West Virginia's religious history began with Scotch-Irish settlers bringing Presbyterianism. During the Second Great Awakening (1790-1830), Baptists and Methodists gained followers, with Methodist preacher Francis Asbury spreading the faith. Other denominations like Baptists, Presbyterians, Episcopalians, Catholics, and the Disciples of Christ also grew. During the Civil War, many denominations split over slavery, and religious leaders, especially Methodists, played a key role in the state's history.

Catholic communities began after the American Revolution when anti-Catholic laws were repealed. Irish Catholic immigrants arrived in the 1840s with the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad. Jewish migration to West Virginia followed the trend of Jews moving to the U.S. from Germany and Eastern Europe. From 1840 to 1880, many Jews moved to escape economic hardship and repression. Jewish immigrants settled in West Virginia as early as the 1770s, with Wheeling forming the first Jewish community in the 1840s and Charleston's German Jewish community forming a congregation in 1873.