West Virginia was long a part of Virginia. Morgan Morgan began settlement of the region in 1727. A great battle with the Indians took place at Point Pleasant in 1774. West Virginia became a separate state of the Union in 1863. Giles County, Virginia, has an area of 369 square miles. It was formed in 1806 from Montgomery, Tazewell, and Monroe and was named for William B. Giles, United States Senator and Governor of Virginia from 1827 to 1830. Mountain Lake is in this county.