West Virginia State Capitol
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The West Virginia State Capitol is the state capitol building of the U.S. state of West Virginia. Housing the West Virginia Legislature, it is located in the state capital of Charleston overlooking the Kanawha River. The building was completed in 1932.
[edit] Previous Capitol
Settling on a state capital location proved to be difficult. For several years, the capital of West Virginia intermittently traveled between Wheeling and Charleston. In 1877, however, state citizens voted on the final location of their capital. Charleston was chosen and eight years later, the first capitol building was opened. After a fire in 1921, a hastily built structure was opened but burned down in 1927.
[edit] Current Capitol
A Capitol Building Commission, created by the Legislature in 1921, authorized construction of the present capitol. Architect Cass Gilbert designed the buff limestone structure that was to have a final cost of just under $10 million. After the three stages of construction were completed, Governor William G. Conley dedicated the capitol on June 20, 1932.
[edit] External links
- West Virginia Facts and Capitol building
- Legislature Capitol photo gallery
- Maps and aerial photos
- Street map from Google Maps or Yahoo! Maps
- Topographic map from TopoZone
- Aerial image or topographic map from TerraServer-USA
- Satellite image from Google Maps or Microsoft Virtual Earth