Driving in St. Albans, West Virginia

St. Albans is a city in western Kanawha County, West Virginia, at the confluence of the Kanawha and Coal rivers. The population was 10,861 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Charleston metropolitan area.

St. Albans was laid out in 1816. Originally, it was known as Philippi, after Philip Thompson, an early settler, the name afterwards being changed to Colesmouth due to the area and river being discovered by Samuel Cole. The city was then incorporated as Kanawha City in 1868. The town was renamed in 1872 by H.C. Parsons of the C & O Railroad in honor of his birthplace in St. Albans, Vermont, which is itself named after St. Albans in Hertfordshire, England. The latter town is named for St. Alban, believed to have been the first British Christian martyr.