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After Union Carbide got its start in Clendenin, many units were built on Blaine Island in South Charleston beginning in 1925.
This is perhaps the best aerial photo of what was once one of the nation's most important chemical plants.
Taken circa 1960, it is easy to see that Blaine Island resembled a giant ship.
Long before Union Carbide arrived, the island was known as one of West Virginia's best watermelon farms, due, perhaps, to the fertile soil resulting from annual flooding.
MacCorkle Avenue is seen on the lower left with some of the houses the interstate devoured.
Photo courtesy Lowell Warner