In this episode of the Tri-State Time Machine, host Vanessa Hankins is joined by Jason Arthur to delve into the fascinating history of Huntington, WV. From the early days of Holderby's Landing to the bustling city it is today, Vanessa and Jason explore the rich tapestry of families, industries, and personalities that have shaped Huntington over the years.

They kick off with the story of James Holderby and his initial settlement, leading to the transformative impact of Collis P. Huntington and the Emmons family in the industrial revolution of the area. The conversation then flows into the incorporation of Huntington in 1871 and its rapid development, including the historic Huntington bank robbery by the James gang and the city's pioneering use of electric streetcars.

Jason and Vanessa also discuss significant events like the devastating 1937 flood and its aftermath, the decline of steel and manufacturing industries in the 1950s, and the subsequent shift towards education, tourism, and healthcare. They highlight the pivotal role of Marshall University and the city's two prestigious hospitals, Cabell Huntington Hospital and St. Mary's Medical Center, in sustaining the community.

The episode wraps up with a look at Huntington's cultural landmarks, such as the Keith-Albee Theater, and beloved local eateries like Cam's Ham and Jim's Spaghetti. They also touch on the city's vibrant festival scene and the importance of community involvement in local governance.

Special thanks to:

- Jason Arthur for sharing his insights and passion for Huntington's history.

- Our sponsor, Alex R. White, PLLC, for their continued support.

If you have a memory you want Vanessa to talk more about, just send her an email at TSTM@mail.com or post a comment on the Tri-State Time Machine FB Group page.

Copyright 2024 Vanessa Hankins

https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/

✍️ Episode References

Marshall University

[marshall.edu](https://www.marshall.edu)

Keith Albee Theater

[keithalbee.com](https://www.keithalbee.com)

Pullman Square

[pullman-square.com](https://www.pullman-square.com)

Camden Park

[camdenpark.com](https://www.camdenpark.com)

Ritter Park

[ghprd.org](https://www.ghprd.org)

Heritage Farm Museum & Village

[heritagefarmmuseum.com](https://www.heritagefarmmuseum.com)

Jim's Spaghetti

[jimsspaghetti.com](https://www.jimsspaghetti.com)

Central City Cafe

[centralcitywv.com](https://www.centralcitywv.com)

St. Mary's Medical Center

[st-marys.org](https://www.st-marys.org)

Cabell Huntington Hospital

[cabellhuntington.org](https://www.cabellhuntington.org)

Hoops Family Children's Hospital

[hoopschildrens.org](https://www.hoopschildrens.org)

Museum of Radio and Technology

[mrtwv.org](https://www.mrtwv.org)

Museum of Art

[hmoa.org](https://www.hmoa.org)

Beech Fork State Park

[wvstateparks.com](https://wvstateparks.com/park/beech-fork-state-park/)

Thomas Carol House

[historicplaceswv.com](https://www.historicplaceswv.com)

Marshall Health

[marshallhealth.org](https://www.marshallhealth.org)

Brad D. Smith

[braddsmith.com](https://www.braddsmith.com)

This is the Tri State Time Machine, brought to you by Alex R. White, pllc@suedistracteddriver.com. each week, your host, Vanessa Hankins, and her guests share memories and stories about the past, the present, and the future of the Tri State area. That's West Virginia, Kentucky, and the Ohio areas. If you used to live here or you currently live here, you're going to catch yourself saying out loud, wow, I remember that. Now. Here's Vanessa.

>> Vanessa: Hey, guys, it's Vanessa. It's been a minute, but here you are listening to the Tri State Time Machine. We have some seriously rainy weather, so I think it's a good opportunity to jump into the podcast studio and record some stories about Huntington.

Jason Arthur: Huntington is overwhelmingly rich in history

I'm, um, here with my guest, Jason Arthur.

>> Jason Arthur: Absolutely, I'm excited. Thanks for having me.

>> Vanessa: No problem. Really excited about this episode because we're talking Huntington's history and where we have led to today, Huntington, um, is overwhelmingly rich in history. Um, I think I can say that without any doubt that there's no one that can disagree. We have multiple families. We have multiple industries. We have multiple. Let's just go. Personalities that made us who we are today and are still shaping what the city is.

>> Jason Arthur: Absolutely.

Let's talk about Hulderby landing and how we became Huntington

>> Vanessa: All right, so let's just jump right into it. Let's talk about Hulderby landing and how we became Huntington.

>> Jason Arthur: Yeah, definitely. Yeah. So the Hulderby family, obviously, uh, some people know about it being Holderby's landing and some people don't. They just think about Huntington and Collis P and the tie ins with that. But actually, there was a guy by the name of James Holderby. He was born in the 17 hundreds, believe it or not. Um, you know, he divided property between his two sons, and it was a lot of just basic farmland around the high river. And they actually had a place that was truly a landing. Hulderbees landing and tied in with our.

>> Vanessa: Rivers, which is like the coolest thing. Like, you think about history and you're like, oh, where did they get that? Well, common Sense. They got holder bees landing. Common Sense. They got it from common Sense.

>> Jason Arthur: Yeah.

>> Vanessa: Oh, that's funny. Um, skip down the way a little bit about what became of Huntington with our train depot, heritage station, and how we started the industries that built Huntington.

>> Jason Arthur: Yeah. So, I mean, again, you know, with, I guess you would say, the leadership of the Holderby family, they really did a great job of kind of just working with the land, working with the river transportation at that Time. That was the transportation.

