Weirton – Weirton, West Virginia - Atlas Obscura

Weirton

Weirton, West Virginia

In an odd geographic anomaly this city borders two different states on opposite sides of town.  

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On West Virginia’s Northern Panhandle is Weirton, a city of 20,000 that holds the distinction of being the only city in America to be bordered by two different states on opposite sides of town.

What makes Weirton unique is that it borders on two other states besides the one it is located in, but without being at a tri-point. Sandwiched in a five-mile gap between Ohio and Pennsylvania, Weirton borders the cities of Steubenville, Ohio on the west, and Paris, Pennsylvania on the east. That means that anyone living in Weirton can travel to both Ohio and Pennsylvania without having to travel through any other West Virginia towns.

The city of Hancock, Maryland comes close to matching Weirton’s odd feat, but it falls a few hundred feet short of touching the Pennsylvania-Maryland border to the north.

A steel-making town that was the site of the film Super 8 in 2010, much of Weirton’s economical growth is a direct result of its border with Pennsylvania. Due to its proximity to Pittsburgh, Weirton has marketed itself as a “bedroom community” where Pittsburgh workers can get much cheaper rent than is available in the city.

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