Central Union Building. Market House Second Ward. Odd Fellows Hall. Market Auditorium. The Reilly Building. Zane Log Cabin. Monument Place. Schmulbach Building. Board of Trade Building. Hoge Building. African American Pythian Building. West Virginia Independence Hall. Washington Hall. Washington Hall: Act of Incorporation, Cass Gilbert, a New York native, was appointed chief architect of the building in George A.
Fuller Company was awarded the general construction, a steam shovel was moved on site, and a groundbreaking service was held on January 7, It was constructed in three stages: The West Wing was built in and the East Wing was constructed in The rotunda connecting the two wings was completed in Governor William G.
Ways To Connect. Ways To Give. Play Live Radio. Next Up:. Available On Air Stations. All Streams. WVPB News. Scarcely had the walls fallen in when the executive officers set about finding temporary quarters for the several departments.
Office rooms were found in a number of buildings in the business section of the city and within a short time the State government, though in much confusion and disorganized by the loss of books and records, was again in full operation. The Board of Public Works immediately after the fire set about the erection of a temporary office building on the grounds of the Executive Mansion, between the Mansion and the Board of Control building.
Young, State Treasurer W. Johnson and Attorney General E. The first brick on the foundation of the temporary capitol building was laid on January 14th, eleven days after the destruction of the Capitol, and the building was completed in forty-two working days.
The main building, which extends from Capitol to Summers Streets is 40 by feet with seven wings, two stories in height, and is composed of one hundred and sixty-six rooms.
The construction of the building required , feet of framing lumber, 59, feet sub-floor, 45, feet of sheathing, 45, feet roofing, 38, feet siding, 95, feet flooring, , feet beaver board, 17, feet inside trim, windows, doors, kegs of nails, 20, feet conduit, 40, feet electric wiring and 2, gallons of paint.
The building is equipped with a complete steam heating plant with 6, feet radiation. The temporary office building was occupied about the first of March The regular session of the Legislature convened on January 14th, eleven days after the destruction of the Capitol. The auditorium of the Baptist Temple had been secured for the sessions of the House of Delegates, while the sessions of the Senate were held in the assembly hall of the Y.
When the Legislature reconvened for the March session both bodies had been provided quarters in the Kanawha county court house. In his message to the Legislature, transmitted at the opening sessions, Governor John J. Cornwell said:. While the State will suffer little monetary loss, the building and contents having been amply insured, it occurred at a most inopportune time.
You will be obliged to share some of the inconvenience suffered by the State officers, heads of departments and employees, but the Committee upon which devolved the responsibility of selecting places for your meeting felt that the buildings chosen were the most available ones, all things considered. The State had outgrown the old building. The estimated rentals for these departments for the coming year would aggregate probably more than twenty thousand dollars.
Those various departments are business organizations, with many clerks and employees and can best be provided for in a modern office building. I think a great deal of money can be saved the State by such an arrangement, for a Capitol building large enough to house all the various departments would, with its high ceilings and architectural designs, have much wasted space.
Either that, or an attempt to economize space would spoil the architectural effect of the building. Having thus been brought to the attention of the Legislature the question of a new Capitol became a matter of earnest discussion early in the session. The Commission thus created was instructed to take under consideration the plans suggested by Governor Cornwell in his biennial message, relative to the erection of a Capitol building and an office building, for the proper conduct of the business of the State.
The Commission was further instructed to take no action to carry the resolution into effect until such time as the question of the relocation of the Capital had been determined in the regular constitutional manner. While the ruins of the historic old Capitol were yet smoking an agitation was begun for the removal of the capital to some other city.
The cities of Clarksburg and Parkersburg were the leading contenders for the honor, though Belington and other towns in the central and northern part of the State were not without their champions.
This question was carried to the Legislature at its session in January and was finally and definitely set at rest on January 26th by the adoption of Senate Joint Resolution No. Having expressed itself in this manner the Legislature set about providing ways and means to carry the sense of this resolution into effect and for the motion of a new Capitol worthy of the State of West Virginia, and one of such magnitude as to command a respect for the State which erected it.
This section also created a Capitol Building Commission empowered to proceed to select a site and erect the necessary building or buildings. Following the appropriation, the section reads as follows:. The appointment of the Capitol Building Commission, of which the Governor was designated by the act as ex-officio Chairman, was announced by Governor Ephraim F.
Morgan on May 11, as follows: Gohen C. Staunton, of Charleston, Kanawha county; John J. Cornwell, former Governor, of Romney, Hampshire county; N. Because of urgent business and professional duties former Governor Cornwell declined to serve on the Commission and Herbert Fitzpatrick, of Huntington, Cabell county, was appointed in his stead. The resignation of Mr. McKell was tendered the Governor and accepted by him on January 9, To fill this vacancy the appointment of Harry P.
Camden, of Parkersburg, Wood County, was announced on April 5, Because of ill health, Mr. Whitaker tendered his resignation as a member of the Commission, effective May 1st, The appointment of Virgil L.
Highland of Clarksburg, Harrison County, to fill the vacancy, was announced a few days later. Young, Secretary of State, was designated as Secretary. A number of meetings were held to complete the preliminary work and on July 15th the selection of Cass Gilbert, a noted New York architect, was made to prepare plans and specifications of the new Capitol.
Among Mr. The question of selecting a site for the new State House now arose. Sites were proposed in various parts of the city and its suburbs, but most prominent were the old site on Capitol Street, in the business section of the city; Capitol Hill, at the head of Capitol Street, overlooking the city; South Ruffner, on the opposite side of the Kanawha river, and the Duffy Street site.
After many meetings of the Commission had been held the selection of the Duffy Street site was announced the latter part of December, The grounds selected for the Capitol and office buildings are in the residential part of the city and distant about one and one-fourth miles from the old site.
The tract comprises four city blocks—about sixteen acres—fronting on the Kanawha river and Kanawha Street and extending back to Washington Street, and between Duffy Street and California Avenue. Some months prior to the destruction of the old Capitol the State had purchased a lot on Duffy and Kanawha Streets, just below the site selected for the new Capitol, for the erection of a new Executive Mansion. The new Capitol site is a part of a tract of one thousand and thirty acres surveyed in for Thomas Bullett.
A patent for this tract was issued in by Thomas Jefferson, Governor of Virginia, to Cuthbert Bullett, devisee of Thomas Bullett, The tract, of which this is a part, was sold to George Clendennin, in the first settler on the site of what is now Charleston.
The old Clendenin fort was located on this tract a short distance west of the site selected for the new Capitol. Clendenin sold the land to Joseph Ruffner in , and, with the exception of two-thirds of an acre which was sold in , the land was held by the Ruffner family until , when it was sub-divided into town lots, designated as the town of Ruffner. In later years, with the growth and expansion of the city, the town of Rufiner became a part of Charleston. Under authority contained in the act creating the Capitol Building Commission that body, on April 25, , sold the old site on Capitol Street to A.
Hill as its agent and supervisor, his appointment effective May 15, Hill served as City Manager of the city of Charleston from until his appointment as Agent of the Capitol Commission, during which time and under his direct management and supervision the magnificent new City Hall of Charleston was erected.
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