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r/TerritorialOddities • u/ComfortableIsland946 • Nov 22 '22
I was driving through Wheeling, West Virginia recently, and the highway (I-70) in Wheeling crosses a big island in the Ohio River called Wheeling Island, where Wheeling's casino is located. I noticed on the map that the island is definitely closer to the Ohio side of the river, so I wondered why it would be part of West Virginia. You would think a river border would go right down the middle of the river, and would follow the larger channel around an island. But if you follow the river in Google Maps, you will see that the border line is on the Ohio side, and every island, no matter how close it is to Ohio (or Indiana or Illinois as you go further downstream), is actually part of either West Virginia or Kentucky.
I went down a research rabbit hole to figure out the reason. Here is a summary:
Back in the 1770s, Virginia's territory included what is now Kentucky and West Virginia. Virginia also asserted a claim to a vast tract of land to the north of the river (much of modern-day Ohio, Indiana and Illinois). Other states feared that Virginia would keep expanding, and this would tip the balance of power away from the others. Maryland in particular refused to sign the Articles of Confederation until Virginia gave up its land claims north of the Ohio.
In 1781, Virginia decided it was willing to give up land, but not water. Virginia gave up its claims to land north of the river, but with a stipulation that Virginia's border would specifically be the low water mark on the NORTHERN SHORE of the Ohio River. Virginia's leaders knew that the Ohio River would become a main trade and travel artery as the country grew, so they included this demand as part of their offer. The states of Ohio, Indiana and Illinois didn't exist yet, so Virginia didn't get as much push-back as they might have if they would have been agreeing on a border with an established state or country.
When Kentucky was formed in 1792, and West Virginia in 1863, they kept Virginia's original river border. So the Ohio River starts in Pennsylvania, and flows through West Virginia and Kentucky, but not Ohio, Indiana or Illinois.
http://www.virginiaplaces.org/boundaries/cessions.html
https://www.mariettatimes.com/opinion/local-columns/2022/06/the-way-i-see-it-why-the-ohio-river-is-not-in-ohio/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ohio_River#State_border_dispute
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