>> Vanessa: Exactly.

>> Jason Arthur: So they did that. Well, luckily, we got another tie in from a, uh, very innovative guy that had a lot of tie ins to bigger cities with Carlos P. Huntington, which is now our namesake.

>> Vanessa: I was going to say that's one everyone's going to recognize very easily. Recognize the holder beast. Uh, well, let's talk about him for just a second. Tell us all the things that he, um, brought to the table when it come to Huntington.

>> Jason Arthur: Yeah. So, funny enough, when gold was discovered in California in the. I guess it was the mid 18 hundreds, um, he went west, became a rich man, had all these tie ins, and got involved with railroads and things like that. And, uh, he then, I think it was again, in the 18 hundreds, he purchased the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway and just started kind of taking over with tracks and going through West Virginia and the Ohio river, which at that point, you got to think how innovative that was.

>> Vanessa: I was going to say, it's like he came in and was just like, um, let me buy it all and let me lead you guys in this direction.

>> Jason Arthur: Yeah.

>> Vanessa: Which is super cool.

>> Jason Arthur: Used what used to be the only transportation to help bring in a new transportation.

>> Vanessa: Now, he partnered with the Emmons family, correct?

>> Jason Arthur: Yeah. So with the Emmons family, um, again, big wigs. I mean, you're talking. I really don't think that people understand the rich, rich history we have. Just as big as New York City, Chicago, all these places, DC.

>> Vanessa: I know a lot of people, when they hear Emmons, they just think of the Emmons building. They don't realize where that building's namesake came from.

>> Jason Arthur: Right, so you had the Emmons family, Dallas, um, Emmons married, actually, Collis sister.

>> Vanessa: Um, and they had the c and o, right?

>> Jason Arthur: Yeah, right, yeah. So there was their tie ins, and they started again doing what we were doing. It was kind of an industrial revolution at this point. You know, you had your river, you had your rail. People were wanting to make money. We had all the lumber and all these things. So everybody's buying up all this land and just using all this transportation to, let's be quite honest, just make money. And so when you have money, what are you going to do? You're just going to spend money, and it's going to create even more for the region. And that's exactly what happened.

>> Vanessa: That link that we have from the Virginias, from the James river in Richmond to the Ohio valley.

>> Jason Arthur: Absolutely. Yeah.

>> Vanessa: I mean, again, overwhelming rich history that we have. Um, Jason and I were talking before we started recording. Um, I am not a Huntington resident, as you guys all know, but I get so wrapped up in the history of Huntington. Because it's so, um. It's just intriguing to me to see how these families came from all over America and tied into, hey, we're going to make this place, this industrial, revitalized location. Basically. Like we're going to take farmland and we're going to build all these industries and we're going to make some money while we're doing it. Which is exactly what they did.

>> Jason Arthur: Absolutely. Just to think to go from a blank slate with these men and say, we're going to use this river and all this farmland and woods to create this metropolis of just great things. And look at all the things that followed, even into today with our, you know, our phenomenal university and the tie ins that we had with John Marshall. And, you know, those are tie ins with George Washington and so on. I mean, this is big Time stuff.

>> Vanessa: It really is.

>> Jason Arthur: Yeah, absolutely.

>> Vanessa: We became official.

>> Jason Arthur: It's again, all these rich tie ins. You know, when you start talking about all these people and how they came about and the way they did things. And Mister Buffington was our first. Now, we had, a lot of people don't realize this, but central city was just right down the road. You had holder bees landing. Now you have Huntington. So, uh, we're slowly building, right? It's building, and it's building fast, shaping.

>> Vanessa: Fast, very, very quickly.

>> Jason Arthur: And, you know, even you go down and look at our south side and in the high lawn district. These homes, for the most part, were all built around the same Time period. Everybody needed homes because of all this. Uh, again, your oil companies, your railroad, you had all the lumber and all this stuff. So with that comes, you got to have workers. Well, workers need homes, and they have families. And so this place was booming.

>> Vanessa: And we were kind of talking before we started recording. Um, super interesting how Huntington was never built to be a home for anyone. But because we had so much industry and so much demand for housing, it became home very quickly. And still, um, thankful that it did. Because I can't imagine living anywhere else but Huntington.

>> Jason Arthur: Yeah. And me either. I tell people all the Time, uh, I've traveled a lot. I've lived in other big cities and things like that. But nothing is home to me other than Huntington. Huntington is a passion to me. So many people want to constantly just ridicule and be negative and all these things. At that point, all you're doing is griping. You're not trying to be part of the solution, right? And I have a real problem with that. Uh, every place you go, I don't care if you're in Chicago or wherever you're at, you're going to have problems.

>> Vanessa: Absolutely.

>> Jason Arthur: But do you want to gripe about it and sit there and do nothing? Or do you want to get off?

>> Vanessa: Right? Or do you want to. I'll go ahead and do you want to get off your ass and do something about it?

>> Jason Arthur: Yeah, just get up and do something. Be a part of that solution. Help people. And that's what these guys were doing.

>> Vanessa: Absolutely. And thankful that they did, because that led us into the history that we have to talk about today.

>> Jason Arthur: That's a real fun one. So the James gang, um, it's funny to even think that we would have a tie in with that. Um, funny enough, we were talking before we got started here. There's really no written documentation. Yeah. There's a little plaque down at heritage station. And I mentioned I did find a home, um, right off of in Milton.

