Westward Ho

Not pioneer west, just West Virginia. This is my lazy way of keeping people up to date with my time spent in West Virginia -- a bit this month, more next month, directing a show in Berkeley Springs, WVa.

Some facts about West Virginia:
* West Virginia is the only state in the Union to have acquired its sovereignty by proclamation of the President of the United States.
*West Virginia is considered the southern most northern state and the northern most southern state.
*West Virginia has the oldest population of any state. The median age is 40.
*The first federal prison exclusively for women in the United States was opened in 1926 in West Virginia.
*Nearly 75% of West Virginia is covered by forests.
*According to the crime index for 1997, West Virginia had the lowest crime rate in the country.
*West Virginia has an mean altitude of 1,500 feet, giving it the highest average altitude east of the Mississippi.
*The first spa open to the public was at Berkeley Springs, West Virginia, in 1756 (then, Bath, Virginia). (woo-hoo! That's Berkeley Springs!!)
*The Christian Church was begun in West Virginia by Alexander Campbell in Bethany. (I don't understand this. Wasn't the Christian church started when Christ died and some of his followers split from judaism and started eating pork and lobster? This is, I guess, where my lack of religious education fails me. What do they MEAN?)
*Mrs. Minnie Buckingham Harper, a member of the House of Delegates by appointment in 1928, was the first African American woman to become a member of a legislative body in the United States. (who knew?)

On the flip side, there are some things that they don't post on the tourist websites:

*According to a site that compiles hate groups, West Virginia hosts the following doozies:
(N) National Alliance, Hillsboro
(O) Wheeling's Warriors
(O) The Mountain Men
(M) The Unorganized Militia of West Virginia
(K) Keystone Knights of the KKK, Fairmont
(K) Knights of the KKK, Ronceverte
(K) Unified KKK, Elkins
(N) SS Action Group, Morgantown

The codes are as follows:
M means militia group.
K means Ku Klux Klan or Klan-related group.
N means Nazi or Neo-Nazi/Anti-Semitic group.
O means "Other" groups, including anti-gay, black racialists and paramilitary

So that's eight. Now, to be fair, according to this site (which is by no means all inclusive) New York has fourteen such groups. But when you think about the fact that the population of NY state is about ten times the population of West Virginia, and the number of hate groups is not even doubled, well, it puts things in perspective. And western NY can be a scary place. Might as well be West Virginia.

*According to 2001 survey results, West Virginia, clocking in with 24.6% of it's population ranking as "obese" is, proportionately, the fattest state in America. Although it looks like every other state is doing it's best to catch up.

*West Virginia was ranked 33rd "smartest" state in 2004. Which of course also makes it the 17th dumbest. It did beat Florida, and California.