In 1870 the first official West Virginia state capitol building was built, a very ornate Italianate structure in Charleston. That building was added onto in 1887 with an addition. This was the state capitol until January 3, 1921.
On that day a fire of unknown origin broke out at the capitol building and firefighters immediately responded. They spent hours spraying water on the building until suddenly shots started ringing out.
It turns out that 1921 was when the Mine Wars were coming to a violent crescendo, with labor troubles so bad West Virginia officials feared that a full-scale civil war could break out. So somebody had the idea to store gunpowder, ammunition, rifles and machine guns in that capitol building. When the fire reached that store, the heat started setting off rounds, causing firefighters and bystanders to flee for their lives.
The original building was completely gutted as a result.
A second, temporary, state capitol building was built from wood and served as the capitol for six years.
On this day in 1927 that wooden capitol building, too, mysteriously caught fire and burned to the ground, destroying records before it spread to the adjacent brick building where the attorney general’s office was located. The fire also spread to three nearby houses, which were saved by firefighters, and six automobiles, which were not saved. The site of this temporary capitol is now occupied by the Daniel Boone Hotel building, now on the National Register of Historic Places.
The present capitol building was already being built and was occupied soon after this second fire.
