Charleston was established in the late 18th century and formally incorporated in 1794, with the trustees beingDaniel Boone,Leonard Morris, andWilliam Morris.[10] The city gained prominence in the 19th century with the growth of the salt industry and later expanded due to coal mining and the firstnatural gas well.[11] AfterWest Virginia separated from Virginia, Charleston became the permanent state capital in 1885. Its economy and infrastructure further evolved in the 20th century with the rise ofchemical manufacturing and public sector employment.
After theAmerican Revolutionary War, pioneers began making their way across the Appalachian Mountains into western Virginia.Virginian militia officerWilliam Morris built the first permanent settlement in the Kanawha Valley, named Fort Morris, in 1773. It was about 20 mi (32 km) upstream of modern Charleston, at the confluence ofKellys Creek, and was used extensively during theAmerican Revolution.[12]
Thomas Bullitt was deeded 1,250 acres (5 km2) of land near the mouth of theElk River in 1773. It was inherited by his brother,Cuthbert Bullitt, upon his death in 1778, and sold to Colonel George Clendenin in 1786. Clendenin and his company of Virginia Rangers built the first permanent settlement, Fort Lee, in 1787. This structure occupied the area that is now the intersection of Brooks Street and Kanawha Boulevard. Historical conjecture indicates that Charleston is named after Clendenin's father, Charles. In 1794, theVirginia General Assembly officially established Charlestown.[13] On the 40 acres (160,000 m2) that made up the town in 1794, 35 people inhabited seven houses.
In 1791,Daniel Boone, who was commissioned a lieutenant colonel of the Kanawha County militia, was elected to serve in theVirginia House of Delegates. Boone supposedly walked all the way toRichmond, the state capital. He served alongside MajorWilliam Morris Jr, representing Kanawha.
By the early 19th century, salt brines were discovered along the Kanawha River, and the firstsalt well was drilled in 1806.[14] This created great economic growth in the area. By 1808, 1,250 pounds of salt were being produced daily, and theFarmers' Repository newspaper began publication.[15] An area adjacent to Charleston, Kanawha Salines (nowMalden), became the world's top salt producer. Brine was heated over open flames, causing the water to evaporate and leaving a residue of salt crystals. Much of the work was done by enslaved peoples. Historian Cyrus Forman estimated that at the height of production as many as 3,000 slaves worked at more than 60 salt furnaces, which operated 24 hours a day, seven days a week.[16] TheHolly Grove Mansion was established during this period.[14] In 1818, the Kanawha Salt Company, the first trust in the United States, went into operation. In the same year, "Charlestown" was shortened to "Charleston" to avoid confusion with anotherCharles Town in eastern West Virginia, named after George Washington's brother,Charles Washington.[17] Alyceum was established around 1841.[18]
Captain James Wilson, while drilling for salt, struck the firstnatural gas well in 1815. It was drilled at the site that is now the junction of Brooks Street and Kanawha Boulevard (near the present-day state capitol complex). In 1817,coal was first discovered and gradually became used as the fuel for the salt works. The Kanawha salt industry declined in importance after 1861, until the onset ofWorld War I brought a demand for chemical products. The chemicals needed werechlorine andsodium hydroxide, which could be made from salt brine.
The town continued to grow until theCivil War began in 1861. After theVirginia Secession Convention of 1861 and a referendum, Virginia seceded from theUnion. But Charleston, like much of western Virginia, was divided in loyalty between the Union and theConfederacy. On September 13, 1862, the Union and Confederate armies clashed in theBattle of Charleston. TheConfederates won, but could not hold the area for long. Union soldiers returned in force six weeks later and retook the city.[14] Charleston remained under Union control for the remainder of the war.
The second capitol building of West Virginia was built in 1885 after Charleston was declared the capital city. It burned down in 1921.