>> Vanessa: Which is super cool, guys. I didn't know about it.

>> Jason Arthur: And there's this old stone by this old house that, uh, I've been told is going to be tore down soon. But in that sandstone, there is engraved that this is where the James gang went after the robbery of the city of Huntington's bank, which is like.

>> Vanessa: I mean, it's. We were talking and we. I'm like, I want to know the background of that. I want to know, like, did they hold the family up in that house? Was it a bed and breakfast? Was it an old tavern? What was the situation like? Inquiring minds need to know.

>> Jason Arthur: So if there's anybody out there that has any information on us, please give it to us.

>> Vanessa: Tell us now.

>> Jason Arthur: We want all the information.

>> Vanessa: We need to know all the things. Um, what I thought was super cool is that those guys that robbed the bank had escaped out of Wayne county. They were already under arrest and had escaped to come and rob the bank and then basically try to peace out. But, um, I know they were convicted and, uh, later arrested, are arrested after the conviction. Um, and there's, um, some skepticism of whether or not they were in the James gang or not because Jesse James was nowhere in the area at the Time. But, I mean, if they were under arrest in Wayne county, they're not hanging out, waiting on their buddies to get out of jail. They're off doing their own scandalous things. So I lean towards. They were probably part of this gang.

>> Jason Arthur: I'm sure they were. I mean, it makes Sense to, you know. And I know people kind of want it because it makes the history more rich. But I really think there has to be a Time tie in there somewhere. Because the Word of mouth that's been passed down generations has always stuck to that.

>> Vanessa: Right? It's never veered. It's never went off topic.

Dallas was the second American city to feature electric street cars

Um, so let's talk about something that I think is super cool. Cause I didn't know this until I was reading last night. Um, we were the second american city to feature electric cars in the early years. Like, San Francisco was the first one. And that's normally who you think of when you think of electric street cars. Um, but we were the second. Like, how, uh, cool was that?

>> Jason Arthur: That's huge. Yeah. And we were talking a little bit about that. You know, everybody knows the old bus barn down in the west end. Now it's a sheets that is now turned into a new sheet. They tore it down and redo it. But as kids we all remember that bus barn and the history it had. But we really don't understand that before it was a flea market and all these other things. It was the original bus barn. That's where all the. And you can still find some of the tracks in Huntington.

>> Vanessa: Yeah. If you go into the wendy's. That's next, uh, door to the sheets where the bus barn was. They have some really cool pictures in the lobby of, uh, the bus barn. Um, I was telling Jason, ah. A girlfriend of mine lived right next door to what is now a bingo hall. But it was Lowe's at the Time. And we would walk over and go to the flea market. And that's where I got my first scrunchie. That was Dallas cowboys. And I just thought I was hot to try it with my Dallas cowboys scrunchie on my left hand. Going into school the next day. Um, but yeah, uh, we reminisced so much before we started. We're probably going to get ourselves in trouble here. If we keep going down the rabbit holes we did beforehand. Uh, we'd be stuck here all day.

The flood in 37 only claimed five lives, which is wild to me

Um, but let's talk about, um, the flood in 37. I think that's pretty momentous in Huntington. And you'll see, guys, uh, we're not on any kind of outline, uh, here that we want to stick to. We're just talking off the tops of our heads about what has made Huntington what it is today. And where it led us to where we are.

>> Jason Arthur: Yeah, absolutely. I mean, the rich history that we have is just unbelievable. And I think that both of us being history fans, we just want people to get a taste of this so that they can pass it down, too. And do your own research. Get down your own rabbit holes.

>> Vanessa: Go down on, because you can. I, uh, got lost for 3 hours last night, and I feel like I know a lot about huntington. Um, but I feel like I've just scraped the very top layer. When I started reading last night, I was just like, holy moly. Like, there's things that I had no clue about, like the real car thing. I think I just. I just think that's so cool.

>> Jason Arthur: It is. And, you know, you talk about the flood, obviously, we've got this massive flood wall system all the way down lining our city. Um, you know, and even with some of your family tie ins, some of the buildings that are a part of that, they were flooded. I mean, people really had a hard time with this. A lot of our, you know, we talk about this industrial revolution, and all these businesses, they all got flooded in.

>> Vanessa: That flood, which is wild to me, that during that flood, as detrimental as it was to the community, it only claimed five lives, which, I mean, I think, how crazy, how crazy. But I think that goes to show that we have always had the sense of community that we are protecting one another 100%. Everyone was taking care of one another and saving lives as much as they could. So I think that's a testament to our people then and even now that only five lives were lost. Um, I know that caused, like, millions of dollars in damage, and it left, um, over 10,000 people homeless. Um, so that was a big deal. So then we had to rebuild these grandiose homes again, uh, because they were lost to the flood. And I like that you brought up the flood wall. I was thinking the other day, I had lunch over at the riverfront, and, uh, it's not. You don't go into other cities and see flood walls. Um, you know, they exist.

>> Jason Arthur: Right?

>> Vanessa: But you. You don't realize that other people don't have the history that we have, and they didn't have a reason to build a flood wall. They didn't have a reason to protect their. Their land and their way of life, you know? So I think that's super cool.

