The largest City, and Capital city of West Virginia- Charleston

 I have lived in the Charleston area all my life. I’ve never lived within the city limits, but I’ve always lived within half an hour or so from downtown Charleston. So, as you can imagine, I’ve spent more than a little time downtown. Charleston, although it’s a small city in comparison to other cities, has a rich history that I have come to appreciate. There are a lot of reminders of the past that I'm sure most people don’t even give a second thought, as they walk or drive by. For example, Clendenin Street was named after Colonel George Clendenin and his family who built fort Clendenin (renamed Fort Lee) to protect settlers from Indians. They built this fort with the help of other families, like the Tacketts who eventually moved down river and built their own fort, Fort Tackett near present day St. Albans, and a group of greenbrier county rangers. Fort Clendenin was started in 1788 and would later become the town of Charleston. The city was originally supposed to be called Charles Town, in honor of George's father but theres already a Charles Town, WV. Its unclear how they came up with Charleston. The town of Clendenin is also named in honor of George. 

 

Another street with a historic name is Summers Street. Named after George W. Summers. George Summers was a prominent attorney/judge and politician. He was a leader in the succession of West Virginia. He went on to marry the daughter of a newspaper owner, Ammazetta Laidley (The Laidley family also has things named in their honor- Laidley Street, Laidley field and Laidley tower) Summers County was also named after George Summers in 1871. 

 

  Next is Capitol Street, named for the three state Capitol buildings that were once on this street. The first Governor's mansion was also on Capitol Street. 

 

Next is Quarrier Street, named for the Quarrier family. The first Quarrier in the area that is now Charleston, West Virginia was Col. Alexander Quarrier, he immigrated to the British American colonies from Scottland in 1774 and enlisted in the Pennsylvania Militia. In 1811, he came to Kanawha County, Virginia (now West Virginia) where he was Justice of the peace. There is also a community in Kanawha County that was named for the Quarrier family. The interesting thing is theres a house on the West side of Charleston that has been owned and lived in by Summers, Laidleys and Quarriers 

 

Hale Street was named after Dr. John P. Hale who made several contributions to the Valley. He funded the paving of the First brick paved street in America- Summers Street in 1870. He played a very important role in getting the Capitol back in Charleston from Wheeling. He introduced the first steam ferries in the Valley, as well as the first brick making equipment. He built the first luxury hotel in Charleston to house the delegates after the Capitol was brought back, the hotel was called the Hale house, it burned down in 1885. (there is currently a restaurant by that same name on Hale Street) Although John Hale was a doctor, he dabbled in other industries such as coal and salt. 

 

Dickinson Street was named after the Dickinson family, who came to the Kanawha valley in the 1860’s to work in the salt works and established the Kanawha valley bank. The family also had a farm where present day Quincy is located, which was named after John Quincy Dickinson (the town is sometimes called Dickinson) 

 

I could go on about every street in Charleston because I’m sure they all have historic, meaningful names, but maybe another time. You should pay attention to some of the architecture in Charleston and maybe do a little research for yourself.  

Another important name you'll probably recognize is Ruffner. I did a post about the Ruffner family before, and I'll post the link with this one but to sum up what they did, I'll say this, Joeseph Ruffner had bought 500 acres of land from John Dickinson in 1725 (I mentioned the Dickinson family earlier). Joseph died soon after but left his land to his two sons who pioneered the salt industry in the Kanawha valley. The two came up with tools and techniques that they used to drill into the bedrock. One of the sons laid out the town of Malden on his land.   

Speaking of drilling, the first gas well in the valley was drilled in Charleston, apparently by accident. The historical marker reads 

“in 1815 captain James Wilson while drilling here for salt brine vowed, he would drill to hades if necessary. A large flow of gas was struck that ignited and burned with a huge flame. Apparently fulfilling the captain’s original vow” 

 

Daniel Boone not only lived in Charleston, but also helped to settle the town. By the way, the Daniel Boone you’re probably thinking of from tv, and movies is a character, he didn’t even wear the coonskin cap! The place he lived is now Daniel Boone Park and his cabin didn't survive the years but believe it or not the Ruffner cabin is there (I mentioned the Ruffners earlier) . Now the cabin has been dismantled and moved and rebuilt but it's really cool to see, it’s the oldest extant structure in the Kanawha valley. There's also a mansion called the craic-patton house, a house built in 1834 on Virginia street but was moved to Danie Boone Park in the 1970’s. 

 

 

Sources- 

George William summers, wvencyclopedia.org 

Alexander Buchanan Quarrier, wikitree.com 

 

Andre, Richard A. "The Hale House." e-WV: The West Virginia Encyclopedia. 13 February 2012. Web. 02 February 2024. 

 

John Quincy Dickinson, wvencyclopedia.org 

 

Dickinson, wv, wikiwand.com 

 

First gas well, hmdb.org 

 

Historic houses of Charleston, wvencyclopedia.org