Mountaineer Boys State

The American Legion Mountaineer Boys State (ALMBS), Mountaineer Boys State (MBS), is West Virginia’s charter of The American Legion's Boys State program founded in 1936 holding the second oldest Boys State charter in the nation. Boys State has been a program of The American Legion since 1935, founded in an effort to counter the socialism-inspired Young Pioneer Camps. ALMBS is the only program in the nation to remain in the same location, Jackson's Mill, where it was originally chartered. Jackson’s Mill is the boyhood homestead of Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson and is now part of WVU Jackson’s Mill, a state-owned museum property listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The program has halted operations only 4 times since its founding, taking a hiatus in 1943 & 1945 due to WWII Rationing and 2021 & 2022 due to the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Notable Alumni of the program include NBA legend & logo Jerry West and former West Virginia Governor Bob Wise.