Charleston, WV news and local guide

The militia officer William Morris built Fort Morris in the Kanawha Valley in 1773, about 20 miles upstream from modern Charleston, where Kellys Creek enters the Kanawha, and it was used heavily during the Revolution. In 1773 Thomas Bullitt was deeded 1,250 acres near the mouth of the Elk River. His brother Cuthbert inherited it in 1778 and sold it in 1786 to Colonel George Clendenin, whose company of Virginia Rangers built Fort Lee in 1787 at what is now Brooks Street and Kanawha Boulevard. Wikipedia calls both Fort Morris and Fort Lee the first permanent settlement. Charleston is thought to be named for Clendenin's father, Charles. The Virginia General Assembly established Charlestown in 1794, when its 40 acres held seven houses and 35 people.

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In 1791 Daniel Boone, a lieutenant colonel of the Kanawha County militia, was elected to the Virginia House of Delegates, and he is said to have walked all the way to Richmond to serve, alongside Major William Morris Jr. Salt brines were found along the Kanawha in the early 19th century, and the first salt well was drilled in 1806. By 1808 the area was producing 1,250 pounds of salt a day, and the Farmers' Repository newspaper had begun. Kanawha Salines, now Malden, next to Charleston, became the world's leading salt producer, boiling brine over open fires. Sources Wikipedia: Charleston, West Virginia