West Virginia, USA
The Mountain State (35)
Capitol: Charleston
Admitted into Union: June 20, 1863
State Flower: Rhododendron
State Tree: Sugar maple
State Bird: Cardinal
State Butterfly: Monarch
Population: 1.8 million

Apple of your eye: In 1775, the original Grimes Golden apple tree was discovered near Wellsburg. A parent of the Golden Delicious, the crisp and juicy Grimes quickly earned acclaim because it’s great for eating, baking, saucing, and cidering. The fresh and feminine West Virginia Apple is versatile as well—wear it for any occasion and make a sweet impression.

Female firsts: In 1928, Minnie Buckingham Harper of Welch became the first black woman legislator in the U.S. In Charleston in 1969, Barbara Jo Rubin became the first female jockey to win a horse race. In 1824, a Harpers Ferry paper was launched, called The Ladies Garland, one of the nation’s first papers devoted to the interests of women.

Say what? West Virginia is considered the southern most northern state and the northern most southern state.

Make up your minds! Until 1861, West Virginia was part of Virginia until 1861, when voters chose to create a new state, to be called Kanawha. At a convention at Wheeling a month later, the name was changed to West Virginia. A hundred years later, a Beckley newspaper suggested the name of the state be changed again because so many people believed West Virginia was part of Virginia. Adding to the confusion is the fact that Virginia actually extends 95 miles farther west than West Virginia

Global hankerings? West Virginia is home to several towns named after food: Cranberry, Cucumber, Duck, Pie…and please, pass the Salt Rock. West Virginia towns named after cities in other countries include: Athens, Berlin, Cairo, Calcutta, Geneva, Ghent, Glasgow, Killarney, Lima, London, Moscow, Odessa, Ottawa, Palermo, Rangoon, Santiago, Shanghai, Vienna, and Wellington.

Yippee: The first state sales tax in the United States went into effect in West Virginia on July 1, 1921.

Blame them for billboards: The first outdoor advertising ran in Wheeling around 1908 when the Block Brothers Tobacco Company painted bridges and barns with the slogan "Treat Yourself to the Best, Chew Mail Pouch."

B.A.S.E. jumper’s delight: The 1,700-feet-long New River Gorge Bridge near Fayetteville is the second longest steel-arch bridge in the world. Every October on Bridge Day, several hundred people parachute and bungee jump 876 feet off the bridge. West Virginia's largest one-day event, it draws about 100,000 people each year.

Got a light? In 1933, the world’s largest shipment of matches (20 carloads or 210 million matches) left Wheeling for Memphis, Tennessee.

You don’t say: On May 31, 1992, with the Cold War apparently over, the Washington Post revealed a thirty-year secret: Stashed under the Greenbrier resort at White Sulphur Springs was a huge, two-story bunker designed to house the entire United States Congress and support staff for 40 days in the event of a nuclear attack on the US.

Hang-up: The first and world's largest clothespin factory was located at Richwood

Flippers: Five towns in West Virginia are palindromes (that is, spelled the same way forwards and backwards): Ada, Amma, Okonoko, Otto, and Reger.

Chips off the old block: The Lilly Family Reunion held each year at Flat Top is said to be the largest family reunion in the United States, with 10,000 guests each summer.

Old folks’ home: With a median age of 40, West Virginia has the oldest population of any state.

Famous West Virginians: George Brett, Pearl S. Buck, Martin R. Delany, Billy Dixon, Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson, John S. Knight, Don Knotts, Peter Marshall, Kathy Mattea, Whitney D. Morrow, Mary Lou Retton, Walter Reuther, Cyrus Vance, Jerry West, Chuck Yeager.