Cass Gilbert & The Design of the New Capitol – West Virginia State Capital, Part 2

After fire destroyed West Virginia’s capitol in 1921, leaders decided to create a new magnificent building to replace it and who better to design it than America’s first star architect, Cass Gilbert. Around the nation, Gilbert’s structures graced town squares, capital cities and vaunted skylines. Gilbert’s Woolworth Building in New York set the standard for the American skyscraper. So, when he came to Charleston, he guided everyone to a large plot of land in the city’s east end, where he could build his latest masterpiece, a lasting monument to his reputation and a testimony to the people of the Mountain State.