About Us

The South Charleston Interpretive Center

The South Charleston

Interpretive Center's mission

is the history

of West Virginia's Midland Trail.

The Center opened its doors in 2009, and is the only interpretive site dedicated specifically to the 12,000 years of human migration and development along the Midland Trail. From the Paleo peoples of prehistory to the Adena mound-builders, all the way into the industrial developments of the 19th and 20th centuries, we cover a little bit of all of it.

Following the rivers of West Virginia can teach you most of the state's rich history, and the Midland Trail is no exception.

The Kanawha, New, Gauley, Coal, Elk, and other rivers in central and southern West Virginia have long formed the nexus of human development in the area. The movement of Native American peoples, European and American colonization westward, and the pioneering of several landmark American industries all took place along the rivers that form the Midland Trail's nucleus.

Spanning the distance between Lewisburg in the east and Huntington in the west, the Midland Trail itself is West Virginia's portion of Route 60, a national highway built in the 1950s that stretched from the Atlantic to the Pacific oceans.

The route is a treasure trove of West Virginia's historic landmarks and scenic gems. This website is dedicated to one of South Charleston's unique contributions, the Naval Ordnance Plant.

Take our historic walking and driving tours on Clio for free!

Available on the mobile app or website.