>> Jason Arthur: Yeah. We've incorporated it into who we are, you know, because of that flood. And what made that happen was, again, it's a testament to our people here. We've always been hard, working class, caring people. You know, we talk about these people, they all had family tie ins. We're just a big family here. And I think that we really, really need to keep that going strong to make Huntington what it is. You know, I think about a lot of times, even with the university, when we play other teams. They always talk about the hospitality of Huntington.

>> Vanessa: Absolutely. Absolutely. And, um, even when we go out of town. And I think you'll see our people mingling at tailgates and things like that with the other teens. Because we're welcoming when people come to us.

>> Jason Arthur: That's what we do.

>> Vanessa: So we just invite ourselves on in and become their friends.

>> Jason Arthur: Absolutely.

>> Vanessa: I've made, um, probably countless friends over the years. From my college days, even as an adult, of people I've met on the road games. Um, so I think that's super cool. And you're right. It's a testament to our people.

When the decline of steel and manufacturing industries happened, population started declining

>> Jason Arthur: Yeah, absolutely. I mean, unfortunately, you did see those declines. Um, and I think, you know, listen, this wasn't just a here thing. It just seemed like it. Because we had so much industry here.

>> Vanessa: We did. We were very lucky to have as much as we did.

>> Jason Arthur: Right. And, you know, you even see the effect of unions. You know, I tell people, always do your own research. You can see that the unions around that Time started to decline as well. Um, and with that, unfortunately, comes with older people starting to pass away. People start leaving for jobs. Now you have a decline. Now you have abandoned homes. It just unfortunately happens.

>> Vanessa: Right. And that shift in the economic base, um, by the Time the eighties hit, um, we had to make a shift into education and tourism and services. Uh, based in healthcare and medicine and biotechnology. Um, and I think we did that pretty well. I think we handled that shift very, very well. Although many people did need to leave to follow industry. Those of us that stayed, those families still, um, thrived here and were able to.

>> Jason Arthur: Yeah, absolutely. And I think, you know, the university helped with that too. It kept us young. It kept us on our feet. I know everybody says we're more than Marshall. We are. But Marshall and Huntington are one also.

>> Vanessa: Yeah, they are one.

>> Jason Arthur: We've always worked together. That's even when, again, you look at these families. Thank God we've had Marshall. But I can guarantee you Marshall says, thank God we had Huntington also.

>> Vanessa: Oh, absolutely. I agree with that. I love that. I might quote you on that.

>> Jason Arthur: All right. I like it.

Cabell has two very prestigious hospitals right here. Marshall health is huge for us

>> Vanessa: Um, and with that being said, I think another thing that we forget to be thankful for here in our community is that we have two very prestigious hospitals right here. We can literally reach our fingertips and touch each one of them. Um, I was telling Jason again before we started recording, there's people that come from all over, uh, the region, Mason county, um, Gilbert places, uh, that people are driving two to 3 hours to get to our hospitals for doctor's appointments. For doctor's appointments. And we can go out our door and be at our doctor's appointments in 15 minutes.

>> Jason Arthur: Oh, yeah. I mean, think about it. All of us around here know, I'll see what night's triage or whatever. I mean, we have.

>> Vanessa: We're not going to the ER at Cavill tonight.

>> Jason Arthur: We're going to St. Mary's, right, where most people are. Like, we've got to travel hours to even find one. So we're very, very blessed with that. And marshall's been very prominent in helping us keep those things strong as well.

>> Vanessa: Absolutely.

>> Jason Arthur: Marshall health is huge for us.

>> Vanessa: Marshall health is massive. Um, and I'll go in a little bit personal here. Um, I'm definitely a brat of Cabell. I was one of the kids running around taking my mom lunch when I was in elementary and middle school. She was a nurse. She retired from kabul. I find it funny and I laugh with. It's always with an older person on the elevator, always, because they're lost and I'm lost. One, ah, lady made a comment to me, uh, about how big the hospital is, and I said, you know, I just can't get out of my head, um, the layout of the hospital. When I was 16 years old, I remember driving over and feeling so big because I was driving my mom lunch for the first time, you know, and I'm like, oh, I'm going to carry her in this lunch, and I'm going to go up and sit in her break room with her, and I'm going to be such a big adult, you know? Um, but still to this day, like, I will think that I know where I'm going in the hospital, and I don't know where I'm going, because it has grown so much. And it's a beautiful thing.

>> Jason Arthur: It is.

>> Vanessa: If anything happens to our children here, if anything goes wrong with us, health wise, we're covered. Yeah, we are covered.

>> Jason Arthur: Oh, we even have a children's hospital, the hoops children. I mean, that's huge.

>> Vanessa: Yeah, they're fantastic. They were actually a really big sponsor in, uh, renovating safetytown, of all things. Uh, they're a very big supporter of, uh, anything child related. So, uh, they donated a lot of helmets to us. They did a lot of the, um, renovation work, made a large donation. So, uh, again, just very thankful for them.

>> Jason Arthur: We're blessed with that family. I know their son really well. They've got a lot of tie ins to not only our city, but the entire surrounding area. They're doing some major things up in Milton right now with building that new resort and the restaurant. I mean, listen, that's going to be huge for this area.

>> Vanessa: Check it out. I told my husband, I was like, we won't even have to go out of the State now anymore. Like, we can go to. Everything is going to be right here. We've got the mountains, we've got the skiing, we've got the casinos. We've got all of the beauty and the history right here. We never have to leave the State.

>> Jason Arthur: That's right.