In addition to the dispute over slavery, the North wanted to separate West Virginia from the rest of the state for economic reasons. The heavy industries in the North, particularly the steel business of the upperOhio River region, depended on coal from western Virginia mines. Federal units from Ohio marched into western Virginia early in the war solely to capture the mines and control transportation in the area.[citation needed] TheWheeling Convention of 1861 declared the Ordinance of Succession, and the Confederate state government inRichmond, illegal and void, and formed the UnionistRestored Government of Virginia. The Restored Government and the United States Congress approved the formation of the state ofWest Virginia, which was admitted on June 20, 1863, as the 35th state, and the Restored Government of Virginia moved toAlexandria.[17]
Choosing the state capital proved difficult. For several years, the capital moved betweenWheeling and Charleston.[19] In 1877, the citizens voted on a permanent location. Charleston received 41,243 votes,Clarksburg 29,442, andMartinsburg 8,046; Wheeling was not considered. Eight years later the state capitol opened in Charleston.[14]
An African American neighborhood in Charleston, 1938
Charleston became the center of state government. Natural resources, such ascoal andnatural gas, along withrailroad expansion, also contributed to growth. New industries such as chemical,glass,timber andsteel migrated to the state, attracted by the area's natural resources. The city established a chamber of commerce in 1900.[22] There was a large amount of new construction in Charleston during this period. A number of those buildings, including churches and office buildings, still stand in the heart of downtown along and bordering Capitol Street. The State Bureau of Archives and History was established in 1905, and the Charleston Public Library was established in 1909.[20][23]
The city's first chemical manufacturer began operation in 1913.[14] Three years later, theLibbey-Owens-Ford glass manufactory was built,[24] as well asCharleston High School. Another large manufacturer,Owens Bottle Company, opened in 1917.Charleston City Hall was built in 1921. In the same year, a fire at the capitol building resulted in a new, hastily built structure being opened, but it too burned down in 1927. A Capitol Building Commission, created by the legislature in 1921, authorized construction of thepresent capitol. ArchitectCass Gilbert designed the buff-coloredIndiana limestone structure in theItalian Renaissance style, with a final cost of just under $10 million. After the three stages of construction were completed, GovernorWilliam G. Conley dedicated the West Virginia State Capitol on June 20, 1932. Charleston Municipal Airport was established in 1909.[17] In 1934, the city library expanded to become the Kanawha County Public Library system.[23] In 1935,Morris Harvey College relocated to Charleston fromBarboursville, West Virginia.[25]
A chemical plant near Charleston in 1939
Charleston Municipal Auditorium was completed in 1939.[14] DuringWorld War II, the first and largeststyrene-butadiene plant in the U.S. opened in nearbyInstitute, providing areplacement forrubber to the war effort.[26] After the war ended, Charleston was on the brink of some significant construction. One of the first during this period was Kanawha Airport (nowYeager Airport, named after GeneralChuck Yeager). Built in 1947, the construction encompassed clearing 360 acres (1.5 km2) on three mountaintops and moving more than nine million cubic yards of earth.[13] Kanawha Boulevard, a riverfront four-lane road, was also built in the early 1940s.[14] TheCharleston Civic Center opened in 1959. Charleston began to be integrated into theInterstate Highway System in the 1960s when three major interstate systems—I-64,I-77 andI-79 were designated, all converging in Charleston. In 1961, theKanawha River flooded much of the lower-lying parts of Charleston.[17] In 1973, Morris Harvey College was renamed to be theUniversity of Charleston.[25]
Capitol Street, June 1973
In 1983, theCharleston Town Center opened its doors downtown. It was the largest urban-based mall east of theMississippi River, featuring three stories of shops and eateries. Downtown revitalization began in earnest in the late 1980s. Funds were set aside for streetscaping as Capitol and Quarrier streets saw new building facades, trees along the streets, and brick walkways installed. For a time, the opening of the Charleston Town Center Mall had a somewhat negative impact on the main streets of downtown Charleston, as many businesses closed and relocated into the mall. Also in 1983, West Virginia Public Radio launched a live-performance radio program statewide calledMountain Stage.[27] What began as a live, monthly statewide broadcast went on to national distribution in 1986 throughNational Public Radio and around the world on theVoice of America satellite service.
