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 parish (administrative division), civil parish. The term is in use in five countries: Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, and the United States. An equiva ...

of,

Upshur County, West Virginia Upshur County is a county in the U.S. state of West Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 23,816. Its county seat is Buckhannon. The county was formed in 1851 from Randolph, Barbour, and Lewis counties and named for Abel Par ...

, United States. 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 Valley ...

, the population was 5,299 as of the 2020 census. The city is southwest of Morgantown, northeast of the capital city of Charleston, and south of

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...

. It is home to West Virginia Wesleyan College and the , held annually during the third week of May.

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 British army during the

French and Indian War The French and Indian War, 1754 to 1763, was a colonial conflict in North America between Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain and Kingdom of France, France, along with their respective Native Americans in the United States, Native American ...

(

Seven Years' War The Seven Years' War, 1756 to 1763, was a Great Power conflict fought primarily in Europe, with significant subsidiary campaigns in North America and South Asia. The protagonists were Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain and Kingdom of Prus ...

) who, in 1761, deserted their posts at Fort Pitt (present-day Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania). They traveled southward and upstream along the Monongahela and

Tygart Valley The Tygart Valley River — also known as the Tygart River — is a principal tributary of the Monongahela River, approximately long,U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed ...

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 northeast ...

tree. They lived there for three years, surviving on 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 River source, headwaters in northwestern Highland County, Virginia, near Hightown, Virginia, Hightown along the eastern edge of the Allegheny Front. After a river distance of ,U.S. Geological Survey. Nationa ...

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 and military officer who served during the American Civil War. He played a prominent role in nearly all military engagements in the eastern the ...

). The City of Buckhannon was established on January 15, 1816, possible named for

Buckongahelas Buckongahelas ( – May 1805) together with Little Turtle and Blue Jacket, achieved the greatest victory won by Native Americans, killing 600. He was a regionally and nationally renowned Lenape chief, councilor and warrior. He was acti ...

(1720-1805), the legendary

Lenape The Lenape (, , ; ), also called the Lenni Lenape and Delaware people, are an Indigenous peoples of the Northeastern Woodlands, Indigenous people of the Northeastern Woodlands, who live in the United States and Canada. The Lenape's historica ...

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. Other historians think it more likely that the community and river were both named for John Buchannon, a missionary to the area in the 1780s. 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, and the first elected legislative assembly in the New World. It was established on July 30, ...

in 1852, and remained part of the Commonwealth of

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

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

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

. 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 Neoclassicism, also spelled Neo-classicism, emerged as a Western cultural movement in the decorative and visual arts, literature, theatre, music, and architecture that drew inspiration from the art and culture of classical antiquity. Neoclassic ...

style courthouse, designed by Charleston architect Harrison Albright, 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, 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 Alabama ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South, Deep Southern regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gu ...

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, less formally the Alleghenies — is part of the vast Appalachian Mountain Range of the Eastern United States and Canada. Historically it represented a significant barr ...

. It is in the Mountain Lakes tourism region. According to the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal statistical system, U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy, econ ...

, 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 divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...

system, Buckhannon has a

humid continental Humidity is the concentration of water vapor present in the air. Water vapor, the gaseous state of water, is generally invisible to the human eye. Humidity indicates the likelihood for precipitation, dew, or fog to be present. Humidity depe ...

climate using the 0°C (32°F) isotherm, or a

humid subtropical A humid subtropical climate is a subtropical -temperate climate type, characterized by long and hot summers, and cool to mild winters. These climates normally lie on the southeast side of all continents (except Antarctica), generally between la ...

climate using the -3°C (26.6°F) isotherm.

Demographics

2020 census

As of the 2020 census, there were 5,186 people and 2,084 households residing in the city. There were 2,431 housing units in Buckhannon. The racial makeup of the city was 90%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

, 3.2%

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

, 1% Asian, 0.07% Native American, 0.8% from other races, and 4.5% from two or more races. Hispanics or Latinos of any race were 2.6% of the population. There were 2,084 households, of which 37.2% were married couples living together, 37.2% had a female householder with no spouse present, 21.8% had a male householder with no spouse present. The average household and family size was 2.97. The median age in the city was 37.8 years with 14.5% of the city's population under 18. The median income for a household in the city was $46,602 and the poverty rate was 19.5%.

2010 census

As of the

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

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: Standing 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 geog ...

