I must bid you now adieu（再见，再会）．
In my home beyond the mountains I shall ever dream of you；
In the evening time of life，If my Father only wills，
I shall still behold the vision Of those West Virginia hills．
CHORUS
Facts and Trivia相关资料
1．West Virginia is the only state in the Union to have acquired its sovereignty by proclamation of the President of the United States．
2．West Virginia is considered the southern most northern state and the northern most southern state．
3．Mother’s Day was first observed at Andrews Church in Grafton on May 10，1908．
4．West Virginia has the oldest population of any state．The median age is 40．
5．Jackson’s Mill is the site of the first 4－H Camp in the United States．
6．The world’s largest sycamore（小无花果树）tree is located on the Back Fork of the Elk River in Webster Springs．
7．The first state sales tax in the United States went into effect in West Virginia on July 1，1921．
8．On January 26，1960Danny Heater，a student from Burnsville，scored 135points in a high school basketball game earning him a place in the Guinness Book of World Records．
9．The first federal prison exclusively for women in the United States was opened in 1926in West Virginia．
10．Cecil Underwood is the nation’s oldest governor．He turned 77on November 5，1999．
11．The New River Gorge Bridge near Fayetteville is the second highest steel arch bridge in the United States．The bridge is also the longest steel arch bridge（1，700feet）in the world．Every October on Bridge Day，the road is closed and individuals parachute（降落伞）and bungee［（轰炸机）炸弹舱启门机］cord jump 876feet off the bridge．Its West Virginia’s largest single day event and attracts about 100，000people each year．
12．The first major land battle fought between Union and Confederate soldiers in the Civil War was the Battle of Philippi on June 3，1861．
13．One of the nation’s oldest and largest Indian burial grounds is located in Moundsville．Its 69feet high，900feet in circumference（圆周），and 50feet high．An inscribed（记下）stone was removed from the vault（拱顶）and is on display at the Smithsonian Institute in Washington，D．C．
14．West Virginia’s nickname is the Mountain State and its motto is “Mountaineers Are Always Free”．
15．Some famous individuals from West Virginia include：Pearl Buck（author），Peter Marshall（television host），Chuck Yeager（test pilot ／Air Force General），Don Knotts（actor），Mary Lou Retton（Olympic gold medallist for gymnastics），and Kathy Mattea（country music singer）．
16．Nearly 75％of West Virginia is covered by forests．
17．West Virginia covers about 24，000square miles and has a population of about 1．8million．
18．15％of the nation’s total coal production comes from West Virginia．
19．According to the crime index（指标）for 1997，West Virginia had the lowest crime rate in the country．
20．West Virginia’s Memorial Tunnel was the first in the nation to be monitored by television．It opened November 8，1954．
21．The first rural free mail delivery was started in Charles Town on October 6，1896，and then spread throughout the United States．
22．West Virginia was the first state to have a sales tax．It became effective July 1，1921．
23．The first steamboat（汽船，轮船）was launched by James Rumsey in the Potomac River［波拖马可河（美国东部重要河流，流经首都华盛顿）］at New Mecklensburg（Shepherdstown）on December 3，1787．
24．A naval battle was fought in West Virginia waters during the Civil War．United States Navy armored steamers were actively engaged in the Battle of Buffington Island near Ravenswood on July 19，1863．
25．On February 14，1824，at Harpers Ferry，John S．Gallaher published the “Ladies Garland”，one of the first papers in the nation devoted mainly to the interests of women．
26．Organ Cave，near Ronceverte，is the third largest cave in the United States and the largest in the state．
27．A variety of the yellow apple，the Golden Delicious，originated in Clay County．The original Grimes Golden Apple Tree was discovered in 1775near Wellsburg．
28．West Virginia has an mean altitude［（尤指海拔）高度］of 1，500feet，giving it the highest average altitude east of the Mississippi．
29．The first iron furnace（炉子，熔炉）west of the Alleghenies was built by Peter Tarr on Kings Creek in 1794．
30．One of the first suspension bridges in the world was completed in Wheeling in November 1849．
31．Outdoor advertising had its origin in Wheeling about 1908when the Block Brothers Tobacco Company painted bridges and barns with the wording（措词）：“Treat Yourself to the Best，Chew Mail Pouch”．
32．Moundsville is the site of the continent’s largest cone－shaped prehistoric burial mound．It is 69feet high and 900feet in circumference at the base and was opened on March 19，1838．
33．The first electric railroad in the world，built as a commercial enterprise，was constructed between Huntington and Guyandotte．
34．On September 10，1938，the Mingo Oak，largest and oldest white oak（［植］橡树）tree in the United States，was declared dead and felled with ceremony（典礼，仪式）．
35．Coal House，the only residence in the world built entirely of coal，is located in White Sulphur（硫磺）Springs．The house was occupied on June 1，1961．
36．The world’s largest shipment of matches（20carloads（车辆所载的货物，货车的最低载重量）or 210，000，000matches）was shipped from Wheeling to Memphis，Tennessee，on August 26，1933．
37．Daniel Boone made his last survey of Charleston on September 8，1798．He left the state in 1799．
38．William Tompkins used natural gas to evaporate［（使）蒸发，消失］salt brine（盐水）in 1841，thus becoming the first person in the United States to use natural gas for industrial purposes．
39．The last public hanging in West Virginia was held in Jackson County in December 1897．
40．The first glass plant in West Virginia was at Wellsburg in 1815．The first pottery plant was in Morgantown in 1785．
41．In May 1860，the first well in the state for producing crude oil was drilled at Burning Springs．
42．Stone that was quarried near Hinton was contributed by West Virginia for the Washington Monument and arrived in Washington in February 1885．
43．West Virginia University was established on February 7，1867under the name of “Agricultural College of West Virginia”．
44．Bailey Brown，the first Union solider killed in the Civil War，died on May 22，1861，at Fetterman，Taylor County．
