West Virginia:
A State Worth Cheering For!
Historical Timeline of
West Virginia
How do I use a Timeline?
Reading a timeline is a lot like watching the highlights from an exciting ball game. You get to see the highest points and the worst moments. The down side is that you miss a lot of the inbetween details.
A timeline is just like those sports highlights! This timeline of West Virginia will give you lots of interesting dates. However, it will not give you all the important details. That is your job as the reader, to search out the important dates and then to research for more details.
West Virginia
1607- Jamestown, the first permanent British colony established in the New World.
1669- Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle, a French explorer, ventures down the Ohio River.
1671- Thomas Batts and Robert Fallam explore the New River Valley.
1722- Iroquis indians surrender part of their land in the Ohio River Valley to the British.
1731- Morgan Morgan becomes the first European to settle in West Virginia.
1762- Romney and Mecklenburg are established by the Govenor of Virginia. These cities will later be known as the oldest cities in what would become the state of West Virginia.
1766- The portion of the Mason-Dixon Line that forms the northern border of West Virginia is surveyed.
July 4, 1776- The United States declares their independence from Great Britain.
September 3, 1783- The Treaty of Paris is signed putting an end to the American War for Independence.
1810- Western portions of Virginia make a complaint to the Eastern part of the state because of unequal representation in the state government.
October 16, 1859- John Brown raids the arsenal at Harper's Ferry in an attempt to start a slave uprising.
April 12, 1861- The Battle of Fort Sumter throws the United States into the Civil War, otherwise known as the War Between the States.
May 23, 1861- The State of Viginia succeeds from the Union.
June 11-25- The Wheeling Convention agrees to remain loyal to the United States and decides to name their new state "Kanawha."
June 20, 1863- West Virginia officially becomes the 35th state to enter the United States of America.
April 9, 1865- Robert E. Lee surrenders at Appomattox, officially ending the Civil War.
1875- Wheeling becomes the State Capital.
1885- Charleston becomes the new State Capital and remains the Capital to this day.