fly, Ohio

Aaron Stockton bought the Glen Ferris Inn

Abner Vance fled a Russell County murder charge and took refuge in Tug Valley

John George Jackson became the president and chief stockholder of the Monongahela Navigation Company

Coal began being mined to fuel the salt works

Daniel Haymond settled at the head of the North Fork of the Hughes River

The Turnpike Act passed providing for financing and organization of canal and turnpike companies

The Staunton Turnpike was chartered by the General Assembly to end at Sistersville

The Monongahela Navigation Company began efforts to construct a slack water navigation system

Weston was founded

Virginia legislature repealed laws consenting to the admission of Berkeley and Jefferson counties to West Virginia

Storer College in Harpers Ferry, begun by the Freewill Baptist Church, to educate black teachers

Ratification of 13th Amendment by West Virginia

John Appleton moved to Kanawha County

13 Banks had become national banks

The Baptist General Association of West Virginia (West Virginia Baptist Convention) formed

Rosser's Raid occurred on Beverly

Belle Boyd wrote Belle Boyd in Camp and Prison in London

Waitman T. Willey senate term as first West Virginia senator ended

Provision included in Constitution of 1851 calling for the General Assembly to reapportion representation in both houses

John Dickinson came to Kanawha County

Anne Dudley arrived in West Virginia to teach freed blacks

Fairmont State University was formed as West Virginia's first private normal school

Aretas Fleming married Carrie M. Watson

Joseph Diss Debar appointed an agent in southern Germany

Nathan Goff married Laura E. Despard

Grafton National Cemetery was established for Civil War dead

The Easton Roller Mill replaced overshot water wheel

Reckart's Mill was built in Preston county

Visitor stated about Harpers Ferry, "all about the town are rubbish, filth, and stench."

Chester Hubbard began serving in the U.S. House of Representatives

John Jacob returned to Romney

George Latham served as congressman for the Second District of West Virginia

Joseph Lightburn returned to duty after being wounded in Sherman's advance on Atlanta

The Logan Wildcats were active in the Shenandoah Valley campaign

The city of Boone Court House changed its name to Madison

Booker T. Washington arrived in Malden with his family to work in the salt industry and local coal mines

Two additional dams were built on the Monongahela River

The army recruiting and training center at Camp Carlisle ceased

The Campbell's Creek Coal Company began shipping coal down the Kanawha River from Port Amherst

Samuel Price was appointed circuit judge in Lewisburg but declined to take office

A narrow-gauge railroad was built to Ritchie Mines

Ritchie Mines was bought

Union authorities moved Jefferson County seat from Charles Town to Shepherdstown

The Wheeling interurban system began operation

Jim Vance was suspected in the murder of Harmon McCoy

The formal organizing of Webster County took place

The state superintendent called a state convention of teachers to meet in Fairmont, founding the West Virginia Education Association

Pare Lorentz was contracted by the U.S. Resettlement Administration to create a motion picture about the New Deal

James Allen took over as president of Marshall College (now University)

Walter Martens designed the Cavalier and Belvedere Apartments in Charleston

Walter L. "Bill" Hart became editor of the Dominion-News

The National Historic Landmarks program was authorized

The Social Security law was passed

Nylon was invented in DuPont laboratory in Delaware

The Wheeling Daily News merged with Wheeling Register to form the Wheeling News-Register

Potomac State College was placed under the management of the Board of Governors of West Virginia University

The law was amended to give the PSC more control over utility expansion, construction, and self-dealing

The Elkins-Randolph County Airport was completed

Nat Reese's family moved to Princeton

The showboat Omar was originally launched by the Ohio River Company of Cincinnati

Benjamin Rosenbloom began serving as Wheeling's vice mayor

The property of the Charleston Interurban Railroad was bought by Charleston Transit Company

The Buckhannon tannery burned down

The U.S. Rivers and Harbors Act was passed

Construction on the Tygart Dam began

Arthur B. Waugh won the Pulitzer Prize in journalism

Vienna was incorporated as a city

Libbey-Owens-Ford bought the Vitrolite Company

Camp Will Rogers was opened by the Civilian Conservation Corps

Pennsylvania Central Airlines began service at Wertz Airport

Paul N. Elbin became president of West Liberty State College

Innis C. Davis became state historian and archivist

Supporters of industrial unionism organized the Committee for Industrial Organization

