The Northern Panhandle is the northern of the two

panhandles A salient (also known as a panhandle or bootheel) is an elongated protrusion of a geopolitical entity, such as a subnational entity or a sovereign state. While similar to a peninsula in shape, a salient is most often not surrounded by water on ...

in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sove ...

West Virginia West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian, Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States.The Census Bureau and the Association of American Geographers classify West Virginia as part of the Southern United States while the ...

. It is a culturally and geographically distinct region of the state. It is the state's northernmost extension, bounded by

Ohio Ohio () is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Of the List of states and territories of the United States, fifty U.S. states, it is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 34th-l ...

and the

Ohio River The Ohio River is a long river in the United States. It is located at the boundary of the Midwestern and Southern United States, flowing southwesterly from western Pennsylvania to its mouth on the Mississippi River at the southern tip of ...

on the north and west and the state of

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

on the east. Its unusual configuration is the result of the Revolutionary-era claims of Virginia's former Yohogania County boundary lying along the Ohio River, conflicting with interpretations of the

Colony of Pennsylvania The Province of Pennsylvania, also known as the Pennsylvania Colony, was a British North American colony founded by William Penn after receiving a land grant from Charles II of England in 1681. The name Pennsylvania ("Penn's Woods") refers to Wi ...

's royal charter. The conflict was settled by compromise in the 1780s. In 2013, its northernmost two counties were included in the Pittsburgh consolidated area by the U.S. Census. The region has a total combined population of 132,295 as of the 2010 census.

Counties

The following counties, listed from north to south, are universally accepted as being part of the Northern Panhandle: * Hancock County * Brooke County * Ohio County * Marshall County Most West Virginians also include Wetzel County, and sometimes Tyler County, directly to the south of Marshall County, as a part of the Northern Panhandle, although they do not lie strictly within the northern extension. Since statehood, they have formed the core of . The northern counties of the Northern Panhandle comprise part of the Weirton–Steubenville, WV–OH Metropolitan Statistical Area, as well as the western regions of

Greater Pittsburgh Greater Pittsburgh is a populous region centered around its largest city and economic hub, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The region encompasses Pittsburgh's urban core county, Allegheny, and six adjacent Pennsylvania counties: Armstrong, Beaver, B ...

. The southern counties are part of the Wheeling, WV–OH Metropolitan Area.

Economy

In the late 19th century, the Northern Panhandle developed as an industrial area, especially in the manufacturing of steel and glass products. It still largely retains its industrial character, although many of its factories have closed down or fallen on hard times like others in the

Rust Belt The Rust Belt is a region of the United States that experienced industrial decline starting in the 1950s. The U.S. manufacturing sector as a percentage of the U.S. GDP peaked in 1953 and has been in decline since, impacting certain regions an ...

. The region also contains the

Panhandle Coalfield The Panhandle Coalfield is a coalfield located in the Northern Panhandle of West Virginia counties of Hancock, Brooke, Ohio, Marshall, and Wetzel. Mining is primarily in the Pittsburgh coal seam, sometimes called the No. 8 seam, which is of a st ...

. Banks in these counties are serviced by the

Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland The Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland is the Cleveland-based headquarters of the U.S. Federal Reserve System's Fourth District. The district is composed of Ohio, western Pennsylvania, eastern Kentucky, and the northern panhandle of West Virginia ...

, while the rest of West Virginia is in the

Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond The Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond is the headquarters of the Fifth District of the Federal Reserve located in Richmond, Virginia. It covers the District of Columbia, Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, and most of West Virginia ...

Education

The region houses three four-year colleges—the

public In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociology, sociological concept of the ''Öf ...

West Liberty University West Liberty University (WLU) is a public university in West Liberty, West Virginia. It is West Virginia's oldest institution of higher education. It offers more than 70 undergraduate majors plus graduate programs, including a master's degree ...

and the private Bethany College and Wheeling University. All five counties listed in this article, plus Tyler County, are located within the service area of West Virginia Northern Community College.

References

{{Coord, 40, 10, N, 80, 35, W, region:US-WV_scale:500000, display=title Pittsburgh metropolitan area Regions of West Virginia Mason–Dixon line Borders of West Virginia Appalachia

Counties

Economy

Education

See also

References