January 5, 1810: Village of Guyandotte Established

On January 5, 1810, the Virginia General Assembly established the village of Guyandotte at the confluence of the Guyandotte and Ohio rivers in Cabell County.

Credit e-wv, The West Virginia Encyclopedia online.

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By the late 1830s, Guyandotte was a popular Ohio River port and a busy stagecoach stop on the James River and Kanawha Turnpike. The town’s gristmill was supposedly the largest between Cincinnati and Pittsburgh.

In November 1861, Confederate troops won a battle at Guyandotte. The next day, Northern troops took back control of the town. Incensed by local support for the Confederacy, the soldiers set fire to the town.

The village’s fortunes took a more lasting downturn in 1871. As the legend goes, railroad tycoon Collis Huntington was considering Guyandotte for the western terminus of his Chesapeake and Ohio Railway. On a visit, he supposedly received the equivalent of a parking ticket for leaving his horse unattended outside a Guyandotte tavern. Feeling slighted by the town, the railroad mogul instead located his terminus a few miles downstream—at what would become the new city of Huntington.

The city of Huntington grew rapidly and overshadowed Guyandotte. Since 1911, Guyandotte has been part of Huntington.