West Virginia is located in the Appalachian region of the Eastern United States. The Latin state motto "Montani Semper Liberi," meaning "Mountaineers are always free," reflects the pride of its residents. The landscape is dominated by the Appalachian Mountains, for which West Virginia is also known as the "Mountain State". 

With an arch spanning 1,700 feet (518 m), the New River Gorge Bridge near Fayetteville was the longest single-span arch bridge in the world when it opened in 1977 and remains the longest outside of China.

Numerous finds of pottery and earthen mounds bear witness to the prehistoric cultures of West Virginia. Grave Creek Mound in the Ohio River Valley, built by the Adena culture around 250–150 BC, is one of the largest burial mounds in the United States. During the Beaver Wars (1609–1701), the Iroquois Confederacy took control of the region, driving out the Moneton and other tribes. Following Virginia's secession during the Civil War in 1861, the majority in the northwest remained pro-Union and called for the formation of a new state at the Wheeling Convention. In 1862, the U.S. Congress passed the statehood bill, and the final victory of the Continental Army in western Virginia confirmed it. West Virginia was the only state to declare independence from a Confederate state during the Civil War. In 1863, West Virginia became the 35^th state to join the Union. 

It's a coincidence that West Virginia has a lighthouse, even though it's a landlocked state. After a tower that was originally intended for a wind farm fell off a truck and was damaged as a result, it was converted into a lighthouse. It is located on Summersville Lake and was dedicated in 2013 on West Virginia's 150th birthday.

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