United Carbon Building

West Virginia, United States

Exterior only

Visible from the street; the inside is private.

Find out more

Located in Charleston, West Virginia, the United Carbon Building is a 12-story modernist office tower completed in 1940, designed by architect Walter Frederic Martens for Oscar Nelson, president of the United Carbon Company. Rising 157 feet, the steel-framed structure exemplifies the International Style with its sleek, unornamented exterior of gold-colored brick, black steel, and glass. Commissioned as the national headquarters for United Carbon Company, which occupied the upper four floors until 1950, the building featured a penthouse office for Nelson himself. The building, also known as Boulevard Tower, Stanley Building, and Nelson Building, was recognized for its historic significance when listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1994.