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

, 2.1%

, 0.2% Native American, 0.9% Asian, 0.4% from other races, and 1.9% from two or more races.

Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...

or Latino 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 Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...

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% Asian, 0.02%

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, Pacificans, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe th ...

, 0.28% from other races, and 0.59% from two or more races.

or Latino 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

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 average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...

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 ...

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

Government

Upshur County and Buckhannon 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 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, borough 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) * David W. McCauley - Council Member - (2022–2026) * 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. West Virginia Wesleyan College is a private

liberal arts college A liberal arts college or liberal arts institution of higher education is a college with an emphasis on Undergraduate education, undergraduate study in the Liberal arts education, liberal arts of humanities and science. Such colleges aim to impart ...

located in Buckhannon.

High schools

* Buckhannon-Upshur High School * Fred W. Eberle Technical Center

Middle schools

* Buckhannon-Upshur Middle School

Elementary schools

* Buckhannon Academy Elementary School * French Creek Elementary School * Hodgesville Elementary School * Rock Cave Elementary School * Tennerton Elementary School * Union Elementary School * Washington District Elementary School

Media

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

Morgantown, WV Morgantown is a city in Monongalia County, West Virginia, United States, and its county seat. It is situated along the Monongahela River in North Central West Virginia and is the home of West Virginia University. The population was 30,347 at the 2 ...

, Martinsburg, WV and Clay, WV. * WBRB 101.3 FM * WFBY 93.5 FM * WBUC 1460 AM * WVPW 88.9 FM * WVWC 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 o ...

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 Suddenlink was an American telecommunications subsidiary of Altice USA trading in cable television, broadband, IP telephony, home security, and advertising. Prior to its acquisition by Altice, the company was the seventh largest cable operator ...

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 commercial, spot, break, advert, or ad) is a span of television programming produced and paid for by an organization. It conveys a message promoting, and aiming to market, a product, service or idea. ...

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 A television show, TV program (), or simply a TV show, is the general reference to any content produced for viewing on a television set that is broadcast via Terrestrial television, over-the-air, Satellite television, satellite, and cable te ...

ming. Buckhannon's main newspaper is the ''Record'' ''Delta''.

Notable people

* Kyle Andrews, jazz drummer *

Stephen Coonts Stephen Coonts (born July 19, 1946) is an American spy thriller and suspense novelist. Early life, education, and military career Stephen Coonts grew up in Buckhannon, West Virginia, a small coal mining town. Following high school graduation, h ...

, 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. Pu ...

education * Alston G. Dayton, U.S. Representative, West Virginia 2nd District * Floyd Farnsworth (1869–1946), politician * Charley Harper, American

Modernist Modernism was an early 20th-century movement in literature, visual arts, and music that emphasized experimentation, abstraction, and Subjectivity and objectivity (philosophy), subjective experience. Philosophy, politics, architecture, and soc ...

artist * Olive Ireland Hodges, American missionary teacher in Japan * Weijia Jiang,

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest (Washington, D.C.), NW in Washington, D.C., it has served as the residence of every U.S. president ...

correspondent and morning anchor for

CBS News CBS News is the news division of the American television and radio broadcaster CBS. It is headquartered in New York City. CBS News television programs include ''CBS Evening News'', ''CBS Mornings'', news magazine programs ''CBS News Sunday Morn ...

* Jean Lee Latham, American writer *

Pare Lorentz Pare Lorentz (December 11, 1905 – March 4, 1992) was an American filmmaker known for his film work about the New Deal. Born Leonard MacTaggart Lorentz in Clarksburg, West Virginia he was educated at Buckhannon-Upshur High School#History, Buck ...

, 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 (library and archival science), preservation, each selected for its cultural, historical, and aestheti ...

* 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, Pulitzer-Prize winning novelist and short story writer * Kimberly A. Reed, former Chairman and President of the Export–Import Bank of the United States * Edward Gay Rohrbough, Republican

United States Representative The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Artic ...

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 60-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 Southwest Division of the ...

In other media

* " Ballet for a Girl in Buchannon" (

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

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

from their 1970 album '' Chicago II''; writer

James Pankow James Carter Pankow (born August 20, 1947) is an American trombone player, songwriter, and brass instrument arranger who is a founding member of the rock band Chicago. He is best known for his brass arrangements, and for being one-third of Chi ...

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 West Virginia placenames of Native American origin