Baltimore and Ohio employees magazine (1912) (14738560576)

Buckhannon is the only incorporated city in, and the

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or civil parish. The term is in use in Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, Taiwan, and the United States. The equivalent term shire town is used in the US st ...

of, Upshur County,

West Virginia West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian, Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States.The Census Bureau and the Association of American Geographers classify West Virginia as part of the Southern United States while the B ...

, United States, and is located along the

Buckhannon River The Buckhannon River is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed August 15, 2011 tributary of the Tygart Valley River in north-central West Virginia, USA. Via the Tygart Valle ...

. The population was 5,299 at the 2020 census. The city is located 60 miles southwest of Morgantown, 115 miles northeast of the capital city of Charleston, 140 miles south of

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Western Pennsylvania, the second-most populous city in Pennsylva ...

, and 220 miles west of

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

Buckhannon is home to

West Virginia Wesleyan College West Virginia Wesleyan College is a private college in Buckhannon, West Virginia. It has an enrollment of about 1,400 students from 35 U.S. states and 26 countries. The school was founded in 1890 by the West Virginia Conference of the Methodist E ...

and the , held annually during the third week of May. In 2023, Buckhannon will hos
The World Association of Marching Show Bands

History

According to tradition, the first settlers in the Buckhannon River Valley were brothers John and Samuel Pringle. John and Samuel were soldiers serving in the English army during the

French and Indian War The French and Indian War (1754–1763) was a theater of the Seven Years' War, which pitted the North American colonies of the British Empire against those of the French, each side being supported by various Native American tribes. At the ...

(

Seven Years' War The Seven Years' War (1756–1763) was a global conflict that involved most of the European Great Powers, and was fought primarily in Europe, the Americas, and Asia-Pacific. Other concurrent conflicts include the French and Indian War (175 ...

) who, in 1761, deserted their posts at Fort Pitt (present-day Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania). They traveled southward and upstream along the Monongahela and Tygart Valley rivers, continuing up what is now called the Buckhannon River. John and Samuel are said to have arrived in present-day Upshur County in 1764 and took up residence in the hollow stump of an

American sycamore ''Platanus occidentalis'', also known as American sycamore, American planetree, western plane, occidental plane, buttonwood, and water beech, is a species of ''Platanus'' native to the eastern and central United States, the mountains of northeas ...

tree. They lived there for three years, surviving off of game and fish. When they ran out of bullets in 1765, John made the journey to settlements along the

South Branch Potomac River The South Branch Potomac River has its headwaters in northwestern Highland County, Virginia near Hightown along the eastern edge of the Allegheny Front. After a river distance of ,U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolu ...

to purchase more and found out from the locals that the war was over and the brothers were no longer wanted men. After his return, they moved to the South Branch settlements. John later went to Kentucky, but Samuel returned to the river valley in 1769 with his new wife Charity Pringle (née Cutright), her brother John Jr., friends Thomas Hughes, and John and Elizabeth Jackson with their sons George and Edward. (Edward was the grandfather of

Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson Thomas Jonathan "Stonewall" Jackson (January 21, 1824 – May 10, 1863) was a Confederate general during the American Civil War, considered one of the best-known Confederate commanders, after Robert E. Lee. He played a prominent role in near ...

). The City of Buckhannon was established on January 15, 1816, officially named for Buckongahelas (1720-1805), the legendary Lenape Chief. A statue of Buckongahelas and his fallen son, crafted by Buckhannon sculptor Ross Straight, was erected in Buckhannon West Virginia’s Jawbone Park in 2000. The city was chartered by the

Virginia General Assembly The Virginia General Assembly is the legislative body of the Commonwealth of Virginia, the oldest continuous law-making body in the Western Hemisphere, the first elected legislative assembly in the New World, and was established on July 30, 16 ...

in 1852, and remained part of the Commonwealth of

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

until the secession of West Virginia on June 20, 1863 during the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states ...

. Because of its near-central geographic location, Buckhannon was long considered a prospective site for the state capital. In 1866, the legislature approved a bill including Buckhannon among the choices for capital, but officials decided the river was not wide enough to accommodate desired commerce and ultimately settled with Charleston as the state capitol. The first courthouse was built in 1854. It served multiple functions, including as an opera house and town hall. Electricity was installed in 1891 to replace oil lamps, but the building suffered fire damage in the first six months of electrical service, eventually being razed in 1898. In its place, a

Classical Revival Neoclassical architecture is an architectural style produced by the Neoclassical movement that began in the mid-18th century in Italy and France. It became one of the most prominent architectural styles in the Western world. The prevailing style ...

style courthouse, designed by Charleston architect

Harrison Albright Harrison Albright (May 17, 1866 – January 3, 1932) was an American architect best known for his design of the West Baden Springs Hotel in Orange County, Indiana. Biography Born in the Ogontz neighborhood of North Philadelphia, Pennsylva ...