WHIS increased to 500 watts

WMMN increased to 1,000 watts and became an important outlet for country and western music performers

Portuguese neurologist Egas Moniz pioneered the leucotomy, a radical form of brain surgery

The Pocahontas Times became one of the first papers in West Virginia to switch completely to the use of computers

Pruntytown Correctional Center reopened

Mary Lou Retton was inducted to the U.S. Olympic Committee Hall of Fame

Otis Rice became a member of the editorial board of Filson Club Quarterly

Rock Lake Pool was closed by its owner

Cynthia Rylant wrote The Relatives Came

Revival of the Sagebrush Roundup radio show was first held

The Old Salt Sulphur Springs resort was added to the National Register of Historic Places

Wheeling-Pittsburgh Steel filed for bankruptcy

Blakers Mill was moved to Jackson's Mill

Frederick A Reichle purchased property at Timberline

Robert Phalen became president of UMWA District 17

WAJR launched the Metronews Radio Network

Melvin Lentz became wood chopping champion

The Pence Springs prison closed and all inmates were transferred to the Alderson Federal Prison for women

Meredith Sue Willis wrote Only Great Changes

Ellie Schaul was was awarded the 1985 West Virginia Juried Exhibition Governor’s Award

Kathy Mattea's song "Walk the Way the Wind Blows" became her first major hit

McCoy's Mill was listed on the National Register of Historic Places

Congressman Alan Mollohan was appointed to the House Appropriations Committee

Mount St. George was added to the National Register of Historic Places

Regular national broadcasts of Mountain Stage began on National Public Radio

Zebra mussels were introduced from Europe to the Great Lakes by commercial barge traffic

Henry Payne was runner up for the Pulitzer Prize.

The Peter Tarr furnace was partially restored.

A new division was created within the PSC to provide assistance to public water and wastewater providers.

Otis Rice became vice chairman of the Kanawha County Bicentennial Commission

The Smoot Theater stopped serving as a movie theater

The State Supreme Court ruled on Cook v. Heck's regarding the firing of workers

The Education Foundation changed its name to West Virginia Historical Education Foundation

Pence Springs Resort property was purchased and renovated as a hotel

Thomas W. Cole left as president of West Virginia State College (now University)

Roomier pens making use of natural features were installed at the West Virginia State Wildlife Center at French Creek

The West Virginia Turnpike accommodated about 5 million cars

WVU Mountaineer Field football stadium expanded to 63,175 seats

A master's degree in business administration was first offered at West Virginia Wesleyan College

Rachael Worby became music director of Wheeling Symphony

The Henderson Hall historic district was added to the National Register

Robert C. Gillespie became president of West Virginia Institute of Technology

Katherine Johnson retired from NASA

Conchata Ferrell married Arnie Anderson, a sound mixer

The West Virginia legislature established an independent National Coal Heritage Area Authority to manage the heritage area

Brad Paisley released his second album

Henry Payne published Payne & Ink: The Cartoons and Commentary of Henry Payne, 2000-2001

Dominion Hope Gas Company opened a gas-fired electricity generating plant at Bull Creek

Guides to the texts and location of roadside historical markers was issued

Richard Ferrin became president of Salem International University

Pocahontas County was identified by the Northeast Regional Center for Rural Development as one of the nation's top 59 counties for second homes

Michael Smith provided the musical score for the motion picture Joshua

The West Virginia Distinguished Service Medal was awarded to Gene Vance who was killed in service in Afghanistan

The State Medical Association established the West Virginia Medical Foundation

Westvaco and Mead merged to form MeadWestvaco

Buffalo Toyota plant workers built engines for Corolla, Matrix, Sienna, and Lexus

Construction began on a pharmacy school at University of Charleston

Verizon became one of largest providers of long-distance in West Virginia

Watt Powell Park in Charleston was demolished

The International Steel Group sold Weirton Steel to Mittal Steel

WesBanco Bank, Inc operated 86 banking offices in West Virginia, Ohio, and Pennsylvania