Charleston, West Virginia, shines in new book profiling city

My West Virginia has a distinctive beauty to it that's unlike any other. Its mixture of meandering rivers, rolling hills, and lush greenery is unlike almost any other.

And then, there's the history, which is what my Century Cities series is about. I’ve produced seven books in six months for this series, and each one is just as fascinating as the last.

The latest installment, Charleston Century, is a companion piece to Huntington Century, which I published last month. The two books capture the history of Mountain State’s two largest cities, just an hour’s drive apart on U.S. Highway 60. It’s a stretch of road that winds through rolling hills where you’ll find such historical treasures as an old covered bridge and a barn with a faded Mail Pouch Tobacco ad on the side.

For a highway enthusiast such as myself, that short trip was a lot of fun. So was the drive from my Virginia home up to West Virginia (except for those pesky toll booths).

But the big reward came when I entered the capital city. As you arrive in Charleston, you can't miss the sight of the golden state Capitol dome on the far bank and the Kanawha River. It's every bit as majestic as the Capitol building in D.C., but it's even more spectacular when the sun is shining. Its rays shine on the golden dome and dance the river in the foreground, providing a glorious scene that's sure to widen the eyes of any first-time visitor. I know it did mine.

There is, of course, a lot more to Charleston's story than its role as the state capital. It's the birthplace of the nation's petrochemical industry: the place where Union Carbide built a huge factory on an island in the middle of the river. Most of the smokestacks and storage tanks are gone now. They polluted the skies and the river even as they fueled the city’s growth to more than 80,000 people by 1960. Today, the population’s barely half of that, but the town remains vibrant.

Charleston’s ties to industry date back to the discovery of oil near Cabin Creek more than a century ago. The petroleum found there supplied the raw material that made the Pure Oil company a leader in the field. Pure gas stations are still frequent sights along the roadside in this part of the country.

And speaking of Cabin Creek, if that name sounds familiar, it's probably because an NBA Hall of Famer went to high school there. Jerry West, aka "Zeke from Cabin Creek," became a pro basketball star, top executive, and the inspiration for the league's iconic logo. He’s not the only notable basketball figure to come from the area, either. “Hot Rod” Hundley, a two-time all-star with the Lakers, took Charleston High School to the state finals in his sophomore year.

The Shoney’s restaurant chain got its start in Charleston as the Parkette Drive-In. The Heck’s chain of discount stores, once one of the largest in the east, did as well.

And one of the nation's most mysterious unsolved murders happened in the city. The brutal 1953 slaying of a newspaper publisher in her own home has baffled investigators for years – even though the police chief thought he knew whodunit.

Country music star Kathy Mattea was born in South Charleston, and the city had an undefeated pro football team seven years before the Miami Dolphins pulled off the feat. Few people remember the Charleston Rockets today, but they were a force to be reckoned with in their time. Future NFL star Coy Bacon was on the roster, and he wasn’t even the best player on the team.

As with all the Century Cities books, I had a blast researching and photographing Charleston Century. It’s a chronological portrait of a middle American city in the 20th century. Like all my books, it’s available on Amazon. I hope you enjoy it.