Charleston - With a population of about 130,000, Charleston is the largest city in South Carolina. With a population of about 51,000, another Charleston is the largest city in West Virginia! While South Carolina's city was named after King Charles II of England, the one in West Virginia was named for its founder's father in 1819. Both cities grew as centers of trade — in S.C., Charleston is an economically diverse city featuring paper mills, metalworking, chemical plants, and textile manufacturing, while the West Virginian city’s primary industries are coal and chemicals.