This nearly forgotten Huntington district is becoming a tourist destination.
A forgotten business hub, Central City until recently sat nearly abandoned on Huntington’s West End—empty save for the beer halls and bars that were home to rough and tumble men from nightfall to the early morning hours. Now a part of Huntington proper, the once-standalone city had a mayor of its own to organize countless small businesses and industry giants packed into one tiny section of land between train tracks and a moody river prone to flooding. Remnants of those businesses—early department stores and hardware stores, groceries and bakeries and factories—continue to hold out. Their signs still adorn weatherworn early 20th century buildings that, today, host the self-proclaimed antiques capital of West Virginia, a handful of eclectic museums, and a growing local foodie hub. Styling itself “Old Central City,” modern Central City is a far cry from the bustling industrial town of the 1910s and the Wild West bar crawl of the ’70s and ’80s. With a laid-back Southern vibe, rows of antique shops filled with treasures and amiable storekeepers, and a location just off of Interstate 64, it’s become a must-stop summer travel destination for locals and passersby alike.
“If these buildings could talk, the tales that would come out of them. Unbelievable guys hung out here, and they were really rough rodeo. This was wild man’s turf,” says Joanna Sexton, owner of Hattie and Nan’s Antiques on 14th Street and member of the Old Central City Association. “Huntington just has everything. All of the great society, all of the common man, it’s all here. It’s a wonderful tapestry of people.”
So Much to See
written by KATIE GRIFFITH
photographed by KATIE GRIFFITH & NIKKI BOWMAN
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