Did you know that Wheeling, not Charleston, is actually West Virginia’s first Capital? The first State Legislature met in Wheeling beginning in 1863. The capital of West Virginia intermittently moved from Wheeling to Charleston. In order to move, the state officials met at the levee in Wheeling. They boarded a steamer named The Mountain Boy, which was already packed with state records and other files, and moved down the Ohio River to the Kanawha River to Charleston. The legislature probably approved the move because Charleston agreed to provide $50,000 toward the cost of constructing a new capital building.