, begun construction in 1899 and was completed in 1901. An annex of the same style was added in 1995. In the cornerstone of the main building is a time capsule filled with turn of the 19th century artifacts. The

Sago Mine Disaster The Sago Mine disaster was a coal mine explosion on January 2, 2006, at the Sago Mine in Sago, West Virginia, United States, near the Upshur County seat of Buckhannon. The blast and collapse trapped 13 miners for nearly two days; only one su ...

, January 2, 2006, killed 12 and left one survivor. Officials said that a lightning strike in the coal caused the explosion. It was the worst mining disaster in the US since a 2001 disaster in

Alabama (We dare defend our rights) , anthem = "Alabama" , image_map = Alabama in United States.svg , seat = Montgomery , LargestCity = Huntsville , LargestCounty = Baldwin County , LargestMetro = Greater Birmingham , area_total_km2 = 135,765 ...

killed 13 people, and the worst disaster in West Virginia since a 1968 incident that killed 78 people. National and international news crews were in the area for upwards of three days to cover rescue and recovery efforts.

Geography

The city lies in the foothills of the

Allegheny Mountains The Allegheny Mountain Range (; also spelled Alleghany or Allegany), informally the Alleghenies, is part of the vast Appalachian Mountain Range of the Eastern United States and Canada and posed a significant barrier to land travel in less devel ...

. According to the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau (USCB), officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The Census Bureau is part of t ...

, the city has a total area of , all land.

Climate

The climate in this area has mild differences between highs and lows, and there is adequate rainfall year-round. According to the

Köppen Climate Classification The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, notabl ...

system, Buckhannon has a

marine west coast climate An oceanic climate, also known as a marine climate, is the humid temperate climate sub-type in Köppen classification ''Cfb'', typical of west coasts in higher middle latitudes of continents, generally featuring cool summers and mild winters ...

, abbreviated "Cfb" on climate maps.

Demographics

2010 census

As of the

census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses in ...

of 2010, there were 5,639 people, 2,148 households, and 1,149 families living in the city. The

population density Population density (in agriculture: Stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geographical ...

was . There were 2,398 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 94.5%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White o ...

, 2.1%

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

, 0.2% Native American, 0.9%

Asian Asian may refer to: * Items from or related to the continent of Asia: ** Asian people, people in or descending from Asia ** Asian culture, the culture of the people from Asia ** Asian cuisine, food based on the style of food of the people from Asi ...

, 0.4% from

other races Other often refers to: * Other (philosophy), a concept in psychology and philosophy Other or The Other may also refer to: Film and television * ''The Other'' (1913 film), a German silent film directed by Max Mack * ''The Other'' (1930 film), a ...

, and 1.9% from two or more races.

Hispanic The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad. The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to viceroyalties forme ...

Latino Latino or Latinos most often refers to: * Latino (demonym), a term used in the United States for people with cultural ties to Latin America * Hispanic and Latino Americans in the United States * The people or cultures of Latin America; ** Latin A ...

of any race were 2.5% of the population. There were 2,148 households, of which 22.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 38.5% were married couples living together, 11.6% had a female householder with no husband present, 3.4% had a male householder with no wife present, and 46.5% were non-families. 39.9% of all households were made up of individuals, and 18.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.13 and the average family size was 2.84. The median age in the city was 33.1 years. 16.1% of residents were under the age of 18; 25.5% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 18.9% were from 25 to 44; 22.5% were from 45 to 64; and 17.1% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the city was 47.5% male and 52.5% female.

2000 census

As of the

of 2000, there were 5,725 people, 2,159 households, and 1,180 families living in the city. The

was 2,314.2 people per square mile (894.9/km²). There were 2,424 housing units at an average density of 979.8 per square mile (378.9/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 96.16%

, 2.01%

, 0.10% Native American, 0.84%

, 0.02%

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the Pacific Islands. As an ethnic/racial term, it is used to describe the original peoples—inhabitants and diasporas—of any of the three major subregions of O ...

, 0.28% from

, and 0.59% from two or more races.

of any race were 0.96% of the population. There were 2,159 households, out of which 22.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 41.1% were married couples living together, 10.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 45.3% were non-families. 40.0% of all households were made up of individuals, and 19.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.08 and the average family size was 2.78. In the city, the population was spread out, with 15.5% under the age of 18, 28.1% from 18 to 24, 19.2% from 25 to 44, 19.8% from 45 to 64, and 17.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 31 years. For every 100 females, there were 81.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 78.4 males. The median income for a household in the city was $23,421, and the median income for a family was $36,975. Males had a median income of $30,691 versus $18,041 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or total income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. It is calculated by dividing the area's total income by its total population. Per capita i ...

for the city was $12,959. About 15.8% of families and 24.8% of the population were below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for t ...

