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In the 1700s and 1800s, European immigrants, especially from the British Isles and Germany, moved to what is now West Virginia. Later, between the late 1800s and early 1900s, more immigrants came from southern and eastern Europe, including Hungary, Slovakia, Poland, Italy, and Greece. They came to work in industries such as coal, steel, and timber, and were often recruited by companies or the state.
Today, fewer immigrants move to West Virginia, but those who do often come from Asia, the Middle East, and the Pacific Islands. Many are professionals like doctors and engineers instead of manual laborers. These new groups also create cultural clubs and events, to keep their heritage alive. While most West Virginians are still native-born and White, immigrant communities continue to shape the state’s culture.
Germans were among the first European settlers in present-day West Virginia, arriving around the 1720s along the Potomac River. They established towns like Mecklenburg (now Shepherdstown) and settled in areas like Hampshire County. By the mid-1700...
The Scotch-Irish, also called "Ulster Scots," were one of the largest groups to settle in present-day West Virginia, arriving first in the Eastern Panhandle. They came to escape difficult conditions and anti-Presbyterian laws in northern Ireland, ...
Slavery was not widespread in what became West Virginia, with about 20,500 enslaved people in 1850, making up 6.8% of the population. Slavery was mainly concentrated in valleys like the Shenandoah, Kanawha, and Greenbrier, and enslaved people most...
The Irish were early settlers in Western Virginia, arriving in large numbers in the mid-1800s. They helped build key transportation networks like the National Road, the Chesapeake & Ohio Canal, and several turnpikes and railroads, including th...
Jews have lived in West Virginia since the 1840s, starting with a community in Wheeling. Many early immigrants were from Germany, and between 1880 and 1920, many Eastern European Jews settled here, often operating retail stores and shaping local e...
Italians arrived in massive numbers in the early 1900s, with over 17,000 settling in the state by 1910, mostly from southern Italy. Many worked as coal miners and were known for their hard work and impressive feats. Italians also worked in various...
In the early 1900s, Belgian immigrants, mostly Walloons, settled in West Virginia towns like South Charleston, Clarksburg, and Salem to work in the window-glass industry, attracted by the availability of cheap natural gas and silica sand. Many men...
Greeks began arriving in West Virginia in the early 1900s, escaping the Turkish draft and seeking work in industries such as mining and manufacturing. Many worked in factories or coal mines in places like Harrison County. By 1920, West Virginia's ...
Lebanese and Syrian immigrants began arriving in West Virginia in the 1880s, settling in cities like Charleston, Wheeling, and Parkersburg. They worked primarily in retail, starting as peddlers and later opening stores. By the 1930s, they were pla...
Polish immigrants became a major ethnic group in West Virginia in the early 1900s, attracted by jobs in the growing industrial sector. By 1908, they represented the third-largest group working in coal mines, especially in Fayette and Raleigh count...
Hungarians began arriving in West Virginia after 1900 to work in mining and manufacturing. Many were recruited by companies and promised travel costs that they had to work off. Most of these immigrants were single men who planned to return home af...
Muslims, followers of Islam, are a small but growing community in West Virginia. Before the 1960s, only a few Muslim families from the Middle East had settled in the state. The major increase in Muslim families began during the 1960s and 1970s, wh...
Early European-American Settlers
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