Andrew Wunderley crouches in the sand to pick up a milky white sphere. He pinches the lentil-size orb between his thumb and forefinger. It nearly pops out of his grip. The little pellet is made of brand-new plastic and has all the wondrous qualities of the material—light, smooth, and virtually forever-lasting. Many more are scattered in the high-tide line of the wide, windswept beach, the pride of Sullivan’s Island, South Carolina, a barrier island at the mouth of Charleston Harbor. He drops the pellet into a glass jar and picks up another, then another.

Before plastic is formed into forks or garbage bags or iPhone cases, it is born into the world as these orbs. The plastics industry calls them pre-production pellets, or sometimes just resins. Everyone else calls them “nurdles.”

For the past few years Charleston has been transforming into a major plastics export hub. The city is a middle step in the material’s supply chain: Companies receive train cars of nurdles from states like Texas that they then load onto container ships and send overseas.

The challenge is hardly confined to South Carolina; nurdles are turning up in waterways and on beaches all over the world. What’s more, the tiny pellets are just one symptom of a growing trend: larger volumes of cheap plastic being manufactured faster than ever.

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West Virginia was founded in the midst of the American Civil War, the only state to form by separating from a Confederate state. An enabling act was approved by President Abraham Lincoln admitting West Virginia to the Union, on the condition that a provision for the gradual abolition of slavery be inserted in its constitution. President Lincoln issued a proclamation admitting the 35th state on June 20, 1863.

The capitol of the state of West Virginia is Charleston, and the state Capitol buildings can be found in the eastern end of the city along the banks of the Kanawha River. It was there that I found myself on May 11, 2018.

I was born in Charleston and lived most of my adult life in the vicinity. It wasn’t until I was nearly 50 that I relocated to North Carolina. For years my 91-year-old father has been attending a board meeting in Charleston, so when he asked me to help him get there for the 2018 meeting, I took advantage of the opportunity to visit the state of my birth for the first time since 2003.

While his meeting was in progress, I found myself meandering the Capitol grounds, refreshing my memories of sights and history I have learned about since my youth. The Capitol building itself is quite remarkable, stately and architecturally profound, built during the 1920s. The ornate dome is gilded with extremely bright and shiny gold leaf.

On the grounds you will also find the Governor’s Mansion and the Cultural Center, a museum and theater that reflects the history of proud Mountaineers. There are nearly a dozen monuments, honoring war veterans and heroes, the coal miners who sustained the state, and of course the gallant and brave Mountaineer. Controversially, there is also still a statue of Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson, a Confederate general and West Virginia native who was killed at the height of the Civil War.

Following is a pictorial essay of my day at the West Virginia State Capitol. Please feel free to share any comments you may have, and thanks for visiting.

This post was created by Jeff Clark. Please feel free to use the sharing icons below, or add your thoughts to the comments. Pack it in, pack it out. Preserve the past. Respect other hikers. Let nature prevail. Leave no trace.