West Virginia Capitol

A few years after we started our fulltiming lifestyle we decided to add touring state capitols to our to do list. When we left Berea we realized we would be passing through Charleston, WV on our way north and we could check West Virginia, our 38th capitol, off our list. It is off our list but we did not plan well. One, we visited on statehood day so access was very limited; two, the building is undergoing a major renovation. Because of that, several pictures are ones I got off the internet.

This is what we excepted to see, the beautiful gold leafed dome at 293 feet is higher than the US capitol.  The statue, Abraham Lincoln Walks at Midnight by Fred Torrey based on a poem by Vachel Lindsay's by the same name. The poem and statue show the strain the president was under leading the war torn country.

Instead, this is what we saw. The dome under a shroud and even Lincoln surrounded by cones and construction barriers. The capitol, designed by Cass Gilbert, was built between 1924 and 1932. It was dedicated on June 20, 1932 the 69th birthday of statehood.    

This is what we expected to see, a beautiful interior dome with a 4000 pound chandelier made of 10,080 pieces of Czechoslovakian crystal. The chandelier hangs from a 54 foot brass and bronze chain suspended 180 feet above the floor.

This is what it looks like during the renovation, scaffolding from the floor to the dome. 

Looking down in to the rotunda from the second floor. It looks beautiful.

In the halls that lead to the legislative chambers these temporary walls block access to the rotunda. These pictures show the capitol being built.

The temporary wall in the opposite legislative hall. The huge pictures are neat but we would rather have seen the rotunda.

Even the visitors' galleries were locked. This is the House of Delegates chamber. There are 100 house members who are elected to two year terms. Both chambers have identical crystal chandeliers.

The senate chamber. There are 34 senators, with half up for election every other year for a four year term. While both chambers are similar, the senate chamber has two rows of coffers on the arches and the house only has one and the senate ceiling is domed. These are to show the senate as the upper body.

There are displays of West Virginia industries throughout the building. I liked this one about Homer Laughlin China Company. My mother used their Fiesta ware dishes all the time. 

Happy Birthday West Virginia. West Virginia is the only state to become a state by presidential proclamation when Lincoln recognized the western counties that seceded from Virginia as a new state.

Beautiful quilts in the culture center that is in the capitol complex.

The West Virginia Veterans Memorial has the names of the more that 11,000 West Virginians who gave the last full measure from WWI through Vietnam. I had a chilling experience related to this memorial. Someone at the wedding asked if I knew what had happened to one of my class of 1964 classmates, George W. Locke. I told him George had been killed in Vietnam and I had seen his name on The Wall in DC.  

We had graduated from Burgettstown High School in Pennsylvania but I knew George had moved there from West Virginia. Sure enough there was his name engraved on the memorial honoring those from his home state. I went to the archives in the cultural center and was able to confirm this was the person I knew in high school. The experience gave me a real chill.

Other statues on the grounds of the capitol complex. The West Virginia Female Veterans statue dedicated to all female veterans was unveiled on November 11, 2011.

This statue honors West Virginia native Booker T. Washington who established Tuskegee University in Alabama.

The Coal Miners statue pays tribute to the state's coal industry and its underground miners. The reliefs on the pedestal show different periods of the industry. 

The Soldiers and Sailors Monument honors the 35,000 West Virginians who fought for the Union during the Civil War. We were glad to add the West Virginia capitol to out list even though we did not get to see much of the building because of the renovations.  Maybe one day we will return.

As I post this we are back in Pennsylvania for the next three months. We have been very busy on our way north so I am more than a couple weeks behind in with the blog.