Welcome to West Virginia's Capital

Charleston is the capital and largest city of West Virginia, sitting beautifully where the Elk River flows into the mighty Kanawha River. With about 48,000 people in the city and over 200,000 in the metro area, Charleston is a river city surrounded by the beautiful Appalachian Mountains. The city is famous for its magnificent golden dome that sparkles in the sunlight!

The Magnificent Golden Dome

The West Virginia State Capitol is one of the most beautiful capitol buildings in America! Designed by famous architect Cass Gilbert (who also designed the U.S. Supreme Court building), it was completed in 1932. The entire dome is covered in real 23½ karat gold leaf that gleams like the sun. When you see it from the Kanawha River, especially at sunset, it looks like a golden crown sitting on the city!

Inside the Capitol, there's a spectacular 2-ton chandelier made of 10,080 pieces of hand-cut Czech crystal. The building is made from beautiful Indiana limestone and Italian marble. School groups love visiting to learn how state government works and to see the amazing architecture up close!

Where Two Rivers Meet

Charleston sits at the confluence (meeting point) of the Elk and Kanawha Rivers. The name "Kanawha" comes from a Native American word meaning "water way" or "canoe way." For thousands of years, Native Americans used these rivers as highways for travel and trade. The rivers are still important today - you can see huge barges carrying coal and other materials!

The city was officially founded in 1794 by George Clendenin, who named it after his father, Charles. At first, only 35 people lived in seven houses! But Charleston grew quickly because of its natural resources. In 1815, Captain James Wilson discovered natural gas while drilling for salt - one of the first natural gas discoveries in America! Then in 1817, coal was discovered, which would make West Virginia famous.

Science, Art, and Discovery

The Clay Center for the Arts & Sciences is one of the coolest places in Charleston! It's one of only a few museums in the entire country that combines science, visual arts, and performing arts all under one roof. Kids love the hands-on science exhibits where you can launch rockets, create tornadoes, and explore the human body!

The Clay Center also has the ElectricSky Theater, which is both a planetarium and a giant dome movie theater. You can travel to distant galaxies, swim with dolphins, or fly with eagles - all on a screen that surrounds you! The art museum inside has beautiful paintings, sculptures, and special exhibits that change throughout the year.

Charleston Today

Modern Charleston is a vibrant city that celebrates its heritage while looking to the future. Every summer, the Sternwheel Regatta brings paddlewheel boats from all over to race on the river, along with carnival rides and concerts. The FestivALL Charleston is a huge 10-day festival featuring music, dance, theater, and art from around the world!

Sports fans love Charleston too! The city is home to the Charleston Dirty Birds baseball team, and in 2024, Charleston made international news by hosting the USA Cycling Pro Road Nationals. The winner of Charleston's race, Kristen Faulkner, went on to win two Olympic gold medals in Paris! The city will host this prestigious cycling event for the next four years.

Mountain State Treasures

West Virginia is famous for its coal, and Charleston has been at the center of the coal industry for over 200 years. The mountains around Charleston contain some of the best coal in the world - it burns very hot and clean, perfect for making steel. You can see coal barges on the Kanawha River every day, carrying this "black gold" to power plants and steel mills.

But Charleston was also famous for something else - salt! In the 1800s, the Kanawha Valley produced more salt than anywhere else in America. Workers would drill deep wells and pump up salty water, then boil it in huge kettles to get the salt. The natural gas discovered while drilling for salt was used to heat the kettles - one of the first industrial uses of natural gas in history!

Amazing Charleston Facts