United States of America
States
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., is the capital of the United States and a federal district rather than a state. Established under the Residence Act of 1790, it was created along the Potomac River as a permanent seat for the national government. The city was named for George Washington, while the district was called Columbia—an eighteenth-century poetic name for the United States derived from Christopher Columbus. Its landscape is shaped by the Potomac and Anacostia rivers and its government buildings, monuments, memorials, and public parks. Washington was one of the nation’s earliest planned cities. In 1791, George Washington selected Pierre Charles L’Enfant to design a capital of broad avenues, open public spaces, and prominent sites for the Capitol and President’s House. His plan placed diagonal avenues across a traditional street grid, creating the circles and public squares that continue to distinguish the city. The federal government moved there in 1800, and the capital was rebuilt after British forces burned many of its public buildings during the War of 1812.
West Virginia
West Virginia entered the Union on June 20, 1863, becoming the nation’s thirty-fifth state. Known as the Mountain State, it has Charleston as both its capital and largest city. Located entirely within the Appalachian region, its landscape is defined by forested mountains, narrow valleys, and rivers including the Ohio, Kanawha, and New. West Virginia was created during the Civil War when its western counties separated from Virginia after that state joined the Confederacy. Delegates meeting in Wheeling established a loyal state government, leading to West Virginia’s admission as a Union state. Coal mining, timber, railroads, and manufacturing later shaped its economy and communities, while conflicts between miners and mine owners made the state an important center in the history of the American labor movement.
