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In 1790, the area now known as West Virginia had a population of 55,873, while the U.S. total was about 3.9 million. For the next 160 years, West Virginia’s population would grow steadily, peaking in 1950 at just over two million. By 2020, though, it had dropped to 1,793,716—one of the few states losing population at that time. Recent estimates suggest even more people have left since then.
West Virginia's share of the U.S. population fell from 1.4% in 1790 to 0.54% in 2020. This means the state hasn’t grown as fast as the rest of the country overall. While West Virginia grew more rapidly than the national average from 1900 to 1950 due to booming mining and manufacturing, the population has declined in recent decades.
This is reflected in West Virginia's congressional representation, which, based on population, has declined from six in 1950 to two today.
In 1950, a deal between the United Mine Workers and coal companies allowed more machines in the mines to boost productivity and lower costs. While this resulted in dramatically fewer mining jobs, the union accepted the trade-off in exchange for be...
Job losses also extended to manufacturing. From World War II through the early 1960s, the steel industry was booming. But in the 1960s, production started to decline. Foreign competition made it hard for companies like Wheeling Steel to stay profi...
For its first 91 years, West Virginia schools and most public facilities were segregated by race. In 1954, in the Brown v. Board of Education case, the U.S. Supreme Court ended school segregation nationally. The state accepted the ruling, and most...
As jobs in mining and manufacturing disappeared, many areas of West Virginia that relied on those industries fell into poverty. During the 1960 presidential primary, John F. Kennedy campaigned across the state, bringing national attention to the s...
One very bright spot during this time was West Virginia's 100th birthday in 1963. The state celebrated with festivals, music, plays, and special events across all 55 counties. The event began in 1962 with former President Truman speaking at the Ca...
The federal government addressed Appalachian poverty in several ways. The first was through direct assistance to people.In 1964, President Lyndon B. Johnson launched the “War on Poverty” to help struggling Americans, including those in rural Appal...
VISTA (Volunteers in Service to America) began in 1965 as part of the War on Poverty. It sent volunteers to help improve life in poor communities, much like the Peace Corps did overseas.West Virginia welcomed its first VISTA workers in 1965. Many ...
The Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) was created in 1965 to help improve life in the Appalachian region, which includes all of West Virginia and parts of 12 other states. Its two main goals are to support economic growth and build highways th...
As trains gave way to cars and trucks in the 1900s, West Virginia was disconnected in many ways from the rest of the country. The nation's interstate highway system helped re-connect the state. Built between 1957 and 1988, it includes seven major ...
While interstate highways made travel faster, they often bypassed rural areas. The Appalachian Development Highway System was created in 1965 to connect isolated parts of Appalachia—including all of West Virginia—to the larger interstate system. T...
The most famous landmark of the Corridor System is the New River Gorge Bridge in Fayette County. It stands 876 feet above the river, making it the third-highest bridge in the U.S. Until 2003, it had the longest single-arch steel span in the world....
In the 1970s, while West Virginia was losing population overall, some young people were enticed to move here as part of the back-to-the-land movement. They were drawn by cheap land, natural beauty, and the dream of living simple, self-sufficient l...
In the 1960s, West Virginia began promoting its rich folk traditions. During the state’s 1963 Centennial, folk arts played a major role. Governor Wally Barron created the Commerce Department and started a crafts program led by Hulett Smith and oth...
With all the negative news coming from West Virginia, an unexpectedly pleasant surprise arrived in 1971 when John Denver released "Take Me Home, Country Roads." It quickly became a hit and one of West Virginia’s most beloved songs. Though some lyr...
During the hard economic times of the 1960s and 1970s, West Virginia faced a number of tragic disasters that brought even more trouble and drew national media attention. These included the Silver Bridge Collapse in 1967, the Farmington Mine Disast...
As coal mining grew in the 1900s, workers increasingly were showing signs of “miner’s asthma,” later called black lung. The introduction of larger machines created more coal dust, making the disease more common. From 1942 to 1968, miners had asked...
In the late 1900s, and especially after the 1972 Buffalo Creek Flood, people grew more concerned about how industry was harming the land. One of their main targets was surface mining, or strip mining, which involves removing trees, dirt, and rock ...
More negative national attention descended upon West Virginia in 1974, when Kanawha County faced major conflicts over new school textbooks. The school board had approved 325 books for students, but board member Alice Moore and others opposed some ...
After a brief boost to West Virginia industry during the international energy crises of the 1970s, coal mining and manufacturing began slumping badly again in the 1980s and have never fully recovered.Meanwhile, in 1985, West Virginia was hit by on...
By the late 1900s and early 2000s, West Virginians were losing faith in their leaders. The national president of the United Mine Workers of America, Tony Boyle, was serving a life sentence for murdering his opponent—and his family—over a union ele...
September 11, 2001, is one of those rare dates in history where everybody alive remembers where they were when it happened. The terrorist attacks on New York City and Washington, D.C., and a plane crash in Pennsylvania, killed nearly 3,000 America...
Since the 1990s, West Virginia has been hit hard by the national opioid crisis. Experts say the epidemic has transpired in three waves.The first wave started in the early 1990s, when doctors began overprescribing pain pills like OxyContin. Many pe...
Since the 1968 Farmington disaster, coal mining has become relatively safer compared to its deadly past. However, there have been deadly incidents. On January 2, 2006, an explosion at the Sago mine in Upshur County killed 12 miners.Then, on April ...
Schools made big changes after a national report in 1970 said U.S. education was falling behind. Graduation became harder, and testing increased.As the state's population plummeted, many small schools closed and were consolidated into large school...
Tourism has become a major and growing part of West Virginia’s economy. Each year, visitors spend over $2 billion, supporting 60,000 jobs and bringing in over $1 billion in taxes. Every county has seen an increase in tourist spending.People visit ...
Despite over 80 years of economic ups and many downs, West Virginia is well-positioned for a comeback. It ranks high in U.S. energy production, especially coal and natural gas. In 2024, it was the number two coal producer in the country and fifth ...