World War Memorial

The World War Memorial, also known as the Kimball War Memorial Building, stands on a hill in Kimball, West Virginia. Designed in 1927 by Welch, West Virginia architect Hassell T. Hicks, the memorial was dedicated in 1928 to African-American veterans of World War I. It was the first such memorial to African-American veterans in the United States. The building functioned as a community center in the isolated coal mining region until a fire in 1991, which destroyed the interior. The stone, terra cotta and brick Classical Revival building stood as a ruin for more than a decade until a restoration. The memorial building was listed while still a ruin on the National Register of Historic Places in 1993.