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Huntington, West Virginia
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Huntington is a city in Cabell and Wayne counties in the U.S. state of West Virginia, along the Ohio River. Most of the city is in Cabell County, for which it is the county seat. A small portion of the city, mainly the neighborhood of Westmoreland, is in Wayne County. Its population was estimated at 48,982 in 2007. Huntington is a part of the Huntington-Ashland, WV-KY-OH, Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA). As of current 2005 data, the MSA's population was 286,012. Huntington is the largest city within the MSA and the second largest city in West Virginia, behind Charleston.
city was named for Collis P. Huntington, who founded Huntington in 1870 as the western terminus for the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway (C&O) on the land west of the mouth of the Guyandotte River at the Ohio River.
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Huntington is a city in Cabell and Wayne counties in the U.S. state of West Virginia, along the Ohio River. Most of the city is in Cabell County, for which it is the county seat. A small portion of the city, mainly the neighborhood of Westmoreland, is in Wayne County. Its population was estimated at 48,982 in 2007. Huntington is a part of the Huntington-Ashland, WV-KY-OH, Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA). As of current 2005 data, the MSA's population was 286,012. Huntington is the largest city within the MSA and the second largest city in West Virginia, behind Charleston.
History
The city was named for Collis P. Huntington, who founded Huntington in 1870 as the western terminus for the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway (C&O) on the land west of the mouth of the Guyandotte River at the Ohio River. It was created as a railroad town for the C&O, when it initially stretched from Richmond, Virginia to the Ohio River. The city houses numerous railroad shops which expanded east to Newport News (and coal piers) and west to eventually reach Cincinnati and Chicago in the years after its founding.
Huntington was incorporated in 1871, but was really a massive addition to an earlier city, Guyandotte. Guyandotte, which became a neighborhood of Huntington, was first built upon in 1799. The land that is now part of both Guyandotte and Huntington was originally part of the 28,628 acre French and Indian War veteran's Savage Grant.
Historically, the old Federal Era town of Guyandotte has homes dating back to 1820 and a graveyard containing 18th century French and Colonial-era settlers, including surnames such as LeTulle, Holderby, and Buffington. Huntington was known as Holderby's Landing prior to 1871 and the Buffington family held the tracts of land that became the Huntington Land Company. The Buffingtons were the only revolutionary-era Savage Grant claimants to continuously reside within the area, and later generations of Buffingtons were associated with Marshall College (later a university) were business partners of Collis P. Huntington. Albert Gallatin Jenkins, a Confederate Army General, had his plantation home in nearby Lesage, which has since become a historical landmark.
At the time of Huntington's founding, Holderby's Landing was already the home of Marshall College, a normal school that had been founded in 1837 as Marshall Academy. Originally, Marshall Academy was essentially a boarding school, under the control of the Southern Methodist Church, for wealthy high school students. In 1857, the school became Marshall College, which in turn became a public institution in 1867. The college later became Marshall University in 1961 and now occupies a large portion of the city to the immediate east of the downtown CBD.
In 1891, work constructing the first school building for African Americans was begun. Douglass High School was named for U.S. abolitionist leader Frederick Douglass. Among the school's early graduates in 1896 was Carter G. Woodson, who became its principal four years later. Dr. Woodson became a noted teacher, educator and historian, and was one of the first blacks to be awarded a doctorate from Harvard University. Known as the father of Afro-American History , in 1926, he founded Negro History Week, which later became Afro-American History Month. Public school desegregation resulted in the closing of Douglass High School in 1961. The building was placed on the register of historic places in 1985.
By the 1950s thanks to a successful coal and chemical industry, Huntington had grown to nearly 100,000 in population. However, due to coal losing some of its prominence as a fuel in the second half of the 20th century, the city lost much of its industrial base including several factories in industries such as glassworks, steel, and locomotive parts.
In the 21st century, Huntington is now effectively a regional medical community - the two hospitals, St. Mary's and Cabell-Huntington, are the largest employers - and a university town, thanks to the presence of Marshall University, which has an enrollment of approximately 16,000 students.
Despite being located to the south of the area traditionally defined as the Rust belt, the city suffered from the trend of heavy de-industrialization experienced in cities of the Upper Midwest during the 1970s. This trend has been one of the factors that has resulted Huntington's population decline over the last several decades.