The Robert C. Byrd Federal Building,Haddad Riverfront Park, and Capitol Market are just a few of the new developments that have helped growth in the downtown area during the 1990s. Charleston launched its city website in 1998.[28][29]
PresidentBill Clinton addressing a crowd in Charleston in 1993
2003 marked the opening of theClay Center for the Arts & Sciences.[13] The center includes the Maier Foundation Performance Hall, the Walker Theatre, the Avampato Discovery Museum and theJuliet Art Museum. Also on site is the ElectricSky Theater, a 175-seat combinationplanetarium and dome-screen cinema. Movies shown at the theatre include educational large format (70 mm) presentations and are often seen in similarOmnimax theatres. Planetarium shows are staged as a combination of pre-recorded and live presentations. TheWest Virginia Music Hall of Fame was established in 2005.[30]
Many festivals and events were also incorporated into the calendar, including Multifest, Vandalia Festival, a July 4 celebration with fireworks at Haddad Riverfront Park, and the already popular Sternwheel Regatta, which was founded in 1970, provided a festive atmosphere for residents to enjoy. In 2005 FestivALL Charleston was established and has grown into a ten-day festival offering a variety of performances, events and exhibits in music, dance, theatre, visual arts and other entertainments.
Charleston has one central agency for its economic development efforts, the Charleston Area Alliance. The Alliance works with local public officials and the private sector to build the economy of the region and revitalize its downtown. Charleston also has an economic and community development organization focused on the East End and West Side urban neighborhood business districts, Charleston Main Streets.
According to theUnited States Census Bureau, the city has an area of 32.535 square miles (84.27 km2), of which 31.397 square miles (81.32 km2) is land and 1.138 square miles (2.95 km2) is water.[3]
Charleston has a four-seasonhumid subtropical climate (KöppenCfa) with continental climate (Dfa) elements.[32] Especially in winter, Charleston's average temperatures are warmer than the rest of the state, due to the city being west of the higher elevations. Spring is the most unpredictable season, and spring-like weather usually arrives in late March or early April. From the beginning of March through early May, temperatures can vary considerably and it is not unusual at this time for day-to-day temperature fluctuations to exceed 20 °F (11 °C). Temperatures warm up considerably in late May, with warm summer-like days. Summer is warm to hot, with 23 days of highs at or above 90 °F (32 °C),[33] sometimes reaching 95 °F (35 °C), often accompanied by high humidity. Autumn features crisp evenings that warm quickly to mild to warm afternoons. Winters are chilly, with a January daily average of 34.4 °F (1.3 °C), and with a mean of 16 days with maxima at or below the freezing mark.[33] Snowfall generally occurs from late November to early April, with the heaviest period being January and February. However, major snowstorms of more than 10 inches (25 cm) are rare. The area averages about 3.5 inches (89 mm) of precipitation each month. Thunderstorms are frequent during the late spring and throughout the summer, and occasionally they can be quite severe, producing the raretornado.
Record temperatures have ranged from −17 °F (−27 °C) on December 30, 1917, to 108 °F (42 °C) on August 6, 1918, and July 4, 1931.[33] Decades can pass between temperatures of 100 °F (37.8 °C) or hotter, and the last such instance wasJuly 8, 2012.[33] The record cold maximum is 4 °F (−16 °C) on December 22, 1989 (during theDecember 1989 United States cold wave). The record warm minimum is 84 °F (29 °C) on July 29, 1924.[33] Thehardiness zone is 7a.
Climate data for Charleston, West Virginia (Yeager Airport), 1991–2020 normals,[a] extremes 1892–present
Charleston, West Virginia – racial and ethnic composition Note: the US Census treats Hispanic/Latino as an ethnic category. This table excludes Latinos from the racial categories and assigns them to a separate category. Hispanics/Latinos may be of any race.
