Charleston is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of West Virginia and the seat of Kanawha County. It is at the confluence of the Elk and Kanawha rivers. The population was 48,864 at the 2020 census. According to 2023 census estimates, the city has a population of 46,838. The Charleston metropolitan area had 203,164 residents in 2023.
The College of Charleston is a public university in Charleston, South Carolina, United States. Founded in 1770 and chartered in 1785, it is the oldest university in South Carolina, the 13th-oldest institution of higher learning in the US, and the oldest municipal college in the nation.
William Alexander MacCorkle, was an American teacher, lawyer, prosecutor, the ninth governor of West Virginia and state legislator of West Virginia, and financier. His residence in Charleston, known as Sunrise, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
The University of Charleston (UC) is a private university with its main campus in Charleston, West Virginia. It also has a location in Beckley, West Virginia, known as UC-Beckley.
West Virginia State University (WVSU) is a public historically black, land-grant university in Institute, West Virginia, United States. Founded in 1891 as the West Virginia Colored Institute. It is one of the original 19 land-grant colleges and universities established by the second Morrill Act of 1890, which evolved as a diverse and inclusive campus. Following desegregation, WVSU's student population slowly became more white than black. As of 2017, WVSU's student body was 75% white and only 8% African-American.
The Charleston Coliseum & Convention Center is a municipal complex located in the downtown area of Charleston, West Virginia, United States. Originally completed in 1958, it consists of four main components: the Coliseum, the Theater, the Auditorium, and the Convention Center.
Berkeley Springs State Park is a state park situated in Berkeley Springs, West Virginia, United States. The centerpiece of the Park is its historic mineral spa. These waters were celebrated for their medicinal or restorative powers and were generally taken internally for digestive disorders, or bathed in for stress relief. Native Americans visited these springs as did George Washington. Berkeley Springs is the only state-run spa in the United States and is operated by the West Virginia Division of Natural Resources.
The West Virginia State Capitol is the seat of government for the U.S. state of West Virginia, and houses the West Virginia Legislature and the office of the Governor of West Virginia. Located in Charleston, West Virginia, the building was dedicated in 1932. Along with the West Virginia Executive Mansion it is part of the West Virginia Capitol Complex, a historic district listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Little Beaver State Park is state park in Raleigh County, West Virginia. It is located near Beckley, West Virginia, about 2 miles (3.2 km) south of I-64 at Grandview Road, exit 129A. The park sits on the shores of 18-acre (0.07 km2) Little Beaver Lake.
The Sarasota Municipal Auditorium, listed in the National Register as Municipal Auditorium-Recreation Club, is a historic multi-purpose facility built-in 1938. It is located at 801 Tamiami Trail North and is owned/operated by the municipal government of Sarasota, Florida. The auditorium has 10,000 square feet (930 m2) of exhibit space on its main floor and also contains an Art Deco style stage measuring 1,500 square feet (140 m2).
Charleston station is an active intercity railroad station in Charleston, Kanawha County, West Virginia. Located on MacCorkle Avenue Southeast, the station services trains of Amtrak's Cardinal between New York Penn Station and Chicago Union Station. The two trains, make stops in Charleston on Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays. Charleston station contains a single 800-foot (240 m) concrete side platform and has a station depot that provides a waiting room for customers.
The Civic Center Music Hall is a performing arts center located in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. It was constructed in 1937 as Municipal Auditorium and renamed in 1966. The facility includes the Thelma Gaylord Performing Arts Theatre, the Freede Little Theatre, CitySpace, the Meinders Hall of Mirrors and the Joel Levine Rehearsal Hall.
Shreveport Municipal Memorial Auditorium is a historic performance and meeting venue at 705 Elvis Presley Boulevard in Shreveport, Louisiana. It is an Art Deco building constructed between 1926 and 1929 during the administration of Mayor Lee Emmett Thomas as a memorial to the servicemen of World War I. In 1991, the auditorium was listed on the National Register of Historic Places and on October 6, 2008, it was designated a National Historic Landmark.