In the 1970s, federal urban renewal programs destroyed part of the downtown. However, in 2005 downtown again began to prosper with construction of the Pullman Square, retail and entertainment lifestyle center. The Harris Riverfront Park promenade is now well-attended along the Ohio River downtown.
Southern Airways Flight 932
On November 14, 1970, a chartered Southern Airways McDonnell-Douglas DC-9 jet transporting 75 Marshall University football players, coaches, staff, and supporters crashed just short of the Tri-State Airport in adjoining Ceredo, West Virginia. Everyone on board was killed.
A movie titled We Are Marshall, starring Matthew McConaughey and Matthew Fox, was released locally on December 12, 2006, and nationally on December 22, 2006. The movie depicts the aftermath of the aviation disaster for the families and university.
Geography and climate
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 18.0 square miles (46.6 kmē), of which, 15.9 square miles (41.2 kmē) of it is land and 2.1 square miles (5.4 kmē) of it (11.51%) is water. The Guyandotte River joins the Ohio River in Huntington, about 5 mi (8 km) east of its downtown.
Due to its position in the westernmost and lowest altitude areas of the state, the city is on the northern limits of a warmer and milder Humid subtropical climate, unlike the hilly uplands of West Virginia which are located in the Allegheny Mountains and the Appalachian Mountains. Huntington is warmed by westerly winds from the Midwest, and made humid by the Ohio River, but avoids the bitter cold and high winds of the interior of West Virginia. Huntington enjoys temperate four seasons, with hot (70-90 degrees) summers and snowy (20-50 degrees) winters. Fall and spring tend to be cool and wet, but
Huntington fills the roughly three-mile wide flood plain of the south bank of the Ohio River for sixty city blocks and portions of the hills to the immediate south.
Month |
Jan |
Feb |
Mar |
Apr |
May |
Jun |
Jul |
Aug |
Sep |
Oct |
Nov |
Dec |
Year |
|---|
Avg high (°F) |
41 |
45 |
56 |
67 |
75 |
83 |
86 |
84 |
78 |
67 |
56 |
45 |
65 |
|---|
Avg low (°F) |
24 |
26 |
35 |
44 |
53 |
61 |
65 |
64 |
57 |
45 |
37 |
29 |
45 |
|---|
Rainfall (in) |
2.9 |
2.9 |
4.0 |
3.3 |
4.2 |
3.4 |
4.5 |
3.9 |
2.9 |
2.7 |
3.3 |
3.4 |
41.4 |
|---|
Snowfall (in) |
8.3 |
7.3 |
4.3 |
0.6 |
0.0 |
0.0 |
0.0 |
0.0 |
0.0 |
0.1 |
1.2 |
3.9 |
25.7 |
|---|
The city's primary public recreation center is Ritter Park (named for Charles L. Ritter who donated the land). The park area encompasses a walking and cycling path, tennis courts, an outdoor amphitheater, a multi-terraced rose garden, and a stone-tiered reflecting pond built by the Works Progress Administration and Civilian Conservation Corps in the late 1930s. Four Pole Creek runs the entire length of Ritter Park and is crossed by numerous wooden and stone footbridges.
Government and politics
Huntington has, since 1985, operated under a strong mayor/city council form of government. The mayor is elected to four-year terms in partisan elections contested at the same time as United States presidential elections. The current mayor is former Cabell County Sheriff Kim Wolfe, a Republican who is currently in his first term. Mayors in Huntington are term-limited to three terms and have the authority to veto acts of the city council.
Huntington's city councilors are also elected to four-year terms at the same time as the mayor. There are eleven members of the council, nine of whom represent single-member districts, while the other two are elected at-large by the city as a whole. Huntington's city council has the authority to draft and debate ordinances and can override a mayoral veto with a two-thirds majority. There are currently nine Democrats and two Republicans on the city council.
| District | City Councillor | District | City Councillor |
|---|
| District 1 | James Ritter (D) | District 7 | Scott Caserta (D) | | District 2 | Teresa Loudermilk (D) | District 8 | P. D. Adkins (D) | | District 3 | Frances Jackson (D) | District 9 | James Insco (D) | | District 4 | Nate Randolph (R) | At Large | Steve Williams (D) | | District 5 | Sandra Clements (D) | At Large | Rebecca Thacker (D) | | District 6 | Mark Bates (R) | | |
The city also serves as the county seat of Cabell County. The Cabell County Courthouse is located in downtown Huntington on a parcel that covers an entire city block. Within the building are the offices for all of the county's elected officials and their employees, including the sheriff, county commissioners, county clerk, magistrates, and Circuit Court judges.
