CHAPTER 11. 



WEST VIRGINIA AS A TIMBER PRODUC- 

 ING STATE. 



Location and Area. 



West Virginia was separated from Virginia during the Civil 

 war and was admitted to the Union as a state on June 20, 1863. 

 As originally constituted it was divided into 48 counties. Berk- 

 eley and Jefferson came in after a period of litigation in 1866. 

 Five counties — ^Grant, Mineral, Lincoln, Summers^ and Mingo — 

 were organized between 1866 and 1895. 



The boundaries of the state are extremely irregular. Begin- 

 ning at a point on the Potomac river a short distance below 

 Harpers Ferry the line follows the south bank of the Potomac 

 and its North Branch to the Fairfax Stone set at the head of the 

 stream : thence almost due north to the Mason and Dixon Line ; 

 thence west with this line to the southwest corner of Pennsyl- 

 vania ; thence north to low water mark on the northwest bank of 

 the Ohio river. From here the line turns to the southwest and 

 follows the right bank of Ohio river for 256 miles to the mouth 

 of Big Sandy river; thence up the Big Sandy and its Tug Fork 

 to the western end of McDowell county, a short distance above 

 the northeast corner of Kentucky: thence with the watershed 

 separating the Tug and Levisa Forks of Big Sandy to the south- 

 ernmost point of the state ; thence it turns to the east and north- 

 east, crosses the head of Dry Fork of Tug river, and foUows 

 Horsepen creek and Big Stone ridge to the Mercer line ; thence 

 southeast across the Bluestone basin to the crest of East River 

 mountain ; thence with this mountain and across New 

 river to the crest of Peters mountain. Here the line 

 turns northeast and follows the crests of Peters and 

 Potts mountains and the main ridge of the AUeghanies to the 