Craik-Patton House is a historic home and public museum located at Charleston, West Virginia. It was built by James Craik and his wife, Juliet Shrewsbury, in 1834 in the Greek Revival style. It was originally located on Virginia Street in Charleston, but moved to its present site in 1973 to save it from the threat of demolition. It features four massive columns that support the extended center roof with pilasters placed above the front facade. It was faithfully restored and preserved for the public by the National Society of the Colonial Dames of America in the state of West Virginia and open for tours year round.
Mattie V. Lee Home is a historic home located at Charleston, West Virginia. It stands on what was once a densely packed commercial block close to the center of a historically African-American neighborhood in Charleston. It was built about 1920 and is a two-story concrete block structure with a prominent raised basement and features a two-tier front porch.
Sunrise, also known as MacCorkle Mansion, is a historic home located at Charleston, West Virginia. It was built in 1905 by West Virginia's ninth governor, William A. MacCorkle (1857-1930). It is a long, three-story stone mansion. Its gabled roof is dotted with dormers and chimneys and surmounts an intricate, but wide, cornice which gives the illusion that the house is smaller than it actually is. The Georgian structure rests on a bluff overlooking the Kanawha River, and from the northern portico one can see nearly the entire city of Charleston. The north side features four magnificent Doric, or neo-classic, columns which support the cornice and ashlar-finished pediment. In 1961 Sunrise Foundation, Inc., was formed for the purpose of purchasing the mansion and grounds.
Charleston City Hall is a historic city hall located at Charleston, West Virginia. It was constructed in 1921 in the Neoclassical style. It is located opposite the Kanawha County Courthouse, at the center of downtown Charleston. The major, or entrance, elevation faces Virginia Street with monumental design features and walls clad in smooth gray limestone. The equally impressive limestone-faced Court Street facade presents a grand prospect which runs southward for nearly a block between Virginia Street and Kanawha Boulevard. These two elevations are entirely formal in design because they were intended to face the courthouse and principal city thoroughfare. The four-story building is centered with a colossal engaged colonnade of six fluted Doric columns, which rises three-stories in support of a massive cornice. The interior features a grand entrance lobby, and classically designed stairhall and council chambers.
Kearse Theater was a historic theatre building located at Charleston, West Virginia. It was constructed in 1921 and composed of a single floor auditorium with balcony behind a three-story front section which included two storefronts. It was designed for stage shows as well as for movies. The theater was demolished in 1982.
Garnet High School, also known as Garnet Career Center and Garnet Adult Education Center, is a historic African-American high school in Charleston, West Virginia. The school was established when "twelve African-American students in Kanawha County passed an entrance examination for high school level course work." It was named after Henry Highland Garnet, a former slave who became the United States' ambassador to Liberia. It is a three-story, brick structure, constructed in 1928-29 from the plans of the prestigious Charleston architectural firm of Warne, Tucker, Silling and Hutchison, and dedicated December 2 to 4, 1929. The façade features a limestone-arched entrance containing two sets of double doors, transom light, and a limestone tympanum. Garnet was one of three high schools in the Kanawha Valley built for African-American students. It closed as a high school in 1956, following integration of the public schools, but has been used as a public resource building since that time.
Hiram "Hank" Williams died on January 1, 1953, at the age of 29. Williams was an American singer-songwriter and musician regarded as one of the most significant country music artists of all time. Williams was born with a mild undiagnosed case of spina bifida occulta, a disorder of the spinal column, which gave him lifelong pain—a factor in his later abuse of alcohol and other drugs. In 1951, Williams fell during a hunting trip in Tennessee, reactivating his old back pains and causing him to be dependent on alcohol and prescription drugs. This addiction eventually led to his divorce from Audrey Williams and his dismissal from the Grand Ole Opry.