Demographics
As of the census of 2000, there were 51,475 people, 22,955 households, and 12,235 families residing in the city. The population density was 3,234.1 people per square mile (1,248.4/kmē). There were 25,888 housing units at an average density of 1,626.5/sq mi (627.9/kmē). The racial makeup of the city was 89.61% White, 7.49% Black or African American, 0.20% Native American, 0.82% Asian, 0.05% Pacific Islander, 0.30% from other races, and 1.53% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.85% of the population.
There were 22,955 households out of which 20.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 36.9% were married couples living together, 13.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 46.7% were non-families. 37.6% of all households were made up of individuals and 15.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.12 and the average family size was 2.80.
In the city the population was spread out with 17.7% under the age of 18, 17.5% from 18 to 24, 24.9% from 25 to 44, 21.8% from 45 to 64, and 18.0% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females there were 88.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 85.8 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $23,234, and the median income for a family was $34,756. Males had a median income of $30,040 versus $21,198 for females. The per capita income for the city was $16,717. About 17.5% of families and 24.7% of the population were below the poverty line, including 29.8% of those under the age of 18 and 12.5% of those 65 and older.
Public health issues
A report issued by the Centers for Disease Control August 15th, 2008 using survey data from 2006 found that 24.3% of adults 18 years-of-age or older reported themselves as in poor to fair health. The survey also found that 48.1% of residents over 65 years of age in the Huntington-Ashland, West Virginia-Kentucky-Ohio statistical area had all their natural teeth extracted. In addition, the CDC reports that 45.5% of adults older than 20 years are obese. 21.6% of adults over 45 years of age reported a diagnosis of coronary heart disease while another 12.7% of adults aged 18 or older reported a diagnosis of diabetes.
An Associated Press article describes lifestyle and cultural barriers as obstacles to better public health. As examples, the article describes local eating habits (the number of pizza shops in Huntington alone exceeding the total number of health clubs available in the entire state of West Virginia), the relatively sedentary culture, and poor education as causes for health issues described in the CDC report. In an MSNBC report published November 16, 2008, Huntington was rated as the most unhealthy city in the United States. The study took into consideration obesity rates, toothlessness, and levels of healthcare.
Institutions
Huntington is home to several medical centers. St. Mary's Medical Center and Cabell-Huntington Hospital provide healthcare for Huntington and the surrounding metropolitan area. St. Mary's and Cabell-Huntington are jointly designated as the only trauma center in the region. St. Mary's is home to a regional heart institute, regional cancer center and regional neuroscience center. The Marshall University Medical Center is located at Cabell-Huntington. In addition, the Marshall University Medical School, now known as the Joan C. Edwards School of Medicine in honor of Joan C. Edwards, a major benefactor, has a comprehensive cancer care center. It is also a distinguished leader nationwide for rural health care delivery.
The Huntington Veteran's Administration (VA) Medical Center, located on Spring Valley Drive, is an 80-bed medical and surgical care facility that offers primary inpatient and outpatient care, along with mental health services and subspeciality outpatient options. It is also the primary teaching facility for the Marshall University School of Medicine and is also affiliated with the Pikeville School of Osteopathic Medicine. In 1993, the Robert C. Byrd Clinical Addition expanded the hospital's surgery, radiology, laboratory, cardiology, nuclear medicine, and rehabilitation services and renovated inpatient care facilities. In 1998, a $10 million research facility was completed
The city is also home to the state's largest psychiatric hospital, Mildred Mitchell-Bateman Hospital.
A banking and commerce center for the area between 1880 and the present, Huntington developed along the river's shore with its 19th century urban industry. The Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad had its western terminus in Huntington and railroad tracks bifurcate the city today. The railroad was historically the leading Huntington industry, along with coal, railcars, nickel, steel and glass.
Economy
Huntington has a central business district, located directly south of the Ohio River, east of the Robert C. Byrd Bridge, and west of 11th Street. It has another smaller business district, known as Central City, that is well known for its antique shops and for Heiners Bakery. There are several heavy industrial plants that line the Ohio River and the Guyandotte River, but the dominance of Marshall University's research prominence and the growing service sector, especially in the medical field, is reversing the effects of the rust belt that have plagued Huntington for two decades.
