Point Pleasant is a city in
Mason CountyMason County is a county located in the U.S. state of West Virginia. As of 2000, the population was 25,957. Its county seat is Point Pleasant. The county was named for George Mason, one of the principal architects of the 1776 Virginia Constitution....
,
West VirginiaWest Virginia is a state in the Appalachian and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States, bordered by Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Ohio to the northwest, and Pennsylvania and Maryland to the northeast...
,
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, at the
confluenceConfluence, in geography, describes the meeting of two or more bodies of water. It usually refers to the point where a tributary joins a more major river, called the mainstem, when that major river is also the highest order stream in the drainage basin....
of the
OhioThe Ohio River is the largest tributary, by volume, of the Mississippi River. It is approximately 981 miles long and is located in the eastern United States....
and
KanawhaThe Kanawha River is a tributary of the Ohio River, approximately 97 mi long, in the U.S. state of West Virginia...
Rivers. The population was 4,637 at the 2000 census. It is the
county seatA county seat is a term for an administrative center for a county or civil parish, primarily used in the United States. In the Northeast United States, the statutory term often is shire town, but colloquially county seat is the term in use there...
of
Mason CountyMason County is a county located in the U.S. state of West Virginia. As of 2000, the population was 25,957. Its county seat is Point Pleasant. The county was named for George Mason, one of the principal architects of the 1776 Virginia Constitution....
and the principal city of the Point Pleasant, WV-OH
Micropolitan Statistical AreaThe Point Pleasant Micropolitan Statistical Area, as defined by the United States Census Bureau, is an area consisting of two counties – one in West Virginia and one in Ohio – anchored by the city of Point Pleasant, West Virginia....
.
Point Pleasant is most famous for the 1967 collapse of the
Silver BridgeThis article is for the famous American bridge; for other uses of the term see the Disambiguation page Silver Bridge.This Silver Bridge was an eyebar-chain, suspension bridge built in 1928 and named for the color of its aluminum paint...
, which killed 46 people.
It is also known for a series of local legends centered on the collapse of the bridge.
Point Pleasant is a city in
Mason CountyMason County is a county located in the U.S. state of West Virginia. As of 2000, the population was 25,957. Its county seat is Point Pleasant. The county was named for George Mason, one of the principal architects of the 1776 Virginia Constitution....
,
West VirginiaWest Virginia is a state in the Appalachian and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States, bordered by Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Ohio to the northwest, and Pennsylvania and Maryland to the northeast...
,
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, at the
confluenceConfluence, in geography, describes the meeting of two or more bodies of water. It usually refers to the point where a tributary joins a more major river, called the mainstem, when that major river is also the highest order stream in the drainage basin....
of the
OhioThe Ohio River is the largest tributary, by volume, of the Mississippi River. It is approximately 981 miles long and is located in the eastern United States....
and
KanawhaThe Kanawha River is a tributary of the Ohio River, approximately 97 mi long, in the U.S. state of West Virginia...
Rivers. The population was 4,637 at the 2000 census. It is the
county seatA county seat is a term for an administrative center for a county or civil parish, primarily used in the United States. In the Northeast United States, the statutory term often is shire town, but colloquially county seat is the term in use there...
of
Mason CountyMason County is a county located in the U.S. state of West Virginia. As of 2000, the population was 25,957. Its county seat is Point Pleasant. The county was named for George Mason, one of the principal architects of the 1776 Virginia Constitution....
and the principal city of the Point Pleasant, WV-OH
Micropolitan Statistical AreaThe Point Pleasant Micropolitan Statistical Area, as defined by the United States Census Bureau, is an area consisting of two counties – one in West Virginia and one in Ohio – anchored by the city of Point Pleasant, West Virginia....
.
Point Pleasant is most famous for the 1967 collapse of the
Silver BridgeThis article is for the famous American bridge; for other uses of the term see the Disambiguation page Silver Bridge.This Silver Bridge was an eyebar-chain, suspension bridge built in 1928 and named for the color of its aluminum paint...
, which killed 46 people.
It is also known for a series of local legends centered on the collapse of the bridge. According to these legends, a
winged humanoid creatureThe Mothman is a creature reportedly seen in the Charleston and Point Pleasant areas of West Virginia from November 12, 1966, to December 1967. Most observers describe the Mothman as a winged man-sized creature with large reflective red eyes and large moth-like wings...
was seen by several Point Pleasant residents in the weeks leading up to the disaster. The creature is said to have predicted the collapse. This is the source of the book and movie,
The Mothman PropheciesThe Mothman Prophecies is a 1975 book by parapsychologist John Keel, described as nonfiction.The book's subject matter mostly concerns events in Point Pleasant, West Virginia, during 1966 and 1967, focusing on sightings of a creature dubbed Mothman...
.
The town is also noted for the October 10, 1774,
Battle of Point PleasantThe Battle of Point Pleasant, known as the Battle of Kanawha in some older accounts, was the only major battle of Dunmore's War. It was fought on October 10, 1774, primarily between Virginia militia and American Indians from the Shawnee and Mingo tribes...
