Institute, WV

Institute is an unincorporated community on the Kanawha River in Kanawha County, West Virginia, United States. The 2020 census counted 569 residents. Interstate 64 and West Virginia Route 25 pass by the community, which has grown to intermingle with nearby Dunbar. The town was founded by a formerly enslaved woman, Mary Barnes. In August 2008 a chemical plant explosion here killed two and injured eight at the Bayer CropScience facility. On April 22, 2026 a chemical disaster at a silver catalysis plant in Institute killed 2 and injured 30. Taken together, these details give a newcomer a usable picture of Institute, where its history, geography, and current gathering places meet.

For Institute, the memorable detail is the way older history and current gathering places share one local map. Institute is home to West Virginia State University and the West Virginia State Police Academy. The community is the location of the prehistoric Shawnee Reservation Mound, one of three remaining Adena -era earthwork mounds and enclosures found in an eight-mile stretch along the river. In the late 19th century, the Smithsonian Institution inventoried an Adena-era complex along the Kanawha River that had more than 50 earthwork mounds and ten enclosures.