The city also has a wealth of architecture, most of it constructed at a time when Huntington was dominated by the Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad and the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. The city can also lay claim to a new urban renewal stance, brought on by Heritage Village, Pullman Square, and the continued investment in numerous downtown properties. Offshoots of the Pullman Square project include the renovation of many historical structures along 3rd Avenue, a new 9th Street Plaza, and the Old Main Corridor project.
Culture
Annual events and fairs
Huntington is home to numerous unique events and fairs held throughout the year.
| Name | Location | Date | Comments |
|---|
| St. George Greek Festival | St. George Greek Orthodox Church 701 11th Ave. Huntington, WV 25701 | September 25-27, 2009 | A festival with Greek food, music, and dancing. | | Chilifest | Downtown district - 4th Avenue and Plaza | September 15-17 | State championship is held every year, with chili cooks coming from West Virginia and other states to compete for a berth in the national competition. | | Guyandotte Civil War Days | Guyandotte | Early-November | This festival features arts and crafts, food, and entertainment. | | Guyandotte Heritage Days | Guyandotte | November | This historic-themed festival features reenactment of the Confederate raid and the Union reprisal. It features period music, museums, 'living histories', and craft displays. | | Hilltop Festival | Huntington Museum of Art | 2nd weekend in September | This event offers entertainment, children's activities, a petting zoo, book fair, arts and crafts, and concessions. | | X-Fest | Harris Riverfront Park | Within the first 3 weeks of September | Rock/alternative music concert that allows local bands to play with bigger bands. | | Huntington Dogwood Arts and Crafts Festival | Big Sandy Superstore Arena | April | This features the demonstration and sale of traditional arts and crafts plus specialty ethnic foods. | | Jazz-MU-Tazz | Marshall University | June | A summer jazz festival, it is a weekend of music that features jazz cabarets, outdoor concerts, and numerous activities. | | Lions Tri-State Arts & Crafts Festival | Big Sandy Superstore Arena | 1st weekend in December | An old-fashioned arts and crafts fair that includes over 200 exhibitors featuring a variety of arts and crafts and homemade foods and sweets. | | | Central City district in West Huntington | 3rd weekend in June | This event offers numerous entertainment and shopping options in addition to the existing stock of storefronts, historic tours, and various food vendors at the new farmers market "depot." | | Pilot Club of Huntington's Antique Show and Sale | Big Sandy Superstore Arena | Last complete weekend in September. | An antique show and sale that features more than 40 dealers representing more than 10 states and West Virginia. | | Ritter Park Days | Ritter Park | Weekends in July and August. | Features children-based activities and programs. | | West Virginia Day Celebration | Downtown district - 9th Street Plaza | June 20 | This features live entertainment, jugglers, food, crafts, and more. | | St. Patrick's Day Celebration | Downtown Huntington | March 14 | This features live entertainment by musical and dance groups appropriate for St. Patrick's Day. | | West Virginia Hot Dog Festival | Pullman Square district - 3rd Avenue | | Celebrates the unique variations of local hot dogs. |
Historical structures and museums
The Huntington Museum of Art is located in the hills above Ritter Park, featuring numerous collections and exhibitions; it is also home to the C. Fred Edwards Conservatory. The Museum of Radio and Technology is located near the west end of the park in a renovated elementary school. The Cabell County Courthouse and the Carnegie Library in the downtown also hold historical interests, along with Old Main at Marshall University, a structure dating to the 1840s and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
The Keith Albee Theatre, a former Vaudeville palace in the "Art Deco" style from the 1920s, is one of the architectural masterpieces of downtown Huntington, located along 4th Avenue. It is currently being renovated to become one of the state's largest performing arts centers. One block north, 5th Avenue is noted for its many historical church buildings. The city is also the site of an Adena Native American burial mound.
Traditional "drive-in" restaurants and hot dog stands are popular in the city, although several of them have closed in recent years.
Parks and outdoor attractions
Huntington is home to eleven parks located in the neighborhoods of Huntington, the most visible being Harris Riverfront Park in the downtown and Ritter Park. Camden Park, an amusement park, is also adjacent to the city. Pullman Square features many restaurants and shops and a stage for live performances.
