Meredith Sue Willis

Governor Rockefeller gave Roy Lee Harmon emeritus status s poet laureate

The Huntington Advertiser ceased publication and merged into the Herald-Dispatch

Boar hunting began in West Virginia

The Allegheny Indian Council and Cultural Center was founded in Phillipi

The court ruled that unequal per pupil funding among West Virginia counties violated the state constitution's mandate for a "thorough and efficient" school system in Pauley v. Kelly

Maryat Lee wrote John Henry

The military program was discontinued at Linsly School

Jack Maurice became a contributing editor and columnist to the Charleston Daily Mail

Jon McBride became an astronaut

Louise McNeill was appointed poet laureate by Governor Rockefeller

Arnold Miller resigned as president of UMWA

State Supreme Court ruled on Morningstar v. Black and Decker, which held that the court had the ability to create common law

State Supreme Court ruled on Bradley v. Appalachian Power Co., where the court abolished the comparative negligence rule

A second Mormon "stake" was organized in Fairmont

Deadly riots prompted Arthur Recht to place Moundsville Penitentiary under judicial control

The WVU Personal Rapid Transit system was completed

Jayne Anne Phillips published Black Tickets

Gov. Jay Rockefeller persuades legislature to gradually eliminate the 3% sales tax on food

Jim Sprouse was appointed a judge of the 4th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals by President Jimmy Carter

Building C was added to the state police academy

Sam Church Jr. became president of UMWA

Marshall Buckalew was elected president of the West Virginia Historical Education Foundation

The West Virginia Historical Society ceased publication of West Virginia History

West Virginia Independence Hall was opened as a museum by the Department of Culture and History (now Arts, Culture & History)

The West Virginia Juried Exhibition was first held at the Cultural Center

Mack Samples began serving as festival president of the West Virginia State Folk Festival

The Wheeling-Pittsburgh Steel Building was placed on the National Register of Historic Places

Tom Wolfe published The Right Stuff, celebrating Chuck Yeager

Virginia Maw Brown left the Interstate Commerce Commission

Actor Bob Denver married Dreama Perry of Bluefield

State legislature passed and county residents endorsed Sunday racing at Mountaineer Race Track

A baccalaureate degree in Bible was added at Ohio Valley College (now University)

William Price McNeel became editor of the Pocahontas Times

Wheeling-Pittsburgh Steel began construction of continuous caster

State ex rel. Board of Education v. Rockefeller changed the financing of public schools

Union Carbide headquarters moved to Danbury, Connecticut

The elecro-metallurgical plant at Alloy was sold to the Elkem Company

Legislature gave the governor the authority to appoint the director of the West Virginia Geological and Economic Survey

Jim Comstock sold the West Virginia Hillbilly to South Charleston Publishing Company

Mike Shott became general manager of WHIS radio

Margaret Workman was appointed to an unexpired term on the Kanawha Circuit Court by Governor Rockefeller

WVMR began broadcasting on 1370 AM

Holt, Rinehart, and Winston published a paperback edition of the stories of Beece D'J Pancake

Henry Payne graduated from Princeton University

Pence Springs was studied by scholars from the University of Kentucky

Jayne Anne Phillips published her first of three novels, Machine Dreams

William Pierce established his headquarters in a compound near Hillsboro

Cynthia Rylant wrote Waiting to Waltz

Henry Schmulbach's Wheeling house was added to the National Register of Historic Places

The Shott family endowed the Hugh I. Shott Jr. Foundation

Union Carbide had a tragic industrial accident at its Bhopal, India facility

E. M. Statler was inducted into the Wheeling Hall of Fame

Charleston became the first city in U.S. to be able to chose long-distance carriers other than AT&T

Railroads ceased operation in Tucker County

The golf course at Twin Falls State Park was expanded to 18-hole

AT&T broke up

C. W. Ferguson III stopped serving as circuit judge

A renovation on Welch Community Hospital was completed

West Virginia History began annual publication

The School of Osteopathic Medicine started a postdoctoral training program

Thomas Conlin became conductor of the West Virginia Symphony Orchestra

WVU Hospitals became a separate nonprofit corporation, affiliated with West Virginia University

The American Cyanamid decided to settle the Willow Island sterilization suit out of court

Warren McGraw stopped serving as state senate president

John Zontini was inducted into the Marshall University Athletics Hall of Fame

Helen Holt retired

Coach John McKay retired

The Pocahontas Times became one of the first papers in West Virginia to switch completely to the use of computers

Pruntytown Correctional Center reopened

Mary Lou Retton was inducted to the U.S. Olympic Committee Hall of Fame

Otis Rice became a member of the editorial board of Filson Club Quarterly

Rock Lake Pool was closed by its owner

Cynthia Rylant wrote The Relatives Came

Revival of the Sagebrush Roundup radio show was first held

The Old Salt Sulphur Springs resort was added to the National Register of Historic Places

