West Virginia

•  There are no traffic lights in the counties of Clay and Calhoun.

• The residents of Mole Hill gathered together to change the name of their city to Mountain, literally making a mountain out of a mole hill.

• The first brick street in the world was laid in Charleston on Summers Street.

• West Virginia is the only state to have acquired its statehood by proclamation of the President of the United States.

• Rural free delivery mail service got its start in 1896 in Charles Town.


• A person may not hold public office if he or she has ever participated in a duel.

• According to the state constitution, it is unlawful for anyone to own a red or a black flag.

• Alderson - One may not walk a lion, tiger or leopard, even on a leash.

• If you wear a hat inside a theater, you may be fined.

• It is illegal to snooze on a train.

• It is unlawful for chickens to lay eggs before 8AM and after 4PM.

• Nicholas County - No member of the clergy is allowed to tell jokes or humorous stories from the pulpit during a church service.

• No children may attend school with their breath smelling of "wild onions."

• A tax of 1 cent is levied for every 16 and 9-ounce container of coke sold in a store.

• When a railroad passes within 1 mile of a community of 100 or more people in it, they must build a station and stop there regularly to pick up and drop off passengers.


• Spencer - Curious Rock - A table rock formation that has been intriguing West Virginians for years.

• Moundsville - Grave Creek Mound - The largest burial mound in the United States holds the remains of prehistoric West Virginians.

• Cameron - Archive of the Afterlife - The museum calls itself the "National Museum of the Paranormal" and is full of eerie oddities.

• Weston - Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum - A particularly creepy abandoned hospital that sparks interest for lovers of the supernatural.

• Point Pleasant - Mothman Museum - A small storefront museum explores the history and myth of West Virginia's famous urban legend.