Huntington is a city located in the U.S. State of West Virginia, along the Ohio River. Most of the city is in Cabell County, with a small part in Wayne County. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 51,475 (47,341 in Cabell County, 4,134 in Wayne County). Huntington is a part of the Huntington-Ashland, WV-KY-OH, Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA). As of the 2000 census, the MSA had a population of 288,649.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 46.6 km2 (18.0 mi2). 41.2 km2 (15.9 mi2) of it is land and 5.4 km2 (2.1 mi2) of it is water. The total area is 11.51% water. The Guyandotte River joins the Ohio River in Huntington, about 5 mi (8 km) east of its downtown. It lies in the westernmost and lowest altitude area of West Virginia, and has a temperate four seasons, with hot (60-90 degrees) Summers and snowy (20-50 degrees) Winters. Fall and Spring tend to be cool and wet, but Huntington enjoys warmer and milder climate than 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. Culturally influenced by the Ohio Valley and Midwest cities of Columbus, Ohio, Cincinatti, Ohio and Louisville, Kentucky, it has a strong, traditional American "Norman Rockwell" visual identity, with its tree-lined streets, sidewalks, brick streets, parks, alleyways and brick homes.
As of the census of 2000, there are 51,475 people, 22,955 households, and 12,235 families residing in the city. The population density is 1,248.4/km2 (3,234.1/mi2). There are 25,888 housing units at an average density of 627.9/km2 (1,626.5/mi2). The racial makeup of the city is 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. 0.85% of the population are Hispanic or Latino of any race.
There are 22,955 households out of which 0.6% have children under the age of 18 living with them, 36.9% are married couples living together, 13.1% have a female householder with no husband present, and 46.7% are non-families. 37.6% of all households are made up of individuals and 15.1% have someone living alone who is 65 years of age or older. The average household size is 2.0 and the average family size is 2.0.
The age distribution, which is strongly influenced by Marshall University's presence, is 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 are 65 years of age or older. The median age is 37 years. For every 100 females there are 88.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there are 85.8 males.
The median income for a household in the city is $23,234, and the median income for a family is $34,756. Males have a median income of $30,040 versus $21,198 for females. The per capita income for the city is $16,717. 24.7% of the population and 17.5% of families are below the poverty line. Out of the total population, 29.8% of those under the age of 18 and 12.5% of those 65 and older are living below the poverty line.
Income curves show a low median relative to U.S. norms. While upper middle class $50,000 to $150,000 annual incomes are found in Huntington, there are few wealthy salaried professionals.
Tensions within the community rose when coal industry baron James Fletcher and his wife, Penny Fletcher, were involved in an internationally celebrated murder trial at St. Vincent and the Grenadines in the mid 1990s. Crimes involving methamphetamine and Detroit street gangs are a current hot-button issue in city.
Traditional coal mining and industrial unemployment has exacerbated class conflicts in Huntington, as jobs have remained scarce and often poorly remunerated. Health care, education and other service sector opportunities mark the economy of Huntington, West Virginia.
The city was named for Collis P. Huntington, who founded it in 1870 as a headquarters for his Chesapeake and Ohio Railway. Huntington was incorporated in 1871, but its constituent city, Guyandotte, was first built upon in 1799. Huntington is the county seat of Cabell County.
Historically, the old Federal Era town of Guyandotte, now within the Huntington city limits, has homes dating back to 1820 and a graveyard containing 18th century French and Colonial Revolutionary Era settlers, including the LeTulle, Holderby and Buffington family markers. 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. Albert Gallatin Jenkins, a Confederate General, had his plantation home in nearby Lesage, and it is still standing.
Huntington grew to nearly 100,000 in population by the 1950s thanks to a successful coal and chemical industry; because coal has since lost some of its prominence as a fuel and the city has lost much of its industrial base - including glassworks, steel, and manufacturing train parts - Huntington is now effectively a medical community (the two hospitals are the largest employers) and a university town.
On November 14, 1970, a major tragedy struck Huntington when the entire Marshall University football team and many of its civic supporters (75 people in all) were killed in a plane crash near the Tri-State Airport while flying back to Huntington from a football game with East Carolina University. The private plane was returning on a rainy and foggy night, and the pilot misjudged the landing and flew the plane into the side of a mountain by flying 50 feet too low while attempting to make the landing descent. Many major community leaders and benefactors were killed in the plane crash in addition to the members of the football team (coaches and players), and each year on November 14, those who died are still mourned in a ceremony at Marshall University. A number of the victims of the plane crash are buried in a grave site in the Spring Hill Cemetery in Huntington, and the road that leads from the cemetery to Marshall University has been renamed Marshall Memorial Blvd. in honor and memory of those killed in the plane crash.
Source:
HuntingtonWestVirginia.com
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