As of the2020 census, there were 48,864 people, 22,082 households, and 11,685 families residing in the city.[39] Thepopulation density was 1,551.2 inhabitants per square mile (598.9/km2). There were 25,766 housing units. The racial makeup of the city was 74.7%White, 14.8%African American, 0.3%Native American, 2.6%Asian, 0.0%Pacific Islander, 1.1% from some other races and 6.6% from two or more races.Hispanic or Latino people of any race were 2.0% of the population.[40]
There were 22,082 households, of which 36.8% weremarried couples living together, 34.7% had a female householder with no spouse present, 22% had a male householder with no spouse present. The average household and family size was 2.94. The median age in the city was 41.7 years with 18.9% of the population under 18. The median income for a household in the city was $54,101 and the poverty rate was 17.5%.
The median age in the city was 36.0. 27.6% of residents were under the age of 18; 7.6% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 26.9% were between the ages of 25 and 44; 21.9% were between the ages of 45 and 64; and 13.9% were 65 and older. The gender makeup of the city was 50.9% male and 49.1% female.
There are 21,746 households accounted for in the 2022 ACS, with an average of 2.12 persons per household. The city's a median gross rent is $870 in the 2022 ACS. The 2022 ACS reports a median household income of $58,902, with 60.8% of households are owner occupied. 17.0% of the city's population lives at or below thepoverty line (down from previous ACS surveys). The city boasts a 56.6% employment rate, with 43.2% of the population holding a bachelor's degree or higher and 92.1% holding a high school diploma.[41]
The top nine reported ancestries (people were allowed to report up to two ancestries, thus the figures will generally add to more than 100%) were English (15.8%), German (13.5%), Irish (11.7%), Italian (3.9%), Scottish (2.3%), Subsaharan African (1.7%), French (except Basque) (1.2%), Polish (1.1%), and Norwegian (0.5%).
As of the2010 census, there were 51,400 people, 23,453 households, and 12,587 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,630.7 inhabitants per square mile (629.6/km2). There were 26,205 housing units at an average density of 831.4 inhabitants per square mile (321.0/km2). The racial makeup of the city was 78.4%White, 15.5%African American, 0.2%Native American, 2.3%Asian, 0.3% fromother races, and 3.2% from two or more races.Hispanic or Latino people of any race were 1.4% of the population.
There were 23,453 households, of which 24.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 35.6% weremarried couples living together, 14.1% had a female householder with no husband present, 3.9% had a male householder with no wife present, and 46.3% were non-families. 39.4% of all households were made up of individuals, and 13.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.11 and the average family size was 2.83.
The median age in the city was 41.7 years. 20.1% of residents were under the age of 18; 9% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 24.9% were from 25 to 44; 29.9% were from 45 to 64; and 16.1% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the city was 47.6% male and 52.4% female.
As of the2000 census, there were 53,421 people, 24,505 households, and 13,624 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,690.4 inhabitants per square mile (652.7/km2). There were 27,131 housing units at an average density of 858.5 inhabitants per square mile (331.5/km2). The racial makeup of the city was 80.63%White, 15.07%Black or African American, 0.24%Native American, 1.83%Asian, 0.03%Pacific Islander, 0.30% fromother races, and 1.91% from two or more races.Hispanic or Latino people of any race were 0.81% of the population.
There were 24,505 households, out of which 23.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 38.9% weremarried couples living together, 13.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 44.4% were non-families. 38.9% of all households were made up of individuals, and 14.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.11 and the average family size was 2.82.
The age distribution was 20.7% under 18, 8.4% from 18 to 24, 27.9% from 25 to 44, 25.3% from 45 to 64, and 17.6% who were 65 or older. The median age was 41 years. For every 100 females there were 87.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 83.7 males.
The median income for a household in the city was at least $34,009, and the median income for a family was $47,975. Males had a median income of $38,257 versus $26,671 for females. Theper capita income for the city was $26,017. About 12.7% of families and 16.7% of the population were below thepoverty line, including 24.5% of those under age 18 and 11.3% of those age 65 or over.
Charleston is home to numerous annual events and fairs that take place from the banks of theKanawha River to the capitol grounds.
The West Virginia Dance Festival, held between April 25 and 30, features dance students from across the state that attend classes and workshops in ballet, jazz, and modern dance. At the finale, the students give free public performances at the West Virginia State Theatre.
