The Four Regions of West Virginia

Human and Environmental Interaction

► HEI – The way we use, affect, and are affected by our environment.

► Animals eliminated from WV because of human interaction ▪ wolf, bison, elk

► Railroad helped the industries in WV boom

Human and Environmental Interaction

► 3 major industries that are examples of human/environmental interaction ▪ Mining ▪ Lumber ▪ Chemical

► Surface mining=strip mining

► Chemical industry great site in WV because of the available elements ▪ Kanawha Valley “the Chemical

Valley of the World”

Surface Mining

Surface Mining

Human and Environmental Interaction► Lumbering

▪ Early settlers saw that the entire state was covered with forest. They cut down the trees and used them for two purposes: ► To provide building materials for

houses ► Fuel ► (later used to build boats)

▪ Lumbering brought other jobs, such as: ► Sawmills ► Pulp mills-converts wood chips or

other plant fiber source into a thick fiber board which can be shipped to a paper mill for further processing

► Tanneries-workplace where skins and hides are tanned

Movement

► Movement-the way we are linked through exploration, trade routes, settlement, migration, and invasion

► WV was first settled in the Potomac region

► Early settlers searched for food, water, and safety.

► Settlers traveled the least restrictive way, by valleys and following rivers.

Regions(an area that is bound by common characteristics)

Geographic regions are defined by: Common Climate

Common Landform Economic

Recreational activities

West Virginia has 4 Regions: Potomac Section

Allegheny Highlands Allegheny Plateau Ohio River Valley

The Potomac Section► Geography:

▪ In the Eastern Panhandle ▪ Gently rolling farmland

(Rural) ▪ Potomac River is its northern

border (the river gives the region its name)

▪ Contains lowest point in WV (Harpers Ferry 247 feet above sea level)

► A place where urban (city or town) workers flock to the region from Washington D.C.

The Potomac Section

► History: ▪ It was the first region

settled by Europeans ▪ In 1912 US Supreme Court ruled

that the Fairfax Stone would be the starting point of the boundary between WV and MD

► Industries ▪ Livestock (sheep and cattle)

because of excellent grass ▪ Peach & Apple orchards because

of great soil ► Apple Butter Festival ► Mountain State Apple Harvest

Festival

The Potomac Section

► Natural Features ▪ (Warm springs) Berkeley Springs

► Spa (health resort) ▪ Whitewater rafting on the Shenandoah River ▪ Potomac Eagle (The Trough) ▪ State Parks- Cacapon and Berkeley Springs

► Harper’s Ferry (picture on front of text)

The Allegheny Highlands

► Geography: ▪ Mountainous Region - Forms

the dividing line between eastern and western WV

▪ Contains Highest Point in WV - Spruce Knob 4862 feet above sea level

► The Allegheny Highlands is the region that gave WV its nickname the “Mountain State”

The Allegheny Highlands

► History ▪ Immigrants (ones who moves into a

new country to settle) ► Swiss and Germans settled much

of the region in the 1740s and early 1800s ▪ Helvetia (Latin for “Switzerland”)

settled in 1869 ► Southern and Eastern Europeans

came into the region in the late 1800’s and earl 1900’s (due to coal and timber industries)

► Industries ▪ Tourism! ▪ Sparsely populated (largest city:

Beckley)

The Allegheny Highlands(Helvetia)

The Allegheny Highlands

► Natural Features ▪ Premier Skiing

Facilities – Snowshoe, Winterplace, Silver Creek Ski Area and others

▪ Hiking, rock climbing, spelunking, mountain bicycling ► Peter’s Mountain ► Seneca Rocks ► Smoke Hole ► Seneca, and Lost World

Caverns ► Dolly Sods

The Allegheny Plateau► Geography

▪ Plateau (an elevated tract of more or less level land)

▪ Rivers cut gorges and canyons across the plateau ► New River Gorge ► New River – second oldest

river in the world

▪ The largest city is located in this region: Charleston (State Capital)

