"The Weston State Hospital, also known as the Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum, was constructed in the late 1800s and designated a National Historic Landmark in 1990. It is the largest hand-cut stone masonry building in North America, and is purportedly the second largest in the world, next to the Kremlin. The original hospital, designed to house 250 souls, was open to patients in 1864 and reached its peak in the 1950s with 2,400 patients in overcrowded and generally poor conditions. Changes in the treatment of mental illness and the physical deterioration of the facility forced its closure in 1994 inflicting a devastating effect on the local economy, from which it has yet to recover. Today, the hospital is open to historical tours and ghost tours."
Three men work prepare cans of Elk Motor Oil. The man on the left puts cans onto a conveyor belt, while the man in the middle holds a can under a machines, perhaps to be sealed, and the man on the right begins to package the cans in a box.
Central United Methodist Church, Charleston, W. Va.
Date:
undated
Description:
The church was constructed in 1914 at the intersection of Birch Street and Bigley Avenue. The building was torn down from 2012-2013 and replaced by a Family Dollar store.
Charles Roessing in ROTC Uniform, Charleston, W. Va.
Date:
undated
Description:
Roessing, pictured at age 17, poses for a portrait in his ROTC uniform. He was likely part of the ROTC at his high school or at West Virginia University, where he studied until 1935. He transferred to West Virginia Wesleyan in 1935 and graduated in 1937.
An unidentified man leans against the vehicle with his arm rested in the open window. The name on the envelope that this photograph's negative is contained in is labeled "Muriel Lanham."
The Knights Building hosts a variety of businesses, including Carson's Millinery, Household Finance Loans, Richman Bros. Clothes, The Baby Shop, The Loop Restaurant, and Capital Plan Loans.
John Brown's Fort on Storer College Campus, Harpers Ferry, W. Va.
Date:
undated
Description:
Photograph of the fort's exterior. It was built in 1848 as a guard and fire engine house for the federal Harpers Ferry Armory in Harpers Ferry, West Virginia, then a part of Virginia. Storer College was a historically black college. The fort was on the campus of Storer College from 1909 to 1968.
Street view of the ivy covered building. "The capitol annex sat at the corner of Lee and Hale Streets and housed the offices of the auditor, treasurer, the Supreme Court, the state law library, the adjutant general, and the Department of Archives and History until the new capitol was completed in 1932. The building later housed the Kanawha County Public Library from 1926 to 1966 and Morris Harvey College from 1935 to 1947. The building was demolished in 1967."
Harrison Construction Company Operations on Kanawha Airport
Date:
ca. 1945-1946
Description:
Harrison Construction Company of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania grading the Kanawha Airport site, circa 1945 or 1946, using a Northwest 80-D shovel to load a Euclid 15-ton capacity rear dump truck with shot rock.
Renovations to Building for Future S.S. Kresge Company Store, Likely Charleston, W. Va.
Date:
ca. 1927
Description:
Sign in front of building reads: "When alterations are complete S.S. Kresge Company will open 25 cent to 1 dollar store here. Watch for opening announcement."
"Daughters of the Night" at Kearse Theatre, Charleston, W. Va.
Date:
ca. 1924
Description:
A group of men stand outside of the theater where advertisements of the film, "Daughters of the Night" are displayed. Daughters of the Night came out in 1924.
