Welcome to Charleston ...
The city of Charleston is located in Kanawha County<1>. It is the County Seat and the capital of West Virginia.
Charleston was established in 1788.
When the people of Charleston refer to themselves (known as a demonym), they frequently use Charlestonian<2>
From the Census Estimates for 2019, Charleston has a population of 46,548 people<3> (see below for details).
The community of Charleston is 590 feet [180 m] above sea level.<4>.
Time Zone: Charleston lies in the Eastern Time Zone (EST/EDT) and observes daylight saving time
Area codes for Charleston: (304) & (681)<5>
The ZIP codes for Charleston: 25301-25306, 25309, 25311-25315, 25317, 25320--25339, 25350, 25356-25358, 25360-25362, 25364-25365, 25375, 25387, 25389, 25392, 25396<6>
Websites for Charleston ...
Official Website: www.cityofcharleston.org/
Population Details ...
Taken from the 2019 Census Estimates, Charleston had an population of 46,548 people. This is a decrease of 9.44% since the 2010 Census (or a decrease of 12.87% since the 2000 Census).
At the time of the 2010 Census, Charleston had a population of 51,400 people (which is 26.62% of the total population of Kanawha County). This makes Charleston the county's most populous community.
The population of Charleston represents 2.77% of the population of West Virginia (which has 1,852,994 people), making it the state's most populous community.
With a 2010 count of 51,400 people, the population of Charleston decreased 3.78% from the 2000 Census (with a count of 53,421 people).
More information can be found on the Census Page for Charleston.
Communities Also Named Charleston ...
Using our Gazetteer, we found that there are 44 communities that are also named Charleston - they are located in Arizona, Arkansas, California, Florida, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas (3), Kentucky (2), Maine, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri (2), Nebraska, Nevada (2), New Brunswick, New Jersey, New York (2), Newfoundland and Labrador, North Carolina, Nova Scotia, Ohio (4), Oklahoma, Ontario (3), Oregon, Pennsylvania (2), South Carolina, Tennessee (2), Texas (2), Utah and Washington.
For more information, see our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Charleston.
Communities near Charleston ...
We have created a list of 10 communities that are near Charleston.
- Saint Albans
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Saint Albans have been provided by the GNIS.<7> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saint Albans
- Saint Albans is located in Kanawha County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 9,763 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Saint Albans <8>
- Dunbar
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dunbar
- Dunbar is located in Kanawha County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 6,951 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Dunbar <8>
- Nitro
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Nitro have been provided by the GNIS.<7> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nitro
- Nitro is located in Kanawha County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 6,285 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Nitro <8>
- Winfield
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Winfield
- Winfield is located in Putnam County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 2,410 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Winfield <8>
- Montgomery
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Montgomery
- Montgomery is located in Fayette County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,492 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Montgomery <8>
- Chesapeake
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Chesapeake have been provided by the GNIS.<7> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chesapeake
- Chesapeake is located in Kanawha County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,393 people
- Marmet
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Marmet have been provided by the GNIS.<7> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marmet
- Marmet is located in Kanawha County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,351 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Marmet <8>
- Belle
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Belle have been provided by the GNIS.<7> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Belle
- Belle is located in Kanawha County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,108 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Belle <8>
- Clendenin
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clendenin
- Clendenin is located in Kanawha County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,098 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Clendenin <8>
- Poca
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Poca have been provided by the GNIS.<7> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Poca
- Poca is located in Putnam County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 963 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Poca <8>
To Help With Your Genealogy Research ...
We have a couple of sections for those tracing their genealogy.
We created a list of cemeteries that are in the area around Charleston. Our list includes the location of those cemeteries and we provide an overhead view. See our Cemetery List for Charleston.
Using the information from an 1895 Atlas, we've created a list of communities that were in the area of Charleston. Our list includes information such as whether the 1895 community had a post office or railroad service. See our List of 1890's Communities around Charleston.
We also have a detailed list of newspapers that have been published in the area around Charleston. Our list includes 93 papers. See our Newspapers Page for Charleston.
TripAdvisor Tourism Pages for Charleston ...
Looking for more information about Charleston? A wonderful source is the TripAdvisor website. We always start with the TripAdvisor Tourism page, where you can read an overview with links that will help you find lodging, restaurants and attractions.
In addition to the Tourism page for Charleston, there are neighboring communities that also have Tourism pages. More information about those communities can be found on our TripAdvisor Page for Charleston.
Adding Charleston to Our Gazetteer ...
We originally found mention of Charleston in both the FIPS-55 and the GNIS. For more information, see the FIPS and GNIS Codes sections on our Miscellaneous Page.
From our notes, the earliest published mention we've found for Charleston was in the book titled Business Atlas and Shippers' Guide (1895).
We also found Charleston on a map titled Rand McNally Map of West Virginia (1911).
For more details, see References and Mentions for Charleston.
Off-the-Road Links ...
The official website for Charleston: www.cityofcharleston.org/
The official website for Kanawha County: www.kanawha.us/
The official website for State of West Virginia: https://www.wv.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | If you're interested in how the shape of West Virginia's counties, including Kanawha, have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries. |
| <2> | A demonym is the name for a resident of a community which is usually derived from (or is related to) the name of that community. In other words, it's how the residents of Charleston refer to themselves. It's important to note that there aren't any rules for taking a city's name and turning it into a demonym. A demonym is informal and while the majority of Charleston may use one name, keep in mind that others may use something different. |
| <3> | Population counts have been provided by the U.S. Census Bureau. For more detail, please visit our Census Page for Charleston. |
| <4> | The elevation is an estimate for the area around Charleston - it will be higher in some places and lower in others. |
| <5> | Area code (681) is an overlay for area code (304). |
| <6> | ZIP Codes have been created by the United States Postal Service (USPS) as a way of grouping addresses to make delivery more efficient. The boundaries of the ZIP Code can be changed, re-assigned, eliminated or overlapped with other ZIP Codes. So keep in mind that any given ZIP Code is only 'loosely' associated with a city (such as Charleston). When looking for a ZIP Code, whether Charleston or elsewhere, it's always best to check the website of the United States Postal Service (USPS). Our list of ZIP Codes for Charleston includes: 25301, 25302, 25303, 25304, 25305, 25309, 25311, 25312, 25313, 25314, 25317, 25350, 25356, 25357, 25360, 25361, 25364, 25375, 25387, 25389, 25392 & 25396. |
| <7> | The location has been supplied by the Geographic Names Information System - which is maintained by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). While these values should be definitive, we found that accuracy can vary and you should double-check the location if accuracy is required. |
| <8> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |