NewsBreak Original

Most people who think about alcohol in West Virginia will conjure up an image of a Mountain Man hunched over his illegal whiskey stills in the dead of night, paranoid the local lawman is about to find his secret location.

Although the cities in West Virginia’s eastern panhandle often get lumped into the Baltimore and Washington DC metro areas, one small city is named after another lesser-known Washington: President George Washington’s youngest brother Charles. The city may have begun as Charles Washington’s estate and the streets he laid out around his home, but these days, it’s best known for the nearby Civil War battlefields, its historic sites, the surrounding wilderness, and a bustling downtown.

Demarcating the westernmost edge of West Virginia’s “Chemical Valley” is the city of Nitro. Long before it was a city, Nitro was chosen to be the site of one of the biggest gunpowder manufacturing facilities during World War I, hence its namesake “nitrocellulose.”

With cold temperatures settling in and the Covid-19 best practices changing often, residents of Charleston, WV wouldn’t be remiss to feel trapped in their homes. However, with the appropriate clothing and shoes, there are still plenty of fun outdoor activities to partake in.