Joe Manchin

Frederick M. Staunton, publisher of the Charleston Daily Mail, retired

Chief Logan State Park gained state park status

Denomination adopted the name Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)

Orval Brown was released from the state mental hospital at Weston

Stephen Coonts earned a B.A. at WVU

George Crumb was award the Pulitzer Prize for Echoes of Time and the River: Four Processionals for Orchestra

Phyllis Curtin sang with the Charleston Symphony Opera

Phyllis Curtin was named West Virginian of the year with George Crumb by the Charleston Sunday Gazette Mail

Home Demonstration clubs changed name to Extension Homemaker Clubs

National attention was brought to the issue of mine safety

Fesenmeier sold its brewery to Little Switzerland Brewing Company

Two-year associate degree in forestry was developed at Glenville State College

Five high schools were consolidated into Gilmer County High School

The last Gravely tractor rolled off the Dunbar assembly line

Charles Haden served on the Monongalia County Board of Education

Roy Lee Harmon wrote Rhymes of a Mountaineer

The Modern Budget Amendment made the governor responsible for preparation of the state budget

West Virginia's first spring gobbler season began

Sonny Hyde transferred to the state Department of Natural Resources to work on Outdoor West Virginia (now Wild Wonderful West Virginia)

The Jones Diamond left the Smithsonian to be on exhibition at the State Fair

Linsly School relocated to Banes Hall in Wheeling

The present entrance to the Lost World Cavers was dug through a hill

A new academic building was constructed at Marshall University

Enrollment at Marshall University reached 8,177

Irene McKinney received her bachelor's from West Virginia Wesleyan College

M. Blane Michael graduated from New York University

M. Blane Michael began working at Sullivan & Cromwell in New York

R. E. Fisher died leaving the Moorefield paper to Pheobe Fisher Heishman and husband David

Mountain Artisans was founded

John W. Saunders became president of Beckley College (now Mountain State University) replacing D. K. Shroyer

The National Bank of Commerce built a new building known as Commerce Square in Charleston

New Vrindaban began as a project of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness

The New York Central System merged with the Pennsylvania Railroad to create the ill-fated Penn Central

The annual Nature Wonder Weekend was first held in North Bend State Park

Nylon precursor chemical stopped being produced at Belle Works

Logging on Otter Creek began again

Pilgrim Glass Corporation plant manager Karel Konrad introduced cranberry glass

Radio station WVWC, licensed to West Virginia Wesleyan College, went on air

The last case of polio in West Virginia was reported

James Rexrode's works were displayed at the Shenandoah Valley Folklore Society at the Harrisonburg Arts and Crafts Festival

Spanky Roberts retired from McClellan Air Force Base

The West Virginia Geological and Economic Survey conducted another extensive excavation on the St. Albans archeological site

David Selby appeared in Dark Shadows

James A Butcher became president of Shepherd College (now University)

Governor Hulett Smith proposed $150 million bond issue for school construction and state facilities improvement.

Grace Martin Taylor retired from Morris Harvey College (now University of Charleston)

Norman L. Fagan suggested a Theater West Virginia show based on the Hatfield-McCoy Feud

The Evangelical United Brethren Church merged with the Methodists forming the United Methodists, becoming West Virginia's biggest denomination

There were 240 Evangelical United Brethren Churches in West Virginia, at the time of their merger with the Methodists

Kendall Vintroux retired from the Charleston Gazette

VISTA volunteers had streamed into rural and hard-pressed areas of West Virginia

The WAJR facilities moved to the Greer Building

West Virginia counties reasserted their control over economic opportunity commissions and community action programs, as local officials react to War on Poverty

WesBanco was incorporated

Wheeling Downs reopened

Jon Dragan founded Wildwater Expedition Unlimited at Thurmond

Bill Withers was discharged from the U.S. Navy in San Jose

Runway expansion for jet airliners began at Kanawha Airport

Chuck Yeager became a brigadier general

Keith Ham leased 130 acres in Marshall County for the establishment of a rural retreat

Nick Saban led the Monongah High School football team to a state championship victory over Paden City High

Helen Chilton graduated from Denison University

Charleston Section of the National Council of Jewish Women undertook “Appalachian Corridors,” the first exhibition to expressly curate the work of Appalachian artists

Muriel Dressler published "Appalachia"

Easton Roller Mill was willed to the Monongalia Historical Society

Ann Flagg died in Illinois

Jack Fleming became sports director of WTAE-TV in Pittsburgh

Jack Fleming became announcer for the Chicago Bulls of the National Basketball Association

Ruth Ann Musick published Green Hills of Magic

Fort Ashby was listed on the National Register of Historic Places

Population of Grant County was at 8,607

Alberta Pierson Hannum's book Spin a Silver Dollar radio play was published as The Blue House by U.S. Information Agency

The National Park Service opened the Harpers Ferry Center, to serve National Park units nationwide

Frank Haymond received the American Bar Association's ABA Medal

Henry Clay Furnace was added to the National Register of Historic Places

James Dickey's novel, Deliverance, made the term "hillbilly" sinister

Every Ohio River county except Jackson had at least one chemical plant

Sam Huff ran unsuccessfully for Congress

Alice Moore was elected to the Kanawha County Board of Education as an opponent of sex education

Kanawha Records stopped recording

Kenova population peaked at 5,000

Maryat Lee moved to Powley Creek

Everett Lilly moved back to Raleigh County following son's death

Alex Mahood died

The tannery in Marlinton closed

Paul Marshall became a registered architect

Irene McKinney received her master's from WVU

The Meadow River Lumber Company was sold to Georgia-Pacific

Arnold Miller was forced to retire from mining by black lung disease and arthritis

Alan Mollohan began a Fairmont law firm

Ona presented four NASCAR Grand National races

Mylan Pharmaceuticals incorporated in Pennsylvania as Mylan Laboratories

Justin B. Roberts became president of Ohio Valley College (now University)

Squire Parsons graduated from West Virginia Institute of Technology

The Penn Central Railroad corporation entered bankruptcy

Frank Beyer purchased the Philippi mummies

The first VHF non-commercial station in the state, WSWP-TV, started in Grandview

Rock Springs Park shut down and was purchased by the Department of Highways.