Symphony Sunday, held annually since 1982, usually the first weekend in June, is a full day of music, food, and family fun culminating in a free performance by theWest Virginia Symphony Orchestra and a fireworks display. Throughout the day, local community dance and music ensembles perform. Ensembles that perform on Symphony Sunday include the Kanawha Valley Ringers, the West Virginia Kickers, the Charleston Metro Band, the West Virginia Youth Symphony, the Mountain State Brass Band, and the Kanawha Valley Community Band. The now-defunct Charleston Neophonic Orchestra also performed at the event.[44]
Twice a year, in late April and early November, the West Virginia International Film Festival occurs,[45] at which many domestic and international films are shown, including full-length feature films, shorts, documentaries, animation, and student films.
OnMemorial Day weekend, the Vandalia Gathering[46] is held on the state capitol grounds. Thousands of visitors each year enjoy traditional music, art, dance, stories, crafts, and food that stems from West Virginia's mountain culture.
Since 2005, FestivALL[47] has provided the Charleston area with cultural and artistic events beginning on June 20 (West Virginia Day) and including dance, theater, and music. FestivALL provides local artists a valuable chance to display their works and help get others interested in, and involved with, the local artistic community. Highlights include an art fair on Capitol Street and local bands playing live music at stages set up throughout downtown, as well as a wine and jazz festival on the campus of theUniversity of Charleston featuring local and nationally known jazz artists and showcasing the products of West Virginia vineyards.
The Charleston Sternwheel Regatta is an annual river festival held on the Kanawha Boulevard by Haddad Riverfront Park on the Kanawha River. Founded in 1970, it was originally held during Labor Day weekend each year until its discontinuation in 2008, but after its revival in 2022, it is now held duringIndependence Day weekend. The event has carnival-style rides and attractions and live music from local and nationally known bands.[48]
Charleston has several older buildings in various architectural styles. About50 places in Charleston are on theNational Register of Historic Places.[49] A segment of the East End consisting of several blocks of Virginia and Quarrier Streets, encompassing an area of nearly a full square mile, has been officially designated as a historical neighborhood. The neighborhood has many houses dating from the late 19th and early 20th century as well as a fewart deco style apartment buildings dating from the 1920s and early 30s.
Downtown Charleston is home to several commercial buildings between 80 and 115 years old, including the Security Building (corner of Virginia and Capitol Street), 405 Capitol Street (the former Daniel Boone Hotel), the Union Building (at the southern end of Capitol Street), the Kanawha County Courthouse, the Public Library (corner of Capitol and Quarrier Streets), and the Masonic Temple (corner of Virginia and Dickenson Street). Also of note are several historic churches grouped closely together in a neighborhood just east of downtown;Basilica of the Co-Cathedral of the Sacred Heart (one of the two cathedrals of theRoman Catholic Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston), First Presbyterian Church, Kanawha United Presbyterian Church, St. John's Episcopal Church, Charleston Baptist Temple, St. Paul's Evangelical Lutheran Church, and Christ Church United Methodist.
Other historic buildings can be found throughout the city, particularly in the broader East End, the West Side, and Kanawha City. They include the Avampato Discovery Museum (now part of theClay Center for the Arts & Sciences), Sunrise Museum, (now part of theClay Center for the Arts & Sciences),West Virginia State Museum, St. George Orthodox Cathedral, St. Marks United Methodist Church, the Capitol Theater, and the Woman's Club of Charleston.[citation needed]
In 1983, theCharleston Town Center became the largest downtown mall east of the Mississippi River.[50] It is a three-story shopping and dining facility, formerly with 130 specialty stores; 30 remain open. The closures ofSears in 2017,Macy's in 2019 andJ.C. Penney in 2025, made a branch of Encova Insurance the sole remaining commercial anchor pad in the mall. Their space was occupied by various other insurance companies after Montgomery Ward left the mall in 2000. In 2021, it was announced that Hull Group, based inAugusta GA, will add the Town Center to its roster of malls in the eastern US and will work toward redeveloping the mall.[51]
There are five major shopping plazas in Charleston, two in the Kanawha City neighborhood—The Shops at Kanawha and Kanawha Landing—and three in the Southridge area, divided between Charleston andSouth Charleston—Southridge Centre, Dudley Farms Plaza, and The Shops at Trace Fork.
