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Charles Town
Tommy J. UnderwoodRe/Max in Action Phone: 866-535-2700 Web Site Would you like to work with one of the top producing teams in all of WV? | ||
Grantsville
Homestead Agency - Realtors Phone: 304-354-7969 E-mail: homestead@wirefire.com Central West Virginia farms,acreage, timberland and hunting properties since 1979. Great country living at very reasonable prices. Come discover! | ||
Harpers Ferry
Tommy J. UnderwoodRe/Max in Action Phone: 866-535-2700 Web Site Would you like to work with one of the top producing teams in all of WV? | ||
Inwood
Tommy J. UnderwoodRe/Max in Action Phone: 866-535-2700 Web Site Would you like to work with one of the top producing teams in all of WV? | ||
Martinsburg click hereMartinsburg is located in northeastern West Virginia, in the Eastern Panhandle. Situated in a region of dairy farms and fruit orchards, it is a commercial, manufacturing, and transportation center. | ||
Morgantown
Century 21 At Your Service Phone: 304-296-1265 E-mail: missinglink@sbccom.com | ||
Petersburg
Century 21 Mountain Heritage Realty Phone: 304-257-2145 or 304-257-1422 E-mail: reg@access.mountain.net Serving all your real estate needs in Grant, Hardy, and Pendleton counties and surrounding areas | ||
Ridgeley
Private Properties Phone: 1-304-726-7050 E-mail: j.cozatt@mindspring.com Specializing in recreational, residential and acreage in the Mineral, and Hampshire County areas of West Virginia. | ||
Spencer
Board-DePue Realty Phone: 304-927-3250 E-mail: jennifer@bdr1.com Serving you since 1958 we are your west central West Virginia Realtor. We specialize in farms and acreage. Call us today to be added to our monthly mailing list! | ||
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Agriculture is an important supplement to the livelihood of some West Virginians, particularly mining families. In 2000 there were 20,500 farms in West Virginia. Only 17 had annual sales of more than $10,000. Many of the others were sidelines for people who worked away from the farm when jobs were available. Farms covered 1.5 million hectares (3.6 million acres), or about one-quarter of the state’s land area. The principal commodities produced for cash are livestock and related products, especially poultry and poultry products, beef cattle, and dairy products; nursery and greenhouse crops; and orchard fruits. Crop sales, which account for only 14 percent of farm income, include corn, soybeans, hay, apples, tobacco, and peaches. Hay and corn are grown mainly as feed crops. Commercial agricultural operations center largely in the Eastern Panhandle. Elsewhere in the state, farms are predominantly part-time operations. Lumbering is a minor source of income and employment. It is most important in the ridges and valleys adjacent to the Allegheny Front and in the southern plateau. In addition to lumber, the most important forest products are pulpwood, mining timbers, and charcoal. Almost all lumber is hardwoods. The most important mineral in West Virginia is the extensive bituminous coal deposits that cover much of the state. The major producing areas are in the southern plateau and north central regions. The state is the second leading bituminous coal producer in the nation, with production of 141.4 million metric tons in 2000. Natural gas and petroleum are found in the hills in the central and west central regions and in the upper Ohio and Little Kanawha valleys. Limestone is quarried, principally in the southern and eastern regions. Sand and gravel are mined in many locations, and salt is produced along the Ohio River. Pottery clays and excellent quality sand, used in glassmaking, are generally found in the eastern part of the state, particularly in the Eastern Panhandle. Manufacturing contributes more to West Virginia’s gross product than any activity. In terms of production value, the leading manufacturing sectors are chemical industries, which make products for other industries and agriculture; primary metal industries, which include blast furnaces and aluminum plants; firms producing fabricated metals, such as metal plates, sheet metal, and components of metal buildings; glass manufacturers; and lumber and wood products industries, including lumber mills and manufacturers of prefabricated buildings. The most important industrial concentration is in the Kanawha River valley, in and around Charleston. Charleston is the center of the state’s chemical industry and has benefited from the nearby resources of coal and natural gas and from the availability of water transport to the Ohio River. The Northern Panhandle is also highly industrialized. It contains most of the state’s primary metals production, principally of iron and steel, and a large number of establishments making pottery. The state is known for its glassware, including plate glass, tableware, blown glass, stained glass, and structural glass. Other industrial areas center on Huntington, Parkersburg, Fairmont, and Clarksburg. Ravenswood, in the lower Ohio River valley, has a large aluminum plant. By the last decades of the 20th century, many of the once-flourishing industries of West Virginia, such as coal mining, steel production, and glass manufacturing, had either changed greatly in their nature or declined. By the 1990s scores of new businesses and industries were to be found throughout the state. At Alloy is a large ferroalloy plant and an important silicon metal facility. Automobile parts makers opened factories at Pocatalico and Silverton, and a plant in South Charleston was making parts for four of the world’s six largest automobile and truck manufacturers. In 1996 Toyota Motor Corporation announced that it would construct a plant at Buffalo, where it would produce about 200,000 engines a year for its line of automobiles. In 1995 another firm made public plans for an aircraft manufacturing plant at Martinsburg. By the mid-1990s other industries that made use of or promoted modern technologies held forth the promise that West Virginia might be better able to cope with its chronic economic problems and population losses as the state entered the 21st century. An area between Morgantown and Clarksburg has become known as Software Valley, where numerous computer software companies have located at the urging of state leaders and with the assistance of the federal government. As a leading member of the United States Senate Appropriations Committee, Senator Robert C. Byrd has been instrumental in moving several government operations from the Washington, D.C., area to West Virginia. Among them are the large Federal Bureau of Investigation Fingerprint Center, now a major employer at Clarksburg, and the Internal Revenue Service Computing Center, at Martinsburg, which updates and centralizes all federal taxpayer information from throughout the United States. Almost all of West Virginia’s electricity is produced in plants fueled by the state’s extensive coal resources. Less than 1 percent comes from other sources, including thermal plants burning oil or natural gas and hydroelectric facilities. The four largest cities of West Virginia lost population during the 1980s and 1990s. The largest city is Charleston, the state capital, with a population (2000) of 53,421. Located at the confluence of the Kanawha and Elk rivers, it is the center of a highly industrialized region that includes South Charleston. Huntington, a center of industry and trade with 51,475 inhabitants, is a transportation hub on the Ohio River near the mouth of the Big Sandy River. Parkersburg (33,099), on the Ohio River at the mouth of the Little Kanawha River, developed during the oil boom of the late 19th century and has grown as a manufacturing center. Wheeling (31,419) is, together with Weirton, a center of iron and steel manufacturing located in the Northern Panhandle. Morgantown, Fairmont, and Clarksburg are shipping centers for coal, but also have some manufacturing. Morgantown is also the seat of West Virginia University. Beckley and Bluefield are centers of the southern coalfields. | ||
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Realtors, click here to register on this site. Real Estate: Kentucky - West Virginia Relocation Cottage Canada - USA: Kentucky - Tennessee - West Virginia Vacation Rentals: house, home, cottage, & cabin rental Official Website for the State of West Virginia Although we try to be as vigilant as possible, we are not responsible for any incorrect information or any misrepresentation that may occur on our site. ©1996 - 2008 AdNet. All rights reserved. |
