"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.
