Historic South Charleston Walking Tour

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This Korean War Memorial Park is located near Montrose Drive in South Charleston, WV. It consists of a large brick and stone arch accompanied by several smaller memorials and the flags of America, West Virginia, and the POW flag. The memorials are visible passing by from either MacCorkle Avenue or 3rd Avenue, and also have multiple more detailed features upon closer inspection. The memorial was officially dedicated in 2003.

2. Union Carbide Corporation

In the first two decades of the 1900s, advancements in industrial manufacture and the growing demand for automobiles set the stage for a revolution in synthetic materials. A new industrial powerhouse soon emerged: Union Carbide and Carbon Corporation (later shortened to Union Carbide), which resulted from the merger of five different companies that shared a need for carbon and calcium carbide in the products they made for other industrial manufacturers. After beginning with a small refinery in Clendenin, West Virginia, UCCC acquired land along the Kanawha River in South Charleston in 1925 and began 50 years of exponential growth. Before a decline in the 1980s, Union Carbide was one of the United States' ten most profitable companies, with 80,000 workers worldwide at more than 100 plants. Their headquarters remained in South Charleston until Dow Chemical purchased the company in 2001 amid legal woes and declining profits. Dow maintains a large plant on the original Union Carbide site, though some properties have been sold or demolished, most notably the engineering headquarters in Building 82 across MacCorkle Avenue from the main campus, destroyed with dynamite in 2009.

3. Banner Glass Company

From 1907 to 1917, Banner Window Glass Company and the Belgian immigrants who founded it were instrumental in the development of South Charleston. Prior to the Belgians' relocation from a factory in Indiana, former West Virginia governor William MacCorkle's land investment along the banks of the Kanawha River had lain mostly empty. Luring the hardworking glassmakers to Kanawha County with the promise of free land and two-years' worth of natural gas for their new factory. The glassmakers' arrival spurred the development of the city and set South Charleston on the path to industrialization.

4. Blue Star Vietnam Memorial

The Blue Star Vietnam Memorial is a war monument located in South Charleston, WV. The memorial includes three stone monuments, the flags of West Virginia, America, and the POW flag, and a description of the memorial. The monuments are directly adjacent to the local Adena Indian Mound and are visible from Route 60, a main road. The monuments honor soldiers from the local area who died in the war.

5. Criel Burial Mound

In South Charleston, West Virginia is the second largest Native American burial mound in the state. The mound stands 33 feet tall and 157 feet in diameter in the center of a small park in the city. The mound was built by the Adena Culture sometime between 1000 and 200 B.C. Once a part of a more elaborate earthwork complex, the mound was excavated in 1883 by Col. P. W. Norris working for the Smithsonian Institution. Norris excavated numerous burials within the mound including the main burial chamber in which were buried 11 individuals. Today the mound is situated in a small park where visitors can see the mound and read more about it and the Adena peoples who constructed it.

6. First Baptist Church of South Charleston

A landmark in the heart of South Charleston since just a few years after the city's incorporation, the stately First Baptist Church has presided over D Street since 1925, before the broad avenue was even paved. The congregation itself had been established on the site even earlier--since 1919--but was housed in temporary structures for several years before securing funds for their permanent home.

7. South Charleston Interpretive Center

From the Paleolithic migrations of the Ice Age to revolutions in the 20th Century chemical industry, the Interpretive Center features a variety of exhibits telling the story of West Virginia's Midland Trail and South Charleston's role in this pivotal history. Built in 2008, the Center continues to host detailed exhibits on the Archaic Adena peoples and their impressive burial mounds, European settlement along the Midland Trail, and later massive industrialization and weapons manufacturing in the Kanawha Valley, for civilization's march along the Midland Trail in many ways has paralleled the United States' growth as a nation.

8. LaBelle Theatre and South Charleston Convention & Visitors Bureau

The historic LaBelle Theatre opened its doors in 1940 and operated as a movie theatre until 1979. With the support of the city of South Charleston and the South Charleston Convention and Visitors Bureau, the theater has been restored and continues to operate as a center of cultural and community activity. Originally built by Walter B. Urling, who also owned a second theatre in the city, the LaBelle was named in honor of his mother and daughter-both of whom were named Isabelle. Between 1979 and 2002, before the city purchased the building, the old theater was home to several churches.

9. Evans Lumber Company

This family-owned and operated lumber and hardware store witnessed most of South Charleston's first century of development, becoming a city landmark and pillar of the local business community. Known since 1963 for the giant paint can model that perched atop the hardware store's roof, it was often referenced by locals for giving directions. The paint can was removed in 2015, three years after the business and building were sold.

10. Oakes Field and Gym Complex

Built in 1941 by the Depression-era Works Progress Administration (WPA), this football field originally belonged to South Charleston's first high school, Louden District High School--which had lacked a sports field since it was first built in 1925. Louden later became South Charleston High School (and South Charleston Junior High later still) and the field, which retains many of its original features and the towers for its 1951 lighting upgrade, continues to serve South Charleston Junior High and the rest of the community as an active sports complex and event venue.

11. South Charleston Industrial Park (Formerly Naval Ordnance Plant)

Constructed during World War I to house a naval ordnance plant, this massive facility near the banks of the Kanawha River in South Charleston has been home to a variety of industries over the past century. Construction of the original facility began in 1917, but only a small number of gun forgings were completed in time for World War I. Put into a state of hibernation by the Washington Naval Treaty of 1922, the plant was reopened and expanded in 1939 and contributed significantly to the Navy Department's efforts to produce weapons in the second World War. At its peak of production, the Ordnance Plant employed 11,000 workers in around-the-clock shifts. The plant built over 130,000 gun barrels for U.S. warships along with Tiny Tim rockets, armor plate, and many other items that aided the Allied war effort. During the 1960s, manufacturer FMC purchased the plant from the Navy and used it to build over 15,000 M113 armored personnel carriers and related vehicles. The facility is now home to several shipping and manufacturing companies.

12. Armor Park

Built to provide crucial housing for workers at the new U.S. Naval Ordnance Plant when it began construction in 1917, Armor Park was designed as a self-sufficient township, complete with its own school (run by the U.S. Navy), recreation center, pool, and sports fields. The U.S. government also paved nearby roads and purchased additional trolley cars to cut commuting time into Charleston across the river. Workers lived within walking distance of the Ordnance Plant as it churned out naval weapons around the clock during World War II. For decades, Armor Park (and its sister development, Bungalow Park) helped spur the growth of South Charleston until it was demolished for the Riverwalk Plaza Mall and other economic projects. Nothing remains of the site today, but a short walk reveals its relationship to the Ordnance Plant (which still stands) and the development of South Charleston's identity.

This Tour is a Walking Tour.

Historic South Charleston Walking Tour

Created by Kyle Warmack on December 6th 2017, 10:58:16 am.

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Official recommended walking tour of the South Charleston Interpretive Center! In only a few short blocks, you can witness a unique cross-section of the Kanawha Valley's history: from the ancient history of the Adena Indians and their mysterious burial mounds, to the raw industrial might of WW2-era Naval Ordnance Center. From migrant Belgian glassworkers to chemists with PhDs, South Charleston has been host to some of West Virginia's most unique history. The Interpretive Center offers exhibits on most of these subjects, so stop in to delve deeper!

Entries on This Tour

Historic South Charleston Walking Tour

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