Cato Park — Charleston's largest municipal park, including a golf course, Olympic-size swimming pool and picnic areas
Coonskin Park — Includes swimming pool, boathouse, clubhouse with dining facilities, tennis courts, putt putt golf, an 18-hole par 3 golf course, driving range, and fishing lake. Schoenbaum Soccer Field and Amphitheatre inside the park is the home ofWest Virginia United soccer team
Daniel Boone Park — A 4-acre (16,000 m2) park with a boat ramp, fishing and picnic facilities
Danner Meadow Park
Kanawha State Forest — A 9,300-acre (38 km2) forest, including 46 campsites (in the community of Loudendale)
Magic Island — An area at the junction of the Elk River and the Kanawha River, near Kanawha Boulevard.
Charleston functions has amayor-council form of city government. Themayor is the city's designated chief executive, with the duty to see that all city laws and ordinances are enforced. The mayor gives general supervision over all executive departments, offices, and agencies of the city government and is the presiding officer of the council and a voting member thereof. Amy Goodwin was sworn in as mayor on January 7, 2019, and is Charleston's first female mayor.[52] Charleston also has a city manager, who is appointed by the mayor and approved by the council. Benjamin Mishoe took office as city manager in 2023. The city manager has supervision and control of the executive work and management of the heads of all departments under his or her control as directed by the mayor, makes all contracts for labor and supplies, and generally is responsible for all the city's business and administrative work.
The Charleston City Council has 26 members. Twenty of the members are elected from a specificward within the city, and the other six are elected by the city at-large.
General elections for mayor, city council, and other city officers take place in November every four years, coinciding with midterm election races for Congress and the state legislature. Primary elections are held in May. The most recent election was in 2022. Until 2018, elections were held in off-cycle years, with primaries in March and general elections in May.[53]
Charleston has numerous schools that are part ofKanawha County Schools. The three high schools are:
Capital High School, a public school in the community of Meadowbrook. It was established by the consolidation of Charleston High School and Stonewall Jackson High School. It opened in 1989.
Charleston hosts a branch campus ofWest Virginia University that serves as a clinical campus for the university's medical and dental schools. Students at either school must complete their classwork at the main campus inMorgantown but can complete their clinical rotations at hospitals in Morgantown, the Eastern Panhandle, or Charleston. Students fromWest Virginia School of Osteopathic Medicine may also complete their clinical rotations at the branch campus after completing their first two academic years at the main campus inLewisburg.
Charleston is also home to a 1,000-student private college, theUniversity of Charleston, formerly Morris Harvey College. It is on MacCorkle Avenue, along the banks of theKanawha River (directly across from the capitol), in South Ruffner.
Charleston was also home to West Virginia Junior College's Charleston campus until 2020, when it relocated to Cross Lanes.[54]WV Junior College is accredited by theAccrediting Council for Independent Colleges and Schools to award diplomas and associate degrees. Part of the Kanawha Valley for almost 115 years, WV Junior College was established as Capitol City Commercial College in 1892. It was originally established to train students in secretarial and business skills and has undergone changes in location and curriculum over the years.
Charleston's only major newspaper is theCharleston Gazette-Mail. It was formerly two separate newspapers, the morningCharleston Gazette and afternoonCharleston Daily Mail. The city's first newspaper was theFarmers' Repository, first published in 1808.[15] Other newspapers included the 1819Spectator and 1872Kanawha Chronicle, a precursor to the modernGazette-Mail.[14][15]
The Charleston–Huntington TV market is the second-largest television market by area east of the Mississippi River and 64th-largest in terms of households in the U.S., serving counties in central West Virginia, easternKentucky, and southernOhio. There are fourVHF and tenUHF television stations in the market.WSAZ-TV was the market's first station, going on air in 1949.[63]
Charleston is served byInterstate 64,Interstate 77, andInterstate 79. TheWest Virginia Turnpike's northern terminus is at the city's southeastern end. Two U.S. routes,US 60 andUS 119, cut through the city center.US 21 andUS 35 formerly ran through Charleston.WV 25,WV 61,WV 62, andWV 114 are all state highways that are within Charleston's city limits. Interstate 64 crosses theKanawha River four times as it passes through the Charleston metropolitan area. TheElk River flows into the Kanawha River in downtown Charleston.