The Allegheny Plateau► History

▪ The influence of Native Americans is evident in the region ► Kanawha (river of evil spirits) ► Logan County was named after

a Mingo chief whose family was killed by a band of white men

► Mingo County named after tribe of Indians

▪ The Region is rich in ethnic diversity ► Italians, Belgians, Czechs,

Greeks, Irish, and Spaniards. ► Mining Industry attracted many

immigrants to the region

The Allegheny Plateau► Natural Features

▪ Contains a variety of natural resources ► Limestone, sandstone, shale,

coal, oil, natural gas and salt

▪ Whitewater rafting ► (Gauley River and New River)

▪ Windsurfing, boating, scuba diving, water skiing, fishing ► (Summersville Lake)

▪ New River Gorge Bridge ► (Construction completed in

October of 1977) ► Bridge Day (3rd Saturday of Oct)

The Ohio River Valley

► Geography ▪ Lies next to Ohio River, the river

dominates this region ▪ Many cities located in this area-

Huntington, Parkersburg, Point Pleasant, Wheeling

▪ Islands are found in the Ohio river with unique flora and fauna ► (Ohio River Island National

Wildlife Refuge) ► Blennerhassett Island

The Ohio River Valley► History

▪ Area was inhabited for thousands of years by Indians

▪ First settled by French in mid 1700s. French called the Ohio La Belle Riviere “The Beautiful River”

▪ 1763 French surrendered Ohio Valley to Britain after French and Indian War

▪ The historic Blennerhassett Island

▪ West Virginia’s “floating capitol”

The Ohio River Valley(Blennerhasset Island)

► Aaron Burr Conspiracy (1805 – 1807) ▪ Aaron Burr - Former Vice President under

Thomas Jefferson; orchestrated a plot to create a new government opposed to America in the Southwest

▪ Harman Blennerhasset – Wealthy Irish born lawyer that owned an island on the Ohio River where Burr and his conspirators plotted; also financed Burr’s conspiracy

▪ Edward Tiffin, governor of Ohio, brought militia to Blennerhasset Island, raided it and stopped the conspiracy

▪ Burr and Blennerhasset were accused of treason (the crime of trying to overthrow the government of one’s state or country)

The Ohio River Valley(West Virginia's “Floating Capitol”)

► When West Virginia became a state in 1863, the Capitol building was at the Linsly Institute in Wheeling.

► In 1870, the State Legislature designated Charleston as the Capital city.

► In 1875, the Legislature voted to return the Capital to Wheeling. This was appealed by the citizens of Charleston and finally settled by the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals on September 13 in favor of Wheeling.

► The Legislature struck once more in 1877 and ordered an election to be held on August 7 for the citizens of West Virginia to select a permanent location for the Capital. The vote was between Charleston, Martinsburg and Clarksburg. Thirty days after the election, Henry M. Mathews proclaimed that after eight years, Charleston would be the government's permanent seat

VS

The Ohio River Valley

►The new Capitol opened on May 1, 1885, and served for 36 years until its destruction by fire on January 3, 1921

►Luckily, the Legislature had authorized the construction of the present Capitol on the north bank of the Kanawha River in 1921. This building was completed in 1932 at a cost of $10 million

The Ohio River Valley

►Major manufacturing: ▪ Steel ▪ Glass ▪ Textiles

Review

► 7 River Basins in WV

► The climate of WV is Humid Continental ► The New river has 4 tributaries ► The Kanawha river has the greatest number of tributaries ► The county that is often referred to as the birthplace of rivers is

Pocahontas ► WV has one natural lake ► WV location can be described as relative and absolute ► WV boundaries- natural and man-made ► Fairfax Stone- WV and Maryland ► Mason-Dixon Line- WV and Pennsylvania

Refernces

► http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Image:Helvetia_WV-Shield_Sign.jpg

► http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Valley/6192/ ► http://www.freebase.com/view/wikipedia/images/

commons_id/556019 ► http://www.newriverwv.com/ ► http://www.wvbridgeday.com/ ► http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charleston,_West_Virginia ► http://www.blennerhassettislandstatepark.com/ ► http://www.electricearl.com/parkersburg/island.html ► http://www.blenkoglass.com/ ► http://www.wvtourism.com/spec.aspx?pgID=80