Wheeling-Pittsburgh Steel filed for bankruptcy

Blakers Mill was moved to Jackson's Mill

Frederick A Reichle purchased property at Timberline

Predecessor banks were renamed United National Bank

Robert Phalen became president of UMWA District 17

WAJR launched the Metronews Radio Network

Melvin Lentz became wood chopping champion

The Pence Springs prison closed and all inmates were transferred to the Alderson Federal Prison for women

Ellie Schaul was was awarded the 1985 West Virginia Juried Exhibition Governor’s Award

The West Virginia Association of Museums was organized

West Virginia had 69 bank holding companies and 134 subsidiaries

The Ohio River Islands National Wildlife Refuge was established by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service

The Stories of Breece D'J Pancake was published in German

St. Francis Hospital was expanded

There were three Seventh Day Baptist churches in West Virginia with 411 adherents

Michael Smith won the New Artist of the Year at the American Music Awards

There was a special legislative session on education

Melvin Lentz became wood chopping champion

Weirton population was at 22,124

Wood County was the third most populous county in the state

Medal of Honor recipient Cornelius Charlton’s remains were moved to American Legion cemetery in Beckley

Tim Armstead graduated from West Virginia University College of Law

John Chambers went to work for Cisco Systems

Otis Rice received the first Virgil A. Lewis Award of the West Virginia Historical Society

Cynthia Rylant won the Boston Globe-Horn Book Award for nonfiction for Appalachia: The Voices of Sleeping Birds

St. John's Chapel near Sweet Springs resort in Monroe County was added to the National Register of Historic Places as a part of the Lynnside Historic District

Congress created the National Scenic Byways program to recognize national and state roads of special scenic value

Leon Sullivan was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom

The Andrew S. Rowan Memorial Home was closed

Jerry West was named to the WVU Sports Hall of Fame

The West Virginia National Guard was activated during the Gulf War

The Whipple Company Store was listed on the National Register of Historic Places

Jesco White appeared in the film Dancing Outlaw

A flood wall was built at Williamson

Melvin Wine was chosen as a National Heritage Fellow by the National Endowment for the Arts

Laurence Yep published The Star Fisher

Putt-putt golf and games center opened at former Rock Lake Pool

Cynthia Rylant won the Newbery Medal

Sam Snead was named golf professional emeritus upon return to the Greenbrier

The state corporate net income tax rate was at 9%

A broad national agreement between UMWA and Bituminous Coal Operators Association was negotiated

Richard Eddy became president of UMWA District 31

The federal Corporation for National and Communities Service was created to oversee AmeriCorps and domestic programs

Richard Hunt bought Whipple Company Store and renovated it for tourism

Margaret Workman received the West Virginia Prosecuting Attorneys Association's Excellence in Criminal Justice Award

WVU at Parkersburg awarded its first BS degrees in elementary education

"Diamond Teeth" Mary McClain issued her first recording, “If I Can’t Sell It, I’m Gonna Sit Down On It”

Evan Jenkins changed from Republican to Democrat and won a seat in the House of Delegates

Toni Stone was inducted into the International Women’s Sports Hall of Fame

Ohio Valley College expanded

The Stories of Breece D'J Pancake was published in Brazilian Portuguese

Jayne Anne Phillips published Shelter

Jayne Anne Phillips published Shelter

The Rural Electrification Administration was abolished

Chris Sarandon married Joanna Hall Gleason

Michael Smith founded Rocketown Ministries

West Virginia became the third state to file suit against the tobacco industry to recover costs for smoking-related illnesses

The Tri-State Racetrack installed 400 video lottery slot machines

Hinchcliff Lumber Company added a scragg mill

Union Carbide's silicones products plant at Sistersville was sold

The present Unitarian Universalists building in Charleston was dedicated

The United Carbon Building was placed on the National Register of Historic Places

Melvin Lentz became wood chopping champion

Ginny Hawker began serving as president of West Virginia State Folk Festival

The West Virginia Lottery Commission approved the first 400 video slot machines at Wheeling Downs

The first open heart surgery in the area was performed at Wheeling Hospital

The Howard Long Wellness Center opened at Wheeling Hospital

Jesco White was featured in a brief cameo on Roseanne

Meredith Sue Willis wrote In The Mountains of America

Tommy Thompson left the Red Clay Ramblers

A bridge on U.S. 19 south of Summerville was renamed the Ralph Eugene Pomeroy Memory Bridge.

Five Uncle Abner stories were published in Old Land, Dark Land, Strange Land by University of Charleston Press

District 29 of UMWA was eliminated

WesBanco acquired Universal Mortgage Company

David C. Hardesty Jr. became president of WVU

A second cardiac catheterization laboratory was opened at Wheeling Hospital

Wheeling Jesuit assumed university status