Charleston, West Virginia

Charleston, West Virginia
State Capital
City of Charleston
Charleston in early August 1992
Seal
Nickname(s): Charlie West
Location in Kanawha County and the state of West Virginia
Charleston, West Virginia Location in the United States
Coordinates: 38°20′50″N 81°38′0″W / 38.34722°N 81.63333°W / 38.34722; -81.63333Coordinates: 38°20′50″N 81°38′0″W / 38.34722°N 81.63333°W / 38.34722; -81.63333
Country	United States
State	West Virginia
County	Kanawha
Founded	1788
Incorporated	1794
Government
• Mayor	Danny Jones (I)
• City Council	Members list Ward 1: Bernard Slater (D) Ward 2: Bobby Haas (D) Ward 3: Chuck Overstreet (D) Ward 4: Rev. James Ealy (D) Ward 5: Jeanine Faegre (D) Ward 6: Edward Talkington (D) Ward 7: Archie Chestnut (D) Ward 8: Cubert Smith (I) Ward 9: Mary Beth Hoover (D) Ward 10: Keeley Steele (D) Ward 11: Shannon Snodgrass (D) Ward 12: Susan Salisbury (R) Ward 13: Brent Burton (R) Ward 14: Courtney Persinger (R) Ward 15: Samuel Minardi (D) Ward 16: Bobby Reishman (R) Ward 17: John H. Miller, Jr. (R) Ward 18: Richard Burka (R) Ward 19: Jack Harrison (D) Ward 20: Mike Clowser (D) Ward At-large: Tom Lane (R) Ward At-large: Becky Ceperley (D) Ward At-large: Mary Jean Davis (D) Ward At-large: Karan Ireland (D) Ward At-large: Andrew Richardson (D) Ward At-large: Jerry L. Ware (D)
Area
• City	32.66 sq mi (84.59 km2)
• Land	31.52 sq mi (81.64 km2)
• Water	1.14 sq mi (2.95 km2)
Elevation	597-957 (varies due to mountains) ft (182-292 m)
Population (2010)
• City	51,400
• Estimate (2015)	49,736
• Rank	US: 745th
• Density	1,630.7/sq mi (629.6/km2)
• Urban	153,199 (US: 214th)
• Metro	222,878 (US: 198th)
Time zone	EST (UTC-5)
• Summer (DST)	EDT (UTC-4)
ZIP code	25301-25306, 25309, 25311-25315, 25317, 25320-25339, 25350, 25356-25358, 25360-25362, 25364-25365, 25375, 25387, 25389, 25392, 25396, 25064
Area code(s)	304/681
FIPS code	54-14600
GNIS feature ID	1558347
Website	cityofcharleston.org

Charleston is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of West Virginia. It is located at the confluence of the Elk and Kanawha Rivers in Kanawha County. As of the 2013 Census Estimate, it had a population of 50,821, while its metropolitan area had 224,743. It is a center of government, commerce, and industry. 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. Today, trade, utilities, government, medicine, and education play central roles in the city's economy.

The first permanent settlement, Ft. Lee, was built in 1788. In 1791, Daniel Boone was a member of the Kanawha County Assembly.

Charleston is the home of the West Virginia Power (formerly the Charleston Alley Cats and the Charleston Wheelers) minor league baseball team, the West Virginia Wild minor league basketball team, and the annual 15-mile (24 km) Charleston Distance Run. Yeager Airport and the University of Charleston are also located in the city. West Virginia University and the WVU Institute of Technology (aka West Virginia Tech), Marshall University, and West Virginia State University also have higher education campuses in the area.