Amtrak, the national passenger rail service, provides tri-weekly service to Charleston via theCardinal routes. The Amtrak station is on the south side of the Kanawha River, at 350 MacCorkle Avenue, near downtown. Until the 1960s, several dailyChesapeake and Ohio Railway trains traversed central West Virginia, making stops in Charleston. Destinations in the midwest included St. Louis, Chicago, Detroit, and Louisville. To the east the trains terminated in eitherWashington, D.C. orNewport News, Virginia. These featured theFast Flying Virginian,George Washington, and theSportsman. Into the late 1940s, theNew York Central Railroad operated passenger trains betweenColumbus, Ohio, and Charleston.[64]
The Charleston Police Department (CPD) is West Virginia's second-largest police department[66] and the state's largest municipal/city police department. In 2008, Charleston Police had 168 sworn officers, two animal control officers, and 29 civilian employees.[66]
Charleston Area Medical Center is a complex of hospitals throughout the city. Thomas Health is a complex of hospitals and healthcare centers in the Charleston area.[67] Highland Hospital (Kanawha City) is a behavioral health facility.
USAT General Frank M. Coxe was built in Charleston in 1922 by the Charles Ward Engineering Works. She served as an Army transport and later a cruise ship onSan Francisco Bay. She is now preserved as a floating restaurant inBurlingame, California, just south of San Francisco.
^Mean monthly maxima and minima (i.e. the expected highest and lowest temperature readings at any point during the year or given month) calculated based on data at said location from 1981 to 2020.
^Shepherd, Samuel (1835).Statutes at Large of Virginia from October Session 1792 to December Session 1806 (1st ed.). Richmond, Virginia: Commonwealth of Virginia. p. 322.ISBN0404060102.{{cite book}}:ISBN / Date incompatibility (help)
^abcRichard A. Andre."Charleston".West Virginia Encyclopedia. Charleston, WV: West Virginia Humanities Council.Archived from the original on March 5, 2017. RetrievedMarch 7, 2017. (Includes timeline)
^Appleton Prentiss Clark Griffin (1907),Bibliography of American Historical Societies, Annual Report of the American Historical Association (2nd ed.), Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, pp. 942+,hdl:2027/uc2.ark:/13960/t7dr2pp5f,West Virginia
^Lilly, John (January 21, 2016)."West Virginia Music Hall of Fame".West Virginia Encyclopedia. West Virginia Humanities Council.Archived from the original on November 8, 2021. RetrievedNovember 29, 2021.
W. S. Laidley (1911),History of Charleston and Kanawha County, West Virginia, and Representative Citizens, Chicago: Richmond-Arnold Publishing Co.,OCLC3645365,OL25173948M
Thomas Condit Miller; Hu Maxwell (1913)."Kanawha County".West Virginia and Its People. New York: Lewis Historical Publishing Company.Archived from the original on March 7, 2017. RetrievedAugust 25, 2017.
Jean Callahan (August 1978)."Cancer Valley".Mother Jones. San Francisco.Archived from the original on March 8, 2017. RetrievedAugust 25, 2017.
George Thomas Kurian (1994),"Charleston, West Virginia",World Encyclopedia of Cities, Vol. 1: North America, Santa Barbara, Calif.: ABC-CLIO,OL1431653M,archived from the original on October 27, 2021, retrievedDecember 26, 2019 – via Internet Archive (fulltext)
Stan Bumgardner (2006).Charleston. Postcard History Series. Charleston, SC: Arcadia.ISBN978-0-7385-4265-2.Archived from the original on March 8, 2017. RetrievedAugust 25, 2017.
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