, including 32.7% of those under age 18 and 11.2% of those age 65 or over.

Government

Upshur County and its county seat have maintained a Republican majority since the days of the

. On May 23, 1861 the voters of Upshur County voted 7 to 3 against secession from the United States. The majority of soldiers from Upshur served in the Union Army, while over 180 soldiers enlisted in the Confederate Army. In the 1864 presidential election, incumbent President

Lincoln Lincoln most commonly refers to: * Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865), the sixteenth president of the United States * Lincoln, England, cathedral city and county town of Lincolnshire, England * Lincoln, Nebraska, the capital of Nebraska, U.S. * Lincol ...

won the county handily against General McClellan. The City of Buckhannon is under a Mayor-council government system. The Mayor of the City of Buckhannon serves as a ''Strong Mayor.'' He has a seat on the

City Council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, rural counc ...

, which includes five additional elected council members. The City Recorder is also an official. The election of the Mayor occurs every four years in the same year as the presidential elections. By law, the City Recorder succeeds to the Office of Mayor acting as the Chief Executive in the event of the sitting Mayor's death or vacancy. The City Recorder also administers the Mayoral Oath of Office. The City Council for the City of Buckhannon: * Robbie Skinner - Mayor (2020 - 2024) * Randy Sanders - City Recorder (2019-2022) * Mary Albaugh - Council Member - (2014–2022) * Pamela M. Cuppari Bucklew - Council Member - (2016–2024) * Jack Reger - Council Member - (2020-2024) * CJ Rylands - Council Member - (2020–2024) * David Thomas - Council Member - (2016–2022)

Education

The institutions of public primary and secondary learning serving the community of Buckhannon are operated by Upshur County Schools. * Upshur County Board of Education - its website has news and events with current links to all public, county schools (K-12

*

is a private institution of higher education situated within the City of Buckhannon.

Media

There are a few radio stations and television stations located in Buckhannon. Some transmitters reach to Weston, WV,

Elkins, WV Elkins is a city in and the county seat of Randolph County, West Virginia, United States. The community was incorporated in 1890 and named in honor of Stephen Benton Elkins, a U.S. Senator from West Virginia. The population was 6,950 at the 20 ...

, Parkersburg, WV,

Morgantown, WV Morgantown is a city in and the county seat of Monongalia County, West Virginia, United States, situated along the Monongahela River. The largest city in North-Central West Virginia, Morgantown is best known as the home of West Virginia Universit ...

, Martinsburg, WV and Clay, WV. *

WBRB WBRB is a Country formatted broadcast radio station licensed to Buckhannon, West Virginia, serving North Central West Virginia. WBRB is owned and operated by West Virginia Radio Corporation. References External links 101.3 The Bear Online* ...

101.3 FM *

WFBY WFBY is a classic rock formatted broadcast radio station licensed to Buckhannon, West Virginia, serving Bridgeport, Elkins, Philippi, and Weston in West Virginia. WFBY is owned and operated by West Virginia Radio Corporation WVRC Media ...

93.5 FM * WBUC 1460 AM *

WVPW WVPW is a public radio formatted broadcast radio station licensed to Buckhannon, West Virginia, serving Central West Virginia. WVPW is owned and operated by West Virginia Educational Broadcasting Authority. History The station was originally lic ...

88.9 FM *

WVWC WVWC is an adult contemporary formatted broadcast radio station licensed to and serving Buckhannon, West Virginia, United States. WVWC is owned and operated by West Virginia Wesleyan College. History The first iteration of WVWC was a 14,000 wa ...

92.1 FM Buckhannon is also home to a local

Leased access Leased access is airtime that the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) mandates must be provided by cable operators (such as Comcast Xfinity and Charter Spectrum) for use by independent cable programmers and producers who are not owned by the ope ...

Cable television Cable television is a system of delivering television programming to consumers via radio frequency (RF) signals transmitted through coaxial cables, or in more recent systems, light pulses through fibre-optic cables. This contrasts with bro ...

station, Channel 3, which is available to Suddenlink cable subscribers. The station features a

community bulletin board A community bulletin board (CBB) is a digital signage system via cable television for public, educational, and government access to keep communities up to date of events listings, weather and other news. The electronic bulletin board concept is ...

with local

television advertising A television advertisement (also called a television commercial, TV commercial, commercial, spot, television spot, TV spot, advert, television advert, TV advert, television ad, TV ad or simply an ad) is a span of television programming produce ...

and events, as well as

religious broadcasting Religious broadcasting, sometimes referred to as faith-based broadcasts, is the dissemination of television and/or radio content that intentionally has religious ideas, religious experience, or religious practice as its core focus. In some coun ...

and family

television program Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising, ...

ming.

