West Virginia Trivia & Tidbits - Page 9

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

The New River Gorge Bridge is home to the state’s largest one-day festival, in which the road is closed and individuals are free to parachute off the structure’s 876-foot height.

first appeared: 2/1/2004

The state’s most popular newborn boy’s name in the year 2000 was Jacob. The most popular girl’s name was Hanna.

first appeared: 1/25/2004

With nearly 75 percent of the state covered by forests, West Virginia has its share of large trees. An American sycamore in Webster County measures 8 feet, 2 inches across and stands 112 feet high.

first appeared: 1/18/2004

The first state sales tax in the United States went into effect in West Virginia on July 1, 1921.

first appeared: 1/11/2004

The first Golden Delicious apple was discovered as a chance seedling in 1905, growing in the orchard of Bewel Mullins’ farm in Clay County.

first appeared: 1/4/2004

Open since 1902, Harper’s Old Country Store in Seneca Rocks is still operated by the Harper family.

first appeared: 12/28/2003

Coopers Rock State Forest near Bruceton Mills (pop. 74) is the state’s largest forest with more than 12,700 acres.

first appeared: 12/21/2003

The nation’s first Jewish religious radio station, WVJW-FM, signed on last January in Benwood (pop. 1,585).

first appeared: 12/14/2003

With more than 60 miles of shoreline, Summersville Lake in Summersville (pop. 3,294) is the state’s largest lake.

first appeared: 12/7/2003

In 1903, teenagers Ray and Oscar Weikel built the Indian Creek Covered Bridge near Union (pop. 548).

first appeared: 11/30/2003

A remnant of the region’s iron smelting industry, the 1830s Henry Clay Iron Furnace stands at Coopers Rock State Forest near Bruceton Mills (pop. 74). In its heyday, the furnace produced 4 tons of iron daily.

first appeared: 11/23/2003

The first Union soldier killed in the Civil War, Pvt. Thornsbury Bailey Brown, is buried in Grafton (pop. 5,489) National Cemetery. He was killed May 22, 1861.

first appeared: 11/16/2003

Thurmond (pop. 7) earned a reputation as a rowdy coal town, especially after a poker game at the Dunglen Hotel ran continuously for 14 years until the hotel burned in 1930.

first appeared: 11/9/2003

Built in 1976, the working Glade Creek Grist Mill at Babcock State Park in Clifftop honors the more than 500 mills that once dotted the state.

first appeared: 11/2/2003

More than 3,000 examples of Wheeling (pop. 31,419) glass sparkle at the Oglebay Institute Glass Museum, including the largest piece of lead crystal—the 5-foot-tall, 225-pound Sweeney punch bowl.

first appeared: 10/26/2003

Founded in 1770, the Simpson Creek Baptist Church in Bridgeport (pop. 7,306) is believed to be the oldest Protestant church west of the Allegheny Mountains.

first appeared: 10/19/2003

The 1853 Glen Ferris Inn on the Kanawha River in Glen Ferris still caters to hungry, tired travelers along the Midland Trail.

first appeared: 10/12/2003

Elkins (pop. 7,032) has its own Graceland, an 1893 stone mansion built by U.S. Sen. Henry Gassaway Davis and named after his daughter Grace.

first appeared: 10/5/2003

Cabwaylingo State Forest derived its name from the four counties it serves: Cabell, Wayne, Lincoln, and Mingo.

first appeared: 9/28/2003

In 1965, Little Jimmy Dickens, a native of Bolt, bolted to the top of the country charts and hit Number 15 on the pop charts with May the Bird of Paradise Fly Up Your Nose.

first appeared: 9/21/2003

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