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CHARLESTON

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Originally appearing in Volume V05, Page 945 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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CHARLESTON , the See also:

capital of See also:West See also:Virginia, U.S.A., and the See also:county-seat of Kanawha county, situated near the centre of the See also:state, on the N. See also:bank of the Kanawha See also:river, at the mouth of the See also:Elk river, about 200 M. E. of See also:Cincinnati, See also:Ohio, and about 130 M. S.W. of See also:Wheeling. Pop. (189o) 6742; (1900) 11,099, of whom 1787 were negroes, and 353 were See also:foreign-See also:born; (1910 See also:census) 22,996' It is served by the Chesapeake & Ohio, the See also:Toledo & Ohio Central, the See also:Coal & See also:Coke, and the Kanawha & West Virginia (39 M. to Blakeley) See also:railways, and by several river transportation lines on the Kanawha river (navigable throughout the See also:year by means of movable locks) connecting with Ohio and See also:Mississippi river ports. The See also:city is attractively built on high level See also:land, above the river; in addition to a See also:fine customs See also:house, See also:court house and high school, it contains the West Virginia state capitol, erected in 1880. The See also:libraries include the state See also:law library, with 14,000 volumes in 1908, and the library of the state See also:Department of Archives and See also:History, with about 11,000 volumes. Charleston is in the midst of a region See also:rich in bituminous coal, the shipment of which by river and See also:rail constitutes one of its See also:principal See also:industries. Oil See also:wells in the vicinity also furnish an important product for export, and there are See also:iron and See also:salt mines near. An ample See also:supply of natural See also:gas is utilized by its manufacturing establishments; and among its manufactures are axes, See also:lumber, foundry and See also:machine See also:shop products, See also:furniture, boilers, woollen goods, See also:glass and chemical See also:fire-engines. The value of the city's factory products increased from $1,261,815 in 1900 to $2,728,074 in 1905, or 116.2%, a greater See also:rate of increase than that of any other city (with 8000 or more inhabitants) in the state during this See also:period. The first permanent See also:white See also:settlement at Charleston was made soon after the See also:close of the See also:War of See also:Independence; it was one of the places through which the streams of immigrants entered the Ohio Valley, and it became of considerable importance as a centre of See also:transfer and shipment, but it was not until the development of the coal-See also:mining region that it became industrially important.

Charleston was incorporated in 1794, and was chartered as a city in 187o. Since the latter year it has been the seat of See also:

government of West Virginia, with the exception of the See also:decade 1875-1885, when Wheeling was the capital.

End of Article: CHARLESTON

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