Pullman Square was originally supposed to take place in the seventies

>> Vanessa: Um, so let's talk about another big thing that happened to Huntington, uh, Pullman Square. And I just learned last night, and, jason, you can talk on this a little bit more. Um, Pullman Square was originally supposed to take place in the seventies.

>> Jason Arthur: Yeah.

>> Vanessa: Um, well, I'll let you talk about that a little bit.

>> Jason Arthur: Yeah, it's kind of funny, you know, you find out the history about it, and then you live through what was before Pullman Square. Um, it was called the superblock. Everybody knew it. And then they started, you know, I can remember people going down there and drag racing and things like that. So it ended up just being this huge lot next to the civic center that, you know, to be quite honest, people mocked. They said, oh, yeah, it's going to be this, this and this. And the only thing we really got out of it at the Time was a Chee cheese restaurant on the corner.

>> Vanessa: And we love Chee cheese.

>> Jason Arthur: Yeah, it just, it was funny that that's what it ended up being. And thank God that you had these investors that said, we're going to be a part of this. We're going to again go back to our roots. We're going to utilize the river, utilize the rail, utilize all the transportation. And listen, this has a lot of potential. And they did it, and they finally got it. Incorporated the city at the Time with council and the mayors and all that. They all got together and made this thing happen, including our people. We've always backed it. We just needed the initiative. And thank God that we do have Pullman Square. Um, it's been a huge hub. And honestly, it's revitalized all the way over to the university now Fourth Avenue and everything.

>> Jason Arthur: We have. We definitely have. And again, you know, we talked about this beforehand. I. It's funny, I feel like we're in a new transition in this city. You know, I know there was kind of some dead space there for a little bit. You know, we go back to our roots in the industrial revolution and how things went. And, you know, I think about even, like, my family and the way they were incorporated. You know, my great aunt was a huge part of Central City. And building it back up, it turned into just abandoned buildings and lots and gravel. And it got built back up. They just put a tower clock and her name down there. And then I think about, um, my grandfather who raised me. His dad died when he was very young of pneumonia. And his mom was actually one of the Rosie deriveders. And she left him. And here he is, like, well, what am I going to do? So it just so happened his grandfather raised him and said, well, son, I'll take you in. And he was a local politician. He had been a deputy, ah, sheriff and all these other things. So, thankfully, he was blessed to have his grandfather during all this. What a crazy to take him in. And, uh, so I think about now we're on this new turning page with the university and the city to where, you know, our cybersecurity. I mean, we're getting forensics. I mean, listen, we're on another boom coming up soon.

>> Vanessa: I think so too. And I think, um, I think a lot of that has to do with us getting the phenomenal Brad Smith.

>> Jason Arthur: Absolutely. What?

>> Vanessa: Um, a nice man. Very, very nice man. Um, and goddess. So smart.

>> Jason Arthur: His intellect is unbelievable. His leadership is unbelievable. And, you know, there's powers that be that helped get him here. There was a lot of people that kind of were like, whoa, whoa, whoa. Why would we put Brad Smith as a president? You know, uh, what backing does he have for this? And the people that said, what do you mean, the backing? This guy is from here. He's unbelievably smart.

>> Vanessa: He's a canova kid.

>> Jason Arthur: Right, right. Look at his backing and the things that he's got accomplished. What could he do for. Listen, we're blessed to have this guy.

>> Vanessa: Oh, yeah. I mean, look at.

Look at the infrastructure that's changed since he's been here

Look at the infrastructure that's changed since he's been here. And how quickly. When's the last time you saw a building get built that quick in Huntington?

>> Jason Arthur: I've told people, you know, it's no secret I'm running for city council, um, because I want to continue this. This is a passion to me.

>> Vanessa: Right.

>> Jason Arthur: I love this city. I love everything about it. I love our area. But I tell people we are getting ready to see the new second coming of Huntington. I know it's coming. I want to be a part of it. Because I think, just like with our roots, with all these great innovators, we're right there on the brink. And you're going to see the brad Smiths and people like that being a huge part of this. And I, uh, think that instead of us getting so caught up in negatives and complaining, we need to embrace this and work together to make this happen and give the people what they want back.

>> Vanessa: Absolutely. I love that.

Some of Huntington's largest employers are Amazon and Marshall University

Um, so let's talk about that growth that's happening. Some of our largest employers in the community today are Marshall University, Cabell, Huntington, St. Mary's, Amazon, DirecTV, and the city of Huntington. Uh, I didn't realize that being a city, uh, as a city employee, I didn't realize we were one of the top employers in the community, which it makes Sense, but didn't realize it.

>> Jason Arthur: Yeah. And it's a testament to our city and the people that believe in it want to be a part of it. That's a great thing, you know, because it could be all these big businesses and things like, yeah, we've got our Amazons and things like that. Again, that goes back to the technology boom that we're having right now.

>> Vanessa: Right? Absolutely.

>> Jason Arthur: You know, we're really blessed to have that up there. Amazon is a big deal.

>> Vanessa: It's a huge deal.

>> Jason Arthur: Yeah. And people just pass it every day and don't give it another thought unless they're employed or know somebody employed there.

>> Vanessa: Well, that's what I was going to say. A lot of people don't even know that it's there unless they know someone that works there or something to that extent.

One of Huntington's most famous attractions is the Keith alley theater

Um, let's talk about, um, the culture in Huntington a little bit. Um, I know we've got a lot of appalachian and southern, a little midwestern, uh, a little mid Atlantic. Um, but that goes back to, again, all these families that came here originally to start Huntington. I think, uh, one of our most famous attractions in Huntington is probably the Keith alley theater. Let's talk about it a little bit of.

