Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition/West Virginia

WEST VIRGINIA, one of the North-Eastern Central States of the American Union, lying between 37° 6' and 40° 38' N. lat, is bounded on the N. by Pennsylvania and Maryland, on the E. and S. by Virginia, and on the W. by Kentucky and Ohio, and has an area of 24,780 square miles.

The form of the State is extremely irregular. It may be roughly likened to an ellipse, the greatest diameter of which lies nearly north-east and south-west. Its boundary upon the east and south is made up of the irregular line which limited the counties which were set off from Virginia for the formation of this State. Upon the west the boundary is low-water upon the further shore of the Big Sandy and Ohio rivers. A long narrow strip, known as the &ldquo;Panhandle,&rdquo; projects northward some sixty miles along the Ohio,—the boundary being the continuation of the straight line which separates Ohio and Pennsylvania. To the east of this the northern boundary follows Mason and Dixon's line; then, dropping in a due south direction to the &ldquo;Fairfax Stone,&rdquo; it follows thence easterly the course of the Potomac to its junction with the Shenandoah.

The entire State is mountainous or hilly, being comprised within the region known as the Cumberland or Alleghany plateau. The highest land in the State is upon the eastern and southern boundary, where the plateau in many places reaches elevations exceeding 4000 feet. Thence the country has a general slope to the north-west, and is lowest along the Ohio, where the elevation is but 600 to 800 feet. This plateau has been subjected to stream erosion until it has become a network of narrow crooked ridges with deep gorges or narrow valleys. The height of the ridges and the depth of the valleys, together with the ruggedness of the country, diminish towards the north-west, until near the Ohio the hills become rounded and softened in outline, and the valleys are broad and fertile.

The drainage system of the State is in some respects peculiar. Although the general slope is towards the north-west, the Potomac, which flows south-easterly to the Atlantic Ocean, has cut its way far back into the plateau, and drains, by means of numerous long branches, the north-eastern quarter of the State. The remainder of the State is drained to the Ohio by means of several large branches which flow in a general north-westerly direction. Heading in the south-west is the Big Sandy, forming a portion of the State boundary. Fourteen miles above its mouth enters the Guyandotte, and 50 miles above the Guyandotte comes the Great Kanawha, one of the principal branches of the Ohio. This large and powerful stream has cut its way back beyond the crest-line of the plateau, tapping numerous streams in south-west Virginia and western North Carolina, so that its sources are now against the Blue Ridge in the latter State. It is known in North Carolina and Virginia, and in West Virginia to the Great Falls, by the name of New River. In West Virginia it has numerous large tributaries—the Big and Little Coal rivers, Piney, and Bluestone from the south, and the Pocotaligo, Elk, Gauley, and Greenbrier from the north. The next branch of the Ohio, proceeding northward, is the Little Kanawha, which empties into the Ohio at Parkersburg. The north-western part of the State is drained by the Monongahela, one of the two head branches of the Ohio, and its tributaries, the principal of which are the Tygart's Valley, Cheat, and Buckhannon rivers. Of these streams the Ohio is navigable for river steamers at nearly all stages of water. The same may be said of the Kanawha to a point near the Kanawha Falls, while the Big Sandy, the Guyandotte, and the Monongahela are navigable for flat boats for long distances, and these, as well as numerous other streams, are largely used for the floating of lumber. All the streams of the State, and especially the smaller ones, have a rapid fall, but their enormous water-power has as yet been utilized only to a trifling extent.