Charleston is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of West Virginia and the seat of Kanawha County. Located at the confluence of the Elk and Kanawha rivers, the city had a population of 48,864 at the 2020 census and an estimated population of 48,018 in 2021. The Charleston metropolitan area had 308,248 residents in 2020.
The Kanawha River is a tributary of the Ohio River, approximately 97 mi (156 km) long, in the U.S. state of West Virginia. The largest inland waterway in West Virginia, its watershed has been a significant industrial region of the state since early in the 19th century.
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.
The Battle of Charleston was a Confederate victory in Kanawha County, Virginia, on September 13, 1862, during the American Civil War. Troops led by Major General William W. Loring defeated a Union force led by Colonel Joseph Andrew Jackson Lightburn. This battle, which featured extensive use of artillery but few casualties, was the second major fight in Loring's Kanawha Valley Campaign of 1862 that succeeded in driving Union forces out of the Kanawha River Valley. All points in the Kanawha River Valley were in the southwestern part of Virginia at the time of the battle, but are now part of the state of West Virginia.
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.
Bulltown is an extinct town in Braxton County, West Virginia, United States. The GNIS classifies it as a populated place.
St. John's Episcopal Church is an historic Episcopal church located at 1105 Quarrier Street in Charleston, West Virginia, in the United States. On November 2, 1989, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places. It was also listed as a contributing property in the Downtown Charleston Historic District in 2006.
Cox-Parks House is a historic home located at Charleston, West Virginia. Emma Cox, the wife of Frank Cox, leader of several coal companies in the Kanawha Valley, had this home built for herself in about 1925 when she gave the old "Home Hill" to her daughter's family. It is an elaborate bungalow in the Prairie School-style. The exterior features clean white stucco and green tile and a double entrance and flanking double windows, housed by a recessed porch.
Thomas-McJunkin-Love House is a historic home located at Charleston, West Virginia. It was built for James R. Thomas, president of the Carbon Fuel Company, a coal mining business in the Kanawha Valley. Known originally as "The Maples," it was built for him and his family around 1921. It is in the English Tudor style and features half timbering in some of the gables and brick in others, but the exterior is predominantly in stucco.
Laidley-Summers-Quarrier House, also known as Glenwood, is a historic home located at Charleston, West Virginia. It is a two-story gable roofed dwelling in the Greek Revival style and built in 1852.
Holly Grove Mansion, also known as Holly Grove Inn or Ruffner Mansion, is a historic home located at Charleston, West Virginia on the grounds of the West Virginia State Capitol. It is a large brick house with a front section made to accommodate three floors and rear section housing two. It features a massive two story, semi-circular portico at the front entrance. It was constructed originally in 1815 as the home of Daniel Ruffner, one of a family which helped develop the early salt industry in the Kanawha Valley. It gained its present-day appearance in about 1902 when new owner, John Nash, undertook substantial remodeling. In 1979, the mansion underwent an extensive rehabilitation when it became headquarters for the West Virginia Commission on Aging.
Littlepage Stone Mansion, also known as The Old Stone Mansion, is a historic home located at Charleston, West Virginia. It was constructed in 1845 is one of only six houses within the City of Charleston that date to before the American Civil War. It was originally constructed as a two-story Federal style residence, with additions and improvements made in 1915 and 1936.
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.
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.
Downtown Charleston Historic District is a national historic district located at Charleston, West Virginia, USA. The district contains contributing structures in the Late Victorian and Late 19th and 20th Century Revivals architectural styles. St. John's Episcopal Church (1884), the Basilica of the Co-Cathedral of the Sacred Heart (1897), and Woodrums' Building (1916) are contributing properties.
African Zion Baptist Church is a historic Baptist church at 4104 Malden Drive in Malden, Kanawha County, West Virginia. It is within the Malden Historic District.
The West Virginia Capitol Complex is an 18-acre (7.3 ha) historic district located along Kanawha Blvd., E., in Charleston, West Virginia. It dates from 1925 and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1974.
"Oakland," also known as the James M. Stephenson House, is a home located in Parkersburg, Wood County, West Virginia. Although a slaveholder and sympathizing with the Confederacy, Stephenson was also married to the sister of Unionist Arthur Boreman, and allowed then Union Army Col. James B. Steedman to use his grove nearby during the American Civil War. However, Union cavalry units occupied this his mansion for a time nonetheless, and damaged furnishings as well as the home and garden.
James Craik was a noted preacher, author, lawyer, and amateur architect. He was born on August 31, 1806, in Alexandria, Virginia, to George Washington Craik, secretary to President George Washington during his second term, and Maria Tucker. He was the grandson of Dr. James Craik, President George Washington's physician. He married Juliet Shrewsbury and had eleven children.
Walter Frederic Martens was an American architect who worked mainly in West Virginia. He is best known for building the West Virginia Governor's Mansion (1926).