>> Jason Arthur: Yeah, listen, you're talking vaudeville. And to a lot of young people, they're like, well, what's that? Google it. That's all I can tell you. You're going to be impressed. Like, you've never seen. We were on the circuit. We were the big deal back then.

>> Vanessa: We really were.

>> Jason Arthur: Thank God the place is getting redone right now as we speak, so that we can keep that rich history that we have. It's one of the only ones left in the country, uh, from the original architects and builders. Again, great innovators that wanted to build this theater here. Um, and when you go, I can't even describe in words how beautiful the place is when you go inside there. You do not feel like you are in Huntington, West Virginia.

>> Vanessa: No.

>> Jason Arthur: You would think you're somewhere, uh, either in Italy, France, somewhere like. I mean, the architect is unbelievable.

>> Vanessa: It really is. And we have people that travel here, and I didn't know this until last night, um, when I was doing some research. When you go to, like, YouTube and look up Huntington, West Virginia, the amount of people that come to Huntington for the theater just to see it, just to get here, and the doors be locked and they feel like they have.

>> Jason Arthur: Made their trip, like taking pictures outside, everything.

>> Vanessa: Yeah, it's super selfies.

>> Jason Arthur: I remember going to a Tony Bennett concert there, and that's, uh, okay. I took. I took my grandfather and I said, we're gonna go do this. He was so excited. And I love Tony Bennet.

>> Vanessa: I was gonna say, I bet it was phenomenal.

>> Jason Arthur: It was unbelievable. And he told him, hey, guys, stop the music. Stop the music. And they did. And he went, a capella. And he sang, and it was just unbelievable. And it just it was almost like his voice rotated around there. He said, you all have no idea what you all have here. He said, these acoustics, you couldn't pay. He said, I don't care if you have $50 million. You don't understand what you have here. He said, and I know you're trying to renovate this place. And that very moment, he said, I'm going to donate money tonight to this place.

>> Vanessa: Oh, that's beautiful.

>> Jason Arthur: Yeah.

>> Vanessa: I didn't know that.

>> Jason Arthur: So, yeah.

>> Vanessa: Really cool.

>> Jason Arthur: Yeah. Very good stuff.

>> Vanessa: Super cool that you were, like, in the room when he said it on the stage. I think that's awesome.

>> Jason Arthur: Yeah.

>> Vanessa: Um, look at you just being part of history. Being a part of the history that you love.

>> Jason Arthur: I try everywhere.

>> Jason Arthur: Yeah.

>> Vanessa: I think that's pretty cool, too.

>> Jason Arthur: Um, it's crazy to think of here.

>> Vanessa: In little old Huntington that we had the second largest theater in the United States, um, only behind the Roxy in New York City. So I think that's pretty cool.

>> Jason Arthur: Very.

M let's talk about some of our restaurants, some of historical restaurants

>> Vanessa: M let's talk about some of our restaurants, some of our historical restaurants and things like that.

>> Jason Arthur: Oh, yeah.

>> Vanessa: We've got, um, something we might be known for on a bigger scale. Um, Cam's ham was on the, uh, Food network's 50 states and 50 sandwiches for their sugar, uh, flaked ham sandwich.

>> Jason Arthur: Yeah.

>> Vanessa: I, uh, personally, myself, am not a fan of that sandwich. I like to go there and get their grilled cheese, which, of all things I know is so silly, but I love their grilled cheeses there. Um, some other restaurants that we're really known for are Jim spaghetti.

>> Jason Arthur: Oh, yeah.

>> Vanessa: Can you think of any off the top of your head?

>> Jason Arthur: Central City is a big, oh, the cafe. Yeah. Listen, and they've been on food network.

>> Vanessa: They're tomato bisque.

>> Jason Arthur: Yeah. They do a great job. It's all family owned and operated. They do a great job down there.

>> Vanessa: And they keep it so, like, so nice. It's so inviting, even on the outside.

>> Jason Arthur: And listen, we're talking about history here. They I invite everybody to go down there and look at the pictures of the great history of that area and Huntington and everything. It's great.

>> Vanessa: Central City is beautiful.

>> Jason Arthur: Yeah. You've got gyms, um, you know, which. They've got great history and pictures of people. The JFK seat. That's a big deal.

>> Vanessa: I know it's a little bit out of city limits, but we've got hillbilly hot dogs.

>> Jason Arthur: Hillbilly hot dogs. Yeah.

>> Vanessa: That's a big one. A lot of people, uh, like to travel here for hillbilly hot dogs.

>> Jason Arthur: Got Stewart's hot dogs.

>> Vanessa: We got Stewart. Stewart. You can't leave that out.

>> Jason Arthur: Frost top.

>> Vanessa: Frost top. Frost top is the best.

>> Jason Arthur: Like, uh, midway down in the west end.

>> Vanessa: Midway is pretty phenomenal. That's a lunch favorite of mine. Cause it's close to work, right?

>> Jason Arthur: So, I mean, you know, and it's funny, even when I have family and friends that come from out of town, they make their rounds. They're like, we're going here. We're going here.

>> Vanessa: You know, it's like the trip revolves around the food. Yes, absolutely.

