{"id":660390,"date":"2026-03-03T04:17:12","date_gmt":"2026-03-03T09:17:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wvmetronews.com\/?p=660390"},"modified":"2026-03-03T04:17:12","modified_gmt":"2026-03-03T09:17:12","slug":"remembering-the-pasteboard-capitol-fire","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wvmetronews.com\/2026\/03\/03\/remembering-the-pasteboard-capitol-fire\/","title":{"rendered":"Remembering the “Pasteboard Capitol” fire"},"content":{"rendered":"

As this session of the state legislature begins to wind down, there have been some fiery debates at the capitol.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>But this week is the 99th anniversary of the state capital in Charleston being on fire, literally.\u00a0<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>In the first week of March in 1927, the so-called \u201cPasteboard Capitol\u201d fire in Charleston happened.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>Once it started, within hours, the entire structure was reduced to ashes.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>It was the second time in just six years that West Virginia\u2019s seat of government was destroyed by fire.\u00a0 \u00a0<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>The \u201cPasteboard Capitol\u201d got that nickname for good reason.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>After the previous West Virginia state capitol burned down in January 1921, the \u201cPasteboard Capitol\u201d went up in just 42 days.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>It was a 166-room, wood-frame building made primarily of wood and wallboard, hence the nickname the \u201cPasteboard Capitol.\u201d<\/b><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>The \u201cPasteboard Capitol\u201d was right downtown, where the old Daniel Boone Hotel was later erected.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>There\u2019s an office building, the 405 Capitol Street building, on that site now.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>As the story goes, once the lot was sold after the fire in 1927, more deals were made by state legislators in the Daniel Boone Hotel’s bar than had ever occurred at the \u201cPasteboard Capitol.\u201d<\/b><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>Thankfully, no was hurt or died in the fire.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>Most of state\u2019s critical records weren\u2019t lost either, because most had already been moved to the newly completed West Wing of the current capitol or were safely stored in the nearby Capitol Annex.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>With the “Pasteboard Capitol\u201d destroyed by fire, the race to finish the current capitol accelerated.\u00a0 \u00a0<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>The current West Virginia Capitol opened on June 20, 1932, our state\u2019s 69th birthday.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>The final cost was just under $10 million, an enormous sum at the time, considering it was during the absolute depth of the depression, when the Dow Jones was hitting historical lows and the unemployment rate was at 25 percent.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>The cost to build it today would be staggering.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>Adjusted for inflation,<\/b><\/p>\n

$10 million in 1930 would be worth $195 million now.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>Construction costs for a building of that scale and quality, with its 23-karat gold leaf, Imperial Danby marble, and hand-carved limestone, would easily put the final bill somewhere in the neighborhood of between $500 million and $1 billion.\u00a0<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>That\u2019s a neighborhood West Virginians don\u2019t live in and rarely even visit.\u00a0<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>And it\u2019s a long way from the old “Pasteboard Capitol\u201d that blazed its way into the dust, and cinders, of history, 99 years ago this week.\u00a0<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Cheaply built, hastily constructed, the simple structure bridged the gap between the first Capitol Building in Charleston and the present day structure <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":123,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[94,825,823],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-660390","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-commentary","category-metronews-commentary-metronews-commentary","category-metronews-commentary"],"yoast_head":"\nRemembering the "Pasteboard Capitol" fire - WV MetroNews<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/wvmetronews.com\/2026\/03\/03\/remembering-the-pasteboard-capitol-fire\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Remembering the "Pasteboard Capitol" fire - 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