Averted Civil War: Virginia

In the event of the US Civil War being averted somehow, and gradual emancipation in the 1890s, West Virginia would likely remain part of Virginia. In OTL, West Virginia is a poor, backwater state. If it remained part of Virginia, would that not be the case? Would there be more development out west, or less? According to the combined Wikipedia statistics, in 2012, Virginia would have 10,041,280 people, making it the 8th largest state, rather than the 12th. It would have 63,528 square miles on land, bringing it from 36th place to the 21st place. What would the likely developments of Western Virginia be in this TL?
 
It depends upon how the overall state of Virginia does without the decimation of the Civil War.

Any chance Richmond develops into a city on the scale of Boston or Philly?
 
In the event of the US Civil War being averted somehow, and gradual emancipation in the 1890s, West Virginia would likely remain part of Virginia.

That's not clear. West Virginian separatism was significant long before the ACW.
What would the likely developments of Western Virginia be in this TL?

Continual agitation for separation. Of course there are vast knock-ons from no ACW. IMHO these dwarf the direct effects of continued incorporation in Virginia.
 
And said separatism was tied to how little attention Richmond paid to western Virginia's needs, if I'm not mistaken. So it sounds like continuing to be part of Virginia would hardly benefit the region.
 
Lots of states have "separatist" movements based in regions far away from the dominant locale. None of them lead to actual separate states. Absent the emergencies of war, western Virginia stays part of Virginia.

There is very little change economically in the region if it stays in Virginia. Without the people living there being in charge, it might be less well off since Richmond is less likely to address issues and complaints.

The only benefit I see is that as part of modern Virginia, the school system might be improved and western Virginians could take advantage of in-state tuition to some of Virginia's excellent colleges.

A harder to analyze situation is if there is no Civil War, then the wealth of Virginia is substantially greater, and the state as a whole might eventually industrialize more like Pennsylvania benefitting western Virginia indirectly. Or the continued presense of slavery might continue to distort Virginia's development. Hard to say with any certainty.
 
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