West Virginia Capitol History

Photo provided by Kanawha County Library and WV State Archives

1863-1870

West Virginia’s first state government, granted by President Abraham Lincoln on June 20, 1863, grew from this building at Linsly Institute in Wheeling. The Northern Panhandle city was the state’s largest when it broke away from Virginia.

Photo provided by Kanawha County Library and WV State Archives

1870 - 1875

Lawmakers decided Wheeling was too far north and sent the state’s capital south to Charleston. This building, opened in 1870, was the first Capitol in downtown Charleston. It no longer exists.

Photo provided by Kanawha County Library and WV State Archives

1875-1885

Lawmakers decided to move the capital back to Wheeling and this structure served as the state’s Capitol starting in 1875. The building was torn down a number of years later.

Photo provided by Kanawha County Library and WV State Archives

1885-1921

Charleston’s glorious Victorian-style Capitol opened in 1885 at the intersection of Capitol and State (now Lee) streets. The building served as the state’s center of government until a fire in 1921 burned it to the ground.

Photo provided by Kanawha County Library and WV State Archives

1921-1927

In need of temporary space, state government built the “Pasteboard Capitol” to serve as the temporary home of state government while a new building was constructed in the city’s East End. The “Pasteboard Capitol,” located along Washington Street, near Capitol Street and the Governor’s Mansion, burned to the ground in 1927.

Day Photo by Anthony Kinzer - Evening Photo by Lawrence Pierce

Today

West Virginia’s Capitol dome seems to always shine, day or night, especially after being redone the way architect Cass Gilbert originally designed it in the early 1930s.