WEST VIRGINIA 



6253 



WEST VIRGINIA 



WEST VIRGINIA 



KALI or MUM 



OUTLINE MAP OF WEST VIRGINIA 

 Showing boundaries, navigable rivers, principal cities, mining centers, and the Highest point of 



land in the state. 



tower above the deep canyons cut by rushing 

 streams. At "Hawks Nest," where the Ka- 

 nawha River dashes through its wildest gorge, 

 the sheer wall of rock rises 1,292 feet above the 

 stream. Where the rivers leap from the hinh> r 

 levels of the rugged plateau to the lower hills 

 of the valley region, they form picturesque falls 

 and swift rapids. A succession of rounded hills 

 :in<l hro.nl. fertile valleys extends westward 

 from the plateau region to the Ohio River. 



Rivers. There are two river systems in the 



state, one flowing eastward, swelling the cur- 



of the Potomac and rearlunn the Atlantic 



'in-. .unh Chesapeake Bay, the other, larger and 



re important, flowing westward to the Ohio 



.iii.l thence to the Mississippi and the Gulf of 



Mexico. 



Ill- Potomac flows along the northeast 

 boundary of the state, ctitting a beautiful gap 

 m the 1'.! Harper's Ferry, 



where it is joined by the Shenandoah. Its 

 principal tributaries in West Virginia arc tl,,- 



North and South branches, which flow north 

 between the eastern mountain ridges. 



The Ohio, which forms the western bound- 

 ary, is fed by many important rivers the Big 

 Sandy, winding around the southwest corner of 

 the state; the Guyandot; the Great Kanawha, 

 rising in the mountains of North Carolina, 

 where it is known as the New River, and flow- 

 ing across the state through the rich coal and 

 timber regions; the I. it lie K.mawlm ; lastly 

 Monongahela. \\hich flows north through 1' 

 sylvania and joins the Allegheny at Pittsburgh 

 to form the Ohio. These tributaries are fed by 

 many smaller streams. Besides their great im- 

 portance in the drainage and transportation of 

 the state, these riven*, ten h many 



mountain torrent* and springs, have economic 

 value because of the vast amount of power 

 furnish. 



Climate. Owing to the wide range in eleva- 

 tion there is considerable variation in tempera- 

 ture, but the climate is nowhere severe. The 



