West Virginia Division of Forestry Headquarters

About forestry service, 24813, Bartley, WV, US, West Virginia

Charleston () is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of West Virginia. It is the county seat of Kanawha County and is at the confluence of the Elk and Kanawha rivers. The population was 48,864 at the 2020 census. According to 2023 census estimates, the city has a population of 46,838. The Charleston metropolitan area had 203,164 residents in 2023. In 1773, William Morris built the first permanent settlement in the Kanawha Valley, Fort Morris. It was built about 20 miles upstream of Charleston at the confluence of Kellys Creek, near the burned ruins of Walter Kelly's cabin, before Lord Dunmore's War, and was used extensively during the American Revolution. In 1794, the town of Charleston was incorporated by the Virginia House of Delegates with the trustees being William Morris, Leonard Morris, and Daniel Boone. Early industries important to Charleston included salt and the first natural gas well. Later, coal became central to economic prosperity in the city and the surrounding area.