Back when it was all Virginia, the mountainous, industrial-leaning western half and the rolling, plantation-filled eastern half didn't see eye-to-eye for much of the 1800s—a situation that came to a head around the Civil War.

The western half of the state balked. And at the beginning of the 1860s it broke free, declaring itself its own entity and calling Virginia's secession illegal.

President Lincoln signed the West Virginia statehood bill on the last day of 1862. On June 20, 1863, West Virginia officially became a member of the Union—and the only state formed by a presidential proclamation.

Adopted in the state's constitution as part of the state seal, West Virginia's motto became "Mountaineers are always free."

Today, it's a state largely known for