Kanawha County Courthouse is a historic

courthouse A courthouse or court house is a structure which houses judicial functions for a governmental entity such as a state, region, province, county, prefecture, regency, or similar governmental unit. A courthouse is home to one or more courtrooms, ...

located at

Charleston, West Virginia Charleston () is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in West Virginia, most populous city of the U.S. state of West Virginia. It is the county seat of Kanawha County, West Virginia, Kanawha County and ...

. It is located across from the Charleston City Hall, and is a block-long structure constructed in 1892 of rock-face masonry. It is noteworthy for its picturesque massing and precise

Richardsonian Romanesque Richardsonian Romanesque is a architectural style, style of Romanesque Revival architecture named after the American architect Henry Hobson Richardson (1838–1886). The revivalism (architecture), revival style incorporates 11th- and 12th-century ...

design. Additions were made to the original building in 1917 and 1924. The twin-towered Virginia Street elevation is the glory of the Kanawha County Courthouse. Roofs of each tower are pyramidal with chamfered corners. The

belfry The belfry /ˈbɛlfri/ is a structure enclosing bells for ringing as part of a building, usually as part of a bell tower or steeple. It can also refer to the entire tower or building, particularly in continental Europe for such a tower attached ...

openings are arched and flanked with smooth grey

limestone Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...

masonry colonnettes. It was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

in 1978.

References

Buildings and structures in Charleston, West Virginia County courthouses in West Virginia Courthouses on the National Register of Historic Places in West Virginia Government buildings completed in 1892 H. Rus Warne buildings National Register of Historic Places in Charleston, West Virginia Renaissance Revival architecture in West Virginia Richardsonian Romanesque architecture in West Virginia {{KanawhaCountyWV-NRHP-stub