Happy Birthday West Virginia

On Thursday June 20, 2019 West Virginia will celebrate 156 years as the 35th state admitted to the union. To celebrate, we used State Data Lab to find fun facts about West Virginia and to learn more about The Mountain State.

Mother’s Day was first observed on May 10, 1908 at Andrews Church in Grafton, WV. It did not become a national holiday until 1914, but it all started in good ol’ West Virginia. Nowadays, the state has a 10.28 birth rate per 1,000 women.

In 2017 West Virginia spent $272.67 million on natural resources expenditures. That may sound like a lot, but 75 percent of The Mountain State is actually covered in forests.

The Golden Delicious apple came from Clay County, West Virginia, and was discovered in 1775. You know the saying “an apple a day keeps the doctor away”? Well, 93.9 percent of West Virginians have health insurance, so it appears they got the memo.

On July 1, 1921, West Virginia became the first state to implement a sales tax. Since then, 45 other states have followedWest Virginia’s lead and now have a sales tax. As of 2019 West Virginia’s sales tax is 6.39 percent.

On October 23, 1870 the first brick road was laid in Charleston, West Virginia. 150 years later, the state spends $1.15 billion on highway expenditures.

Charleston Municipal Court was the first court to allow videotaped evidence, which ended up convicting a drunk driver. Do you know who argued for that evidence? A lawyer. For every 10,000 residents there are 26.7 lawyers in West Virginia.

You can learn more about West Virginia and make your own charts using State Data Lab. And we at Truth in Accounting wish West Virginia a very happy 156th birthday!

Madison Randolph is an online marketing and social media intern at Truth in Accounting, a nonprofit organization based in Chicago that researches government financial data.