Charleston is the capital of which U.S. state?

Charleston is the capital of the U.S. state of West Virginia.

The city sits along the Kanawha River in the west-central part of the state, near where the Kanawha and Elk rivers meet. Charleston became West Virginia’s permanent capital in 1875, after the capital had moved several times between Charleston and Wheeling.

West Virginia itself was created during the American Civil War. It separated from Virginia in 1863 after many Union-loyal counties rejected Virginia’s decision to secede. Wheeling served as the first capital, but Charleston’s more central location eventually made it the lasting choice.

A common mix-up is Charleston, South Carolina, which is a historic coastal city but not a state capital. Charleston, West Virginia, is also the state’s most populous city and the location of the West Virginia State Capitol, whose gold-covered dome is one of the city’s best-known landmarks.