Notable people

* Kyle Andrews, jazz drummer * Stephen Coonts, American thriller and suspense novelist * Scott Munson Cutlip, pioneer in

public relations Public relations (PR) is the practice of managing and disseminating information from an individual or an organization (such as a business, government agency, or a nonprofit organization) to the public in order to influence their perception. ...

education *

Alston G. Dayton Alston Gordon Dayton (October 18, 1857 – July 30, 1920) was a United States representative from West Virginia and a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of West Virginia. Education and caree ...

, U.S. Representative, West Virginia 2nd District *

Charley Harper Charley Harper (August 4, 1922 – June 10, 2007) was a Cincinnati-based American Modernist artist. He was best known for his highly stylized wildlife prints, posters, and book illustrations. Born Charles Burton Harper in F ...

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

Modernist Modernism is both a philosophy, philosophical and arts movement that arose from broad transformations in Western world, Western society during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The movement reflected a desire for the creation of new fo ...

artist *

Weijia Jiang Weijia Jiang (; born June 6, 1983) is a Chinese American television journalist and reporter. She is based in Washington, D.C. and has served as the Senior White House Correspondent for CBS News since July 2018. Jiang's question to President D ...

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in ...

correspondent and morning anchor for CBS News *

Jean Lee Latham Jean Lee Latham (April 19, 1902 – June 13, 1995) was an American writer who specialized in biographies for children or young adults. Biography Jean Lee Latham was born in Buckhannon, West Virginia. Her father was a cabinetmaker and her mo ...

, American writer * Pare Lorentz, pioneering documentary filmmaker, with film added to the

National Film Registry The National Film Registry (NFR) is the United States National Film Preservation Board's (NFPB) collection of films selected for preservation, each selected for its historical, cultural and aesthetic contributions since the NFPB’s inception ...

* Irene McKinney, Poet Laureate of West Virginia, appointed 1994 until her death in February, 2012 *

Ace Mumford Arnett William "Ace" Mumford (November 26, 1898 – April 28, 1962) was an American football coach. He served as the head football coach at historically black colleges and universities in Texas and Louisiana from 1924 to 1961, compiling a career ...

, college football head football coach *

Jayne Anne Phillips Jayne Anne Phillips (born July 19, 1952) is an American novelist and short story writer who was born in the small town of Buckhannon, West Virginia. Education Phillips graduated from West Virginia University, earning a B.A. in 1974, and later g ...

, novelist and short story writer *

Kimberly A. Reed Kimberly A. Reed (born March 11, 1971) is an American attorney who served as the Chairman and President of the Export–Import Bank of the United States from 2019 to 2021. She was sworn in on May 9, 2019. Environmental groups have criticized R ...

, former Chairman and President of the Export–Import Bank of the United States * Edward Gay Rohrbough,

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

United States Representative The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...

* Karen Sue Trent, actress ("Penny Woods" in Leave It To Beaver) *

Chris Wallace Christopher Wallace (born October 12, 1947) is an American broadcast journalist. He is known for his tough and wide-ranging interviews, for which he is often compared to his father, ''60 Minutes'' journalist Mike Wallace. Over his 50-year care ...

, general manager of the

Memphis Grizzlies The Memphis Grizzlies (referred to locally as the Grizz) are an American professional basketball team based in Memphis, Tennessee. The Grizzlies compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference ...

In other media

* "

Ballet for a Girl in Buchannon "Ballet for a Girl in Buchannon" (sic), also known as "The Ballet" and "Make Me Smile Medley", is a nearly thirteen-minute mini-rock opera/song cycle/suite from Chicago's 1970 album ''Chicago'' (also called ''Chicago II''). It was the group's first ...

" (

song cycle A song cycle (german: Liederkreis or Liederzyklus) is a group, or cycle (music), cycle, of individually complete Art song, songs designed to be performed in a sequence as a unit.Susan Youens, ''Grove online'' The songs are either for solo voice ...

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

from their 1970 album ''

Chicago II ''Chicago'' (retroactively known as ''Chicago II'') is the second studio album by Chicago-based American rock band Chicago. Like their debut album, ''Chicago Transit Authority'', this was a double album. It was their first album under the name Chic ...

''; writer

James Pankow James Carter Pankow is an American trombone player, songwriter and brass instrument player, best known as a founding member of the rock band Chicago. Early life, family and education Born in St. Louis, Missouri of German and Irish descent, Pa ...

misspelled the town name) * The town was featured in the 2017 German television documentary " Auslandsjournal", as an example of the growing problem of illegal drug use in the US.

References

* https://web.archive.org/web/20070219145012/http://members.citynet.net/warner/upshur.html * ''Images of America: Upshur County'' by The Upshur County Historical Society, pages 07, 09, and 10.

External links

City of Buckhannon website

Buckhannon-Upshur Chamber of Commerce
{{authority control Cities in West Virginia Cities in Upshur County, West Virginia County seats in West Virginia 1816 establishments in Virginia