West Virginia Trivia & Tidbits - Page 8

Looking for West Virginia trivia? Try our list West Virginia little know facts, tidbits and trivia.

Marlinton (pop. 1,204) gets a lot of mileage out of its annual Autumn Harvest Festival and Roadkill Cook-Off with recipes featuring critters commonly seen dead on the road.

first appeared: 6/13/2004

Golfers can swap their titanium drivers for 19th-century hickory-shafted clubs at Oakhurst Links in White Sulphur Springs (pop. 2,315), home of the nation’s first organized golf club in 1884. Yesteryear’s authentic golfing experience includes dodging a flock of sheep that roam the course.

first appeared: 6/6/2004

Basketball coach Clair Bee, born in 1896 in Grafton (pop. 5,489), invented the 1-3-1 zone defense strategy.

first appeared: 5/30/2004

Built in 1865, the three-story Reckart’s Mill near Terra Alta (pop. 1,456) still spans Muddy Creek.

first appeared: 5/23/2004

From 1900 to 1940, Wellsburg (pop. 2,891) became affectionately known as “The Marrying Town” because it didn’t require a waiting period between an issuance of a marriage license and a ceremony. Thousands of couples wed there during the Depression and kept the county clerk on call 24 hours a day and the local merchants blissful, too.

first appeared: 5/16/2004

Davis (pop. 624) is the state’s highest elevated incorporated town at 3,200 feet.

first appeared: 5/9/2004

Irish road bowling is on a roll in Weston (pop. 4,317), where teams throw an iron ball down a road, usually a mile or two long. The team with the fewest tosses wins.

first appeared: 5/2/2004

Encompassing 88.55 square miles, Hancock County is the state’s smallest county.

first appeared: 4/25/2004

Revolutionary War Gen. Horatio Gates, whose home, “Traveler’s Rest,” still stands in Jefferson County, led American troops to victory in the Battle of Saratoga in 1777.

first appeared: 4/18/2004

Outdoor advertising originated in Wheeling (pop. 31,419) around 1908 when the Block Brothers Tobacco Co. painted bridges and barns with the wording, “Treat Yourself to the Best, Chew Mail Pouch.”

first appeared: 4/11/2004

William Tompkins used natural gas to evaporate salt brine in 1841, thus becoming the first person in the United States to use natural gas for industrial purposes.

first appeared: 4/4/2004

Dozens of whitewater rafting outfitters operate in West Virginia, providing thrilling adventures primarily on the rapids of the Cheat, Gauley, and New rivers between April and October.

first appeared: 3/28/2004

Minnie Buckingham Harper was appointed to the state’s House of Delegates in 1928, becoming the nation’s first African-American woman to hold a state legislative seat.

first appeared: 3/21/2004

The New River Gorge Bridge near Fayetteville (pop. 2,754) is home to Bridge Day, a one-day festival in October for skilled, registered jumpers to parachute off the structure’s 876-foot height. In a previous edition, we erroneously listed bungee jumping among the activities.

first appeared: 3/14/2004

The Maryland/West Virginia state line is the low-water mark of the south bank of the Potomac River.

first appeared: 3/7/2004

A naval engagement occurred off West Virginia shores during the Civil War. U.S. Navy gunboats were actively engaged in the Battle of Buffington Island on the Ohio River near Ravenswood (pop. 4,189) on July 19, 1863.

first appeared: 2/29/2004

Odd place names in the state include Burnt House, Cheat Neck, Jane Lew, Junior, Left Hand, Looneyville, Pinch, Tornado and War.

first appeared: 2/22/2004

The cost of constructing West Virginia’s Capitol building in Charleston was nearly $10 million in 1932.

first appeared: 2/22/2004

Moundsville (pop. 9,998) is home to the Grave Creek burial mound, which is 69 feet high and 295 feet wide at its base. Archeologists estimate it was built between 250 and 150 B.C.

first appeared: 2/15/2004

On Jan. 26, 1960, Danny Heater, a student from Burnsville (pop. 481), scored 135 points in a high school basketball game—a record that stands firmly today.

first appeared: 2/8/2004

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