I can't explain it...but this 5 Fact Friday creeps up on me every time!
This week, in our Beyond Layers class, Kim had us think about travel and our favorite places. So, I want to share 5 facts about one of my favorite places because it is in my blood: my Appalachian West Virginia roots. My ancestry goes back to the mid-1700s in West Virginia...prior to that they were from Ulster, Ireland, having been transplanted from the lowlands of Scotland, given the name Scots-Irish. The Scots-Irish were the backbone of the American Revolution.
1. West Virginia is the love-child of America's Civil War.
2. Outdoor advertising had its origin in Wheeling, West Virginia, about 1908, when the Block Brothers Tobacco Company painted bridges and barns with the wording: "Treat Yourself to the Best, Chew Mail Pouch."
3. The Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum, built prior to the Civil War, in Weston, West Virginia, is the largest hand-cut stone building in North America, and is believed to be the second largest in the world, next to the Kremlin in Russia.
4. West Virginia is the only state that lies completely within the Mountains and valleys of the Appalachian region.
and last...but in no way the least...
5. West Virginia University's football team is ranked in the top 10 this year among NCAA college football teams. Let's Goooooooooooooooooooooooooo...Mountaineeeeeeeeeeeeeers!
I'm grateful today for the gift of West Virginia and the place it has in my heart!