>> Jason Arthur: And we used to have GD Ritzy's. I know they just recently closed, unfortunately. Um, they're across from the hospital. But people always love GD Ritzy's.

>> Vanessa: And they really had the best for us.

>> Jason Arthur: They were so good. We've got our Gino's and our Giovanni's. We've got Monty's pizza.

>> Vanessa: We have so much here. We have so much here. And I don't like, even, like, down to having our own bread factory. I know that's so silly, but, like, I hate when we travel and we're gonna have sandwiches, like, for camping or something. I cannot accept anything less than fresh bread because we live here.

>> Jason Arthur: We have quality here.

>> Vanessa: Yes, we have quality here.

>> Jason Arthur: So we now expect quality, right?

>> Vanessa: Yes. I will literally buy bread and take it with me places because I know that we're gonna have to have it. Um, so a little, uh, different than what we were just talking about.

We have so many festivals and things that a lot of communities don't

But, um, something else that we have an ample amount of that a lot of communities just don't have access. Ah, to is museums. Yeah, we've got so many museums. We've got the museum of art. The children's museum is new. Um, it's down near Central City.

>> Jason Arthur: Yeah, it's in my district.

>> Vanessa: Yeah. We've got the Tuma Museum of Medicine. We've got heritage farm and village, which is doing amazing things. They're getting ready to build a. A ski situation.

>> Jason Arthur: Yeah.

>> Vanessa: Like, how crazy is that?

>> Jason Arthur: Yeah. I can't say enough about that place. They have rope courses. You can go on atv's you can do everything there. I mean, it's WG.

>> Vanessa: And I did the, um. What is it, ziplining there?

>> Jason Arthur: Yeah.

>> Vanessa: I'm terrified of heights, and he talked me into that, and that was probably one of my most fun episodes that we've ever done. I think I need to do that before or do it again. Um, but we also have, I mean, we have other museums like the Burke Art gallery. We've got the Huntington Railroad Museum, the Museum of Radio and Technology, and the Thomas Carol house. Um, to the naysayers that say there's nothing to do here, there's plenty. Get out of here.

>> Jason Arthur: How many festivals and things? I mean, there's stuff going on all the Time, you know, listen, uh, things could always be a little bit better. They could also always be a little bit worse. But we have a lot of things going here, and things could. I mean, I just don't think that people realize, they just get in a groove of just saying that.

>> Vanessa: Absolutely.

>> Jason Arthur: We have everything that anybody can want. Whether you have a little bit of money or a lot of money, there's a lot to do here.

>> Vanessa: We have so many festivals. Um, we can talk about those a little bit. If you can think of it off the top of your head.

>> Jason Arthur: Yeah. I mean, you talk about the greek festival. That's a huge one. Chili fest is greek growing every year.

>> Vanessa: And chili fest is getting bigger. Yeah.

>> Jason Arthur: Yep. You know, and now you're getting into some of the newer ones, like the comic con, uh, rails and hills, things like that. But you talk about you've had your civil war days. That's been going on forever.

>> Vanessa: Oh, yeah.

>> Jason Arthur: Down in gyandar, rib Fest, things like that. I mean, hot dog festival. Hot dog festival. You know, the museum of Art has always done musics and arts and things like that. Uh, the pancake festival, we were talking about that one a little bit ago. We were the kiwanis that, listen, that is a. When you're a kid, you know all about that place.

>> Vanessa: You get, ah, this is wonderful.

>> Jason Arthur: An unlimited amount of pancakes, sausage drinks.

>> Vanessa: The smile on our faces. If you guys could see us right now, we're like both in heaven thinking about the pancakes. Uh, we were kind of talking about, and this is a little off topic, but, uh, I'm sure it brought some of you guys back to that as well, that the Kiwanis Pancake festival was held in the old memorial field house.

>> Jason Arthur: One of my favorite places. Yeah. And we talked about how much, uh, you know, rich history that place had. When you talk about all the music acts that have been there. All the festivals that were held in there. Marshall played basketball there. There was boxing matches. I mean, everything. That was the place to be. And at the time when it was built, it was one of the biggest in the whole eastern coast. I mean, it's just unbelievable. And unfortunately, funerals too.

>> Vanessa: Well, that's what I was going to say. Jason shared with me about, um, some of the funerals. The funerals were so big after the Marshall plane crash that they used the field house. And I did not know that. So many of you listening? You're a little bit older than me. Uh, so you might remember that. Um, I'm going to plead the fifth on this because it's not my fault I'm not from here.

>> Jason Arthur: Yeah. It's just we've had our goods, our bads, and everything was held in there. And to see it go was just kind of sad. But, you know, Marshall did a phenomenal job of incorporating what was, you know, even the plaque. And now we have. Listen, that soccer team, our soccer team is known internationally. We have the real deal here. And again, testament to Marshall Huntington, both, right.

>> Vanessa: Absolutely. Uh, I don't think we can talk about Huntington without talking about Cannon park.

>> Jason Arthur: Absolutely. That's our spot.

>> Vanessa: That's our spot.

Cannon park started out as a parking ride for commuters

That's home for, uh, me and Jason both. Uh, Jason's, that's where he's running for council at, in that district. Um, cannon park, uh, has a big piece of my heart. And I love that my daughter gets to share that with me. She's eleven years old, and the only thing she wants to do every weekend is go to Cannon park. And I'm like, basically, yes, yes. Like, we can go to Cannon park anytime m you want to. Like, we can ride the big dipper all day long until we puke.

