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| 1071 Wste Virginia map (1) |
Posted on 29.04.2014, 19.11.2015
Bordered by Virginia, Kentucky, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Maryland, West Virginia is located in the Appalachian Mountains, being nicknamed The Mountain State and having the motto Montani Semper Liberi (Mountaineers are always free). The capital and largest city is Charleston, founded at the end of the 18th century. Natural resources, such as salt, coal and later natural gas contributed to the growth of the city. West Virginia became a state following the Wheeling Conventions, in which 50 northwestern counties of Virginia whose landowners owned few to no slaves decided to break away from Virginia during the American Civil War, being the only one which was formed by seceding from a Confederate state. The new state was admitted to the Union on June 20, 1863, and was a key Civil War border state.
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| 2050 Wste Virginia map (2) |
Before the arrival of europeans, the area was inhabited by Siouan language tribes such as the Moneton, but the Iroquois drove out them to reserve the upper Ohio Valley as a hunting ground in the 1670s, during the Beaver Wars. The colonies of Pennsylvania and Virginia claimed territorial rights before the American Revolutionary War, and afterwards became the western part of the state of Virginia. It is noted for its historically significant logging and coal mining industries, and its political and labor history. It is also one of the most densely karstic areas in the world. The karst lands contribute to much of the state's cool trout waters. It is also known for a wide range of outdoor recreational opportunities, including skiing, whitewater rafting, fishing, hiking, backpacking, mountain biking, and hunting.
The Great Seal of the State of West Virginia was adopted in 1863. The center of the seal contains a boulder that has been inscribed June 20, 1863, the date West Virginia became a state. In front of the boulder lie two crossed rifles and a liberty cap to state the state's importance of fighting for liberty. The two men on either side of the boulder represent agriculture and industry. On the left stands a farmer with an ax and plow before a cornstalk. On the other side stands a miner with a pickax, and behind him an anvil and sledge hammer. The outer ring contains the text "State of West Virginia" and the state's motto. The state flower is the rhododendron.
About the stamps
On the postcard 1072
About the first stamp, depicting the president Abraham Lincoln, I wrote here. The following two, depicting an airplane maker and a millinery apprentice, are part of a series which honors America’s industrial workers, Building a Nation, about which I wrote here.
On the postcard 2050
The first stamp is the 5-cent stamp commemorating the 100th anniversary of West Virginia statehood, issued through the Wheeling, West Virginia, post office on June 20, 1963. The stamp is based on a design by Dr. Dwight Mutchler of Ohio University.
About the second stamp, depicting the iconic figure of "Wisdom" which is installed over the entrance to the GE Building at Rockefeller Center, I wrote here. The last stamp, depicting Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis) and Rhododendron (Rhododendron maximum), the bird and the flower of the state of West Virginia, is part of the series State Birds and Flowers, about which I wrote here.
References
West Virginia - Wikipedia
Sender: Denise
Sent from Greenvale (New York / United States), on 17.03.2014
Sent from Greenvale (New York / United States), on 10.11.2015
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