The first indication of Jay Rockefeller's intention to run for governor came when he spoke out against strip mining

The Ruffner Hotel closed and was demolished for a parking lot

David Selby earned a doctorate in drama from Southern Illinois University

The Meadow River Lumber Company closed

Jim Comstock republished Hubert Skidmore's Hawks Nest

Ada "Bricktop" Smith recorded her only recording, "So Long, Baby," with Cy Colemen

The South Charleston Mound was placed on the National Register of Historic Places

State Police department headquarters relocated to new facilities

Jerry West led the NBA in scoring

The Folklore Society met at WVU

The Highlands Conservancy worked to make cranberry backcountry a federal wilderness area

Federal Highway Act passed allowing tolls to be retained

Bob Wise received a B.A. from Duke University

Bill Withers moved to Los Angeles

WSAZ changed to WGNT

An addition was added to the Kanawha (now Yeager) Airport

Alan Mollohan was first elected to the House of Representatives, replacing his father, Robert Mollohan, who retired

Margaret Workman was elected to the Kanawha Circuit Court

The Property Tax Limitation and Homestead Exemption Amendment was approved by the voters

David McKinley elected to House of Delegates

John Raese lost to incumbent Robert Byrd

Charlotte Pritt campaigned for state Senate and won

Margaret Workman became the first woman justice and the first woman elected to statewide office in West Virginia

Gaston Caperton defeated incumbent Governor Arch A. Moore Jr.

Margaret Workman was elected first woman on the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals and first woman elected to statewide office in West Virginia

Thomas Miller led the ticket in both the primary and general elections in State Supreme Court race

Ken Hechler was reelected as West Virginia's secretary of state

Darrell McGraw failed to gain reelection to the State Supreme Court

Walt Helmick elected to the House of Delegates

Ken Hechler was reelected as West Virginia's secretary of state

Darrell McGraw was elected state attorney general

McHugh reelected to the Supreme Court

Gus Douglass again elected commissioner of agriculture

Glen Gainer III elected state auditor

Jon McBride ran unsuccessfully for governor in the Republican primary

Cecil Underwood again won the Republican nomination for governor

Arden Cogar Jr. cut a 13-inch vertical white pine log in 15.01 seconds

A floodwall was built at Matewan to protect the town from the Tug River

Governor Gaston Caperton's family bought Seely Pine Furniture

The boarding-house prison that held Mother Jones was demolished by its owners

Phyllis Reynolds Naylor was awarded the West Virginia Children's book Award for Boys Start the War

Bhaktipada (Keith Gordon Ham) was imprisoned

Bishop T. D. Jakes relocated to Texas to head a church and national media ministry

The Sisters of Saint Joseph entered into a joint venture with Columbia HCA

Marshall University defeated Montana for the NCAA 1-AA football championship

Jim Sprouse served as state chairman of Charlotte Pritt's campaign

The Sweet Springs resort was sold to private hands

Tamarack opened

Construction on an expansion on the Tolsia Highway began

Mountaineer Race Track became Hancock County's second-largest employer

The state Board of Education voted to replace Lincoln County's four high schools with one consolidated high school

Keith Mailard wrote Clarinet Polka

Gretchen Laska wrote The Midwife's Tale

Jessica Lynch was selected as the West Virginian of the Year by Charleston's Sunday Gazette-Mail

I Am a Soldier, Too: The Jessica Lynch Story was published by Rick Bragg

Natalie Tennant lost Democratic primary for Secretary of State.

Simon McClure ran as the Libertarian candidate for governor

Darrell McGraw was reelected state attorney general

Brent Benjamin was elected to the Supreme Court of Appeals

Shelley Moore Capito was reelected to Congress

Betty Ireland became the first woman ever elected as secretary of state

Betty Ireland became the first woman ever elected as secretary of state and the first woman elected to the executive branch of government

Benjamin defeated Warren McGraw for Supreme Court seat

John McCain, the Republican candidate for president, won the state

Gus R. Douglass was reelected to a four-year term as commissioner of agriculture

Natalie Tennant was elected secretary of state

Margaret Workman was elected to the court for another term

Menis Ketchum elected to Supreme Court of Appeals

Natalie Tennant elected Secretary of State.

Congressman Rahall defeated former justice Spike Maynard to claim his 18th term.

Shelley Moore Capito was reelected to Congress

Randy Moss released by the Vikings after four games

David McKinley elected to Congress

McHugh defeated John Yoder in the general election to serve the remainder of Albright’s term

Earl Ray Tomblin sworn in as governor

Tomblin sworn in as governor

Aracoma Hotel was heavily damaged by fire

Carte Goodwin's term as Senator expired

Evan Jenkins was elected to serve the unexpired term of Robin Davis on the Supreme Court

Evan Jenkins and Tim Armstead were elected to fill vacancies on the Supreme Court

Carol Miller was elected to represent the 3rd Congressional District

Tim Armstead was elected to the Supreme Court