, in which Virginia militiamen led by Colonel
Andrew LewisAndrew Lewis was an American pioneer, surveyor, and soldier from Virginia. He served as a colonel of militia during the French and Indian War, and as a brigadier general in the American Revolutionary War...
defeated an Algonquin Confederation of Shawnee and Mingo warriors led by Shawnee Chief
CornstalkFor other uses, see Corn Stalk.Hokoleskwa — known as Cornstalk — was an important 18th century leader of the Shawnee people. In the Shawnee language, his name meant "blade of corn"...
. The event is celebrated in Point Pleasant as the first battle of the
American Revolutionary WarThe American Revolutionary War , also sometimes known as the American War of Independence, began as a war between the Kingdom of Great Britain and thirteen united former British colonies in North America, and concluded in a global war between several European great powers...
, and in 1908 the US Senate authorized erection of a monument to commemorate Point Pleasant as the site of the first battle of the American Revolution. Most historians, however, regard it not as a battle of the Revolution but instead as a part of Lord Dunmore's War.
It was the final home of
ConfederateThe Confederate States of America was a separatist political entity existing between 1861 to 1865, established by eleven southern slave states of the United States of America, each of which had previously declared their secession from the United States...
Brigadier-General
John McCauslandJohn McCausland, Jr. was a brigadier general in the Confederate States Army, famous for the ransom of Hagerstown, Maryland, and the razing of Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, during the American Civil War....
, the next-to-last Confederate General to die. He died at his farm at Grimm's Landing on January 23, 1927, and is buried in nearby
HendersonHenderson is a town in Mason County, West Virginia, United States, at the confluence of the Ohio and Kanawha Rivers. The population was 325 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Point Pleasant, WV–OH Micropolitan Statistical Area...
.
Point Pleasant is located at (38.857527, -82.128571).
Geography
According to the
United States Census BureauThe United States Census Bureau is the government agency that is responsible for the United States Census. It also gathers other national demographic and economic data. As part of the United States Department of Commerce, the Census Bureau serves as the leading source of quality data about...
, the city has a total area of 3.1 square miles (8.0 km²), of which, 2.4 square miles (6.2 km²) of it is land and 0.7 square miles (1.8 km²) of it (22.73%) is water.
Demographics
As of the
censusA "census" is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population.In other words every 10 years...next one would be in 2010 The term is used mostly in connection with...
of 2000, there were 4,637 people, 2,107 households, and 1,310 families residing in the city. The
population densityPopulation density is a measurement of population per unit area or unit volume. It is frequently applied to living organisms, and particularly to humans. It is a key term used in geography....
was 1,945.6 people per square mile (752.3/km²). There were 2,313 housing units at an average density of 970.5/sq mi (375.2/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 96.57% White, 1.90% African American, 0.15% Native American, 0.60% Asian, 0.09% from
other racesRace and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the United States Census Bureau and the Federal Office of Management and Budget , are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...
, and 0.69% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.54% of the population.
There were 2,107 households out of which 26.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 44.7% were
married couplesMarriage is a social union or legal contract between individuals that creates kinship. It is an institution in which interpersonal relationships, usually intimate and sexual, are acknowledged by a variety of ways, depending on the culture or demographic...
living together, 14.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 37.8% were non-families. 34.8% of all households were made up of individuals and 17.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.18 and the average family size was 2.80.
In the city the population was spread out with 21.3% under the age of 18, 8.4% from 18 to 24, 23.7% from 25 to 44, 26.2% from 45 to 64, and 20.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 43 years. For every 100 females there were 83.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 75.3 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $27,022, and the median income for a family was $33,527. Males had a median income of $31,657 versus $16,607 for females. The
per capita incomePer capita income means how much each individual receives, in monetary terms, of the yearly income generated in the country. This is what each citizen is to receive if the yearly national income is divided equally among everyone. Per capita income is usually reported in units of currency per year...
for the city was $16,692. About 22.2% of families and 24.2% of the population were below the poverty line, including 37.9% of those under age 18 and 13.3% of those age 65 or over.
The Mothman
Paranormal enthusiasts flock to Point Pleasant in search of Mothman, a creature said to inhabit an abandoned TNT plant from World War II. It has become more than an urban legend, and it is believed to be a harbinger of immenent disaster, now being seen around the globe before great tragedies. John A. Keel published a book in 1975 entitled
The Mothman PropheciesThe Mothman Prophecies is a 1975 book by parapsychologist John Keel, described as nonfiction.The book's subject matter mostly concerns events in Point Pleasant, West Virginia, during 1966 and 1967, focusing on sightings of a creature dubbed Mothman...
, and a
filmThe Mothman Prophecies is a 2002 film directed by Mark Pellington, adapted from the 1976 book of the same name by parapsychologist and Fortean John Keel. The film stars Richard Gere as John Klein, a reporter who researches the legend of the Mothman....
inspired by the novel was released in January 2002. There is even a Mothman Museum, run by Jeffrey Wamsley.
External links