Sports
Huntington's sports scene is dominated by Marshall University athletics; it is, however, the current home to one professional sports franchise. The indoor football team, the Huntington Heroes, is a 2006 expansion franchise member of the American Indoor Football League (now the American Indoor Football Association). Home games were originally played in the Veterans Memorial Fieldhouse, but are now played in the Big Sandy Superstore Arena.
Huntington was also home to the Huntington Blizzard, an ECHL ice-hockey team that was in existence from 1993 to 2000 at the Big Sandy Superstore Arena, and a succession of minor league baseball teams in the 1990s at St. Cloud Commons.
Media
Print
Huntington has one of West Virginia's largest daily circulating newspapers, The Herald-Dispatch, with an average weekday circulation of just over 29,000. The paper was purchased in June 2007 by Champion Industries for US$77 million.
Television
| Call sign | Channel | Description |
|---|
| WOWK | | CBS affiliate broadcasting from both Huntington/Charleston | | WPBY | | West Virginia Public Broadcasting | | WSAZ | | NBC affiliate broadcasting from Huntington | | WCHS-TV | | ABC affiliated station broadcasting from Charleston. | | WQCW | | CW affiliated station from Portsmouth, Ohio. | | WVAH | | FOX affiliate broadcasted from Teays Valley. |
Radio
- Note: These are the only stations that are licensed to the city of Huntington.
Education
The residents of Huntington are served by the Cabell County School System, which includes Huntington High School, Cabell Midland High School, Cabell County Career Technology Center, five middle schools, and 19 elementary schools. Huntington is also home to four colleges and universities, including Marshall University, ,the Robert C. Byrd Institute, and the Huntington Junior College.
The Cabell County Public Library system operates a main branch downtown and seven branches in neighboring towns.
Infrastructure
Roads
Huntington is located along Interstate 64, which skirts the city to the south. It has four interchanges that serve the city: US 52 (West Huntington Expressway), WV 152/WV 527, WV 10, and US 60.
US 60, part of the historic Midland Trail, runs through the entire length of Huntington from west to east, cutting through West Huntington, downtown, East Huntington, and along the Guyandotte River. US 52 cuts through West Huntington along the West Huntington Expressway, but its presence is brief. It has an interchange at Madison Avenue and one for US 60.
The city is the northern terminus for WV 10, a scenic highway that follows the Guyandotte River for much of its length and connects Huntington to Princeton. It is also the southern terminus of WV 2, which parallels the entirety of West Virginia's section of the Ohio River, and facilitates much traffic towards Point Pleasant and Parkersburg.
Huntington utilizes a grid-like street pattern featuring several wide boulevard-style avenues that run east and west. Most notable of these are 3rd and 5th Avenues. The city has a numbered street naming system, with avenues running east and west (parallel to the Ohio River) and streets running north and south.
The city has connections over the Ohio River to Proctorville, Ohio via the East End Bridge, and to Chesapeake, Ohio via the Robert C. Byrd Bridge and the West Huntington Bridge.
Rail
Since its founding as the western terminus of the C&O Railroad, Huntington has served as a major break of bulk point between rail traffic and the Ohio River/Mississippi River
watershed. Much of the coal mined in southern West Virginia is brought to Huntington by train to be transshipped and then transported by river barges to industrial centers in other parts of the United States. CSX, the successor company to C&O, continues to maintain a regional office, a rail yard, a freight car light repair shop, and a locomotive heavy repair facility in the city.
The city was once a hub for passenger rail service in the region, but accounts for a significantly smaller portion of rail traffic than in the early decades of the 20th Century. Huntington, however, has an Amtrak station that lies on the Cardinal line running between New York City and Chicago via Washington, DC and Cincinnati.
River
Huntington is the largest inland port in the United States in both in terms of total tonnage and ton-miles. This is due in large part to the coal traffic from the railroads and the petroleum products produced by the Marathon Petroleum Company oil refinery in nearby Catlettsburg, Kentucky that use the Port of Huntington to load their products onto barges.
Air
Tri-State Airport, located southwest of the city, is a public airport with two runways. Commercial air service is provided by three airlines: Allegiant Air, Delta Connection and US Airways Express.
Notable people from Huntington
* "Big Ben" Bowen: a child who moved many and raised awareness of childhood cancer
See also
External links
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