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Mon, 11.24.1851

Institute, West Virginia is founded

*On November 24, 1851, Institute, West Virginia was founded. Originally an all-Black town, Institute is an unincorporated community on the Kanawha River in Kanawha County, West Virginia.

The town was founded by a Black former slave woman, Mary Barnes. She bequeathed land to her children that became Institute and later home to West Virginia State University (formerly the West Virginia Colored Institute) and the West Virginia State Police Academy. The community is the location of the prehistoric Shawnee Reservation Mound, one of three remaining Adena-era earthwork mounds and enclosures found in an eight-mile stretch along the river. Also called Fairgrounds Mound and Poorhouse Mound, it is within Shawnee Regional Park. The mound is about 20 feet high and 80 feet in basal diameter but was originally 25 feet high and greater than 80 feet in diameter.

In the late 19th century, the Smithsonian Institution inventoried an Adena-era complex along the Kanawha River with more than 50 earthwork mounds and ten enclosures. Indigenous peoples likely built these works from approximately 300 BCE to 200 CE. During a 1902 archaeological exploration, 27 fully wrapped mummies were discovered in near-perfect conditions due to the unique qualities of the local weather conditions. Most of these mounds have been lost to development in the area, particularly Charleston.

Entomologist Margaret Collins was born there in 1922. A synthetic rubber plant was constructed in the town during World War II. Located on the campus of West Virginia State University are the historic East Hall and Canty House, both listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1988. Interstate 64 and West Virginia Route 25 pass by the community, which has grown to intermingle with nearby Dunbar. Its economy includes several major industrial plants, with several environmental incidents polluting the local community.

In August 2008, a chemical plant explosion here killed two and injured eight at the Bayer CropScience facility. As of 2018, the community had a population of 1,489, 54% of whom were African American.  

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