The one in the mountains of West Virginia
Took a bit of a break…no long hikes, no new or revisted NP‘s…just chores, hanging out in camp, a visit from RSE friend Jim Bob, Mark working on PE credits. Time to enjoy the quiet setting in Elkview on Buffalolick Branch (a little creek?)
We did go into Charleston a couple of times, joined by Jim Bob to…
Tour 1 new State Capitol:
- West Virginia State Capitol in Charleston (#48), where we visited with Jim Bob, taking the 1:00 Tour. The building was designed by Cass Guilbert (who also designed the Minnesota and Arkansas State Capitols, as well as the US Supreme Court and NYC’s Woolworth Building). While some (outside West Virginia) thought that Cass Guilbert was too “good” an architect for West Virginia, he believed that even in a poor state, the people should have one beautiful, luxurious thing that was theirs. It is full of beautiful marble, and has the most gorgeous Dome we’ve seen. It was built between 1924 and 1932, always keeping pace with payments, so no debt incurred. The murals inside were only completed 2 years ago!. Last tidbit. This is West Virginia’s 6th Capitol. Two of the previous were in Wheeling, as the Capital moved back and forth for a bit.
Other stops in Charleston
After the Capitol Tour on Friday, we visited the West Virginia State Museum for a couple of hours, walked a couple of miles along the Kanawha River (“Cover” Photo), to the Haddad Riverfront Park in downtown Charleston, had dinner, and walked back to the Capitol. We really liked the museum, Very cool, the setup where one walked through time from Prehistoric to late 20th Century. We made it only halfway that day, so returned again yesterday to finish our visit. West Virginia has some interesting history.
2 Comments
Betty Lurie · April 19, 2026 at 9:56 am
What a concept! Building in pace with payments!
Gail · April 19, 2026 at 5:40 pm
Nebraska is another capitol that famously only built what they could afford over time.
Even more challenging, the architect had to plan to replace the old capitol a section
at a time. They continued to USE the old capitol during construction! Well,
obviously transitioning over time. When we visited in 2016, they had finished their
murals just a year or two previously.