>> Jason Arthur: Yeah.

>> Vanessa: Yeah, let's do it. I think it's super cool how cannon park became what it is today.

>> Jason Arthur: Yeah, me too. I mean, when you talk about, you know, and we talked a little bit about this, it started off as a way to just pass Time while you were waiting on your transportation.

>> Vanessa: Yep. It was a hub. It was a good meeting place.

>> Jason Arthur: That's all it was.

>> Vanessa: What do we call them today? Uh, parking rides. Yeah, it was a parking ride.

>> Jason Arthur: It was a parking ride, literally. And now here we are, still way over 100 years, and the place is still going strong.

>> Vanessa: And it's gone through so many, um, changes over the years. I mean, at one point, it was a zoo. They had elephants.

>> Jason Arthur: They had roller skating.

>> Vanessa: Roller skating. I mean, they had, um, they had.

>> Jason Arthur: A Camden belle that went down the river.

>> Vanessa: Yes. They had the river boat, and that was so cool. If you got to go on it, like, every 2 hours it ran or something like that, you would literally go ride all the rides that you could, waiting until your time to get on the camden bell.

>> Jason Arthur: Um, it's a special place, and I wish people would utilize it more. And, you know, I always kind of get defensive when people say things about, oh, I wouldn't ride those rods. You know, that's a rich history as a kid, you know, think about it. You were a kid, went there. Now you're taking your kids, right? My grandpa used to tell me when he took me that he went there as a kid.

>> Vanessa: Oh, I love that.

>> Jason Arthur: So I love hearing the stories about, and when you walk into Camden park, I don't care how old you are, are you start getting those memories going back. You see the haunted house, you see the games and the sounds going off the pronto pups.

>> Vanessa: And you have to ride the carousel. Like, the carousel is where it all started. The carousel is where it all started.

>> Jason Arthur: And the big dipper is always big for everybody.

>> Vanessa: Yes, yes, yes. And, like, uh, this last time, we didn't get to ride the little dipper. And, uh, we got home, and my daughter's like, we didn't ride everything. And I was like, what are you talking about? But there was a daycare there that day, and they kind of, like, overran everything. Then when they were little, they kept getting on the little dipper, so we didn't get on. But still one of my favorites. Still one of my m favorites.

>> Jason Arthur: Log flume. That's a big one.

>> Vanessa: Yes. Log flume's so fun.

Um, and I don't think we can talk about Huntington without talking about our parks

Um, and I don't think we can talk about Huntington without talking about our parks.

>> Jason Arthur: Oh, yeah.

>> Vanessa: We are so blessed to have from the Ritter family, another prominent family that donated space back to the community. Um, we have Ritter park, and we have all of the arms of the park as well. You know, we have Memorial Park, McClellan Park, Harvey Town camp, Matt Ethnyev, Wayne, the Paul Ambrose trail for health, and we have beech Fork State park here. Like, we, we have. I know it's, we call it the beach spoon in my family because we're just goofy. But, um, where, where do you live that you can take a ten minute drive and be on a beach?

>> Jason Arthur: Yeah. Literally, sand and everything.

>> Vanessa: It might not be clear water.

>> Jason Arthur: It's a freshwater beach, but that's okay.

>> Vanessa: But it's a beach.

>> Jason Arthur: It is a beach.

>> Vanessa: If you need sand under your toes, like, there is a place to go within ten minutes.

>> Jason Arthur: Great trails. Uh, they've been working on trying to get a, uh, resort kind of put in out there so that people. People could have a major hotel type place to stay out there. Um, you know, all the different types of fishing and boating, and it's just, we've got a special place here. And I just wish people would realize and quit being so negative and try to help rebuild and revitalize instead of tearing things down.

>> Vanessa: Absolutely. Absolutely.

Let's talk about Marshall University. We've talked about it a lot

Um, I think, um, we can probably wrap up. We've talked about it a lot, but let's talk about it again because it's so monumental. Let's talk about Marshall. Um, our children get to be sons and daughters of Marshall. Um, our grandparents were sons and daughters of Marshall. Uh, we might even have great grandparents and great, great grandparents that helped build Marshall. Um, I just am so thankful that the college is here. Um, and the sports that they bring, I mean, they've got women's softball, swimming, diving, tennis, volleyball, track and field, men's football, baseball, and both genders of, uh, basketball, cross country, golf and soccer. And I did not know this. You may have, because you know more than me, but we have a, uh, rugby union for women and men. We have men's and women's lacrosse, and we have an equestrian team that competes in the intercollegiate horse show association. Did not know that.

>> Jason Arthur: Yeah. People don't realize how big of a deal. I mean, it makes Sense, but horses are a big thing around here. I know that they are. Which, Lexington is just right down there.

>> Vanessa: I didn't think about it, but I had no clue.

>> Jason Arthur: People take it very, very serious. They do it on a tournament level, and I'm just glad that Marshall is flourishing and doing so well. And, you know, uh, one thing I've even said to Brad Smith himself is what I like about having him is great leadership leads to great results, and I kind of live by that. You've got to have great leadership to have great results. And we also can go the other direction with the opposite of, you know, thank God we've got Brad here. His mindset and his connections are unbelievable. And, you know, more importantly, let's think about the people that helped get him here, that talk him into it, you know? Yeah, he had some heartstrings. His family's here and things like that. He wanted to settle here. You know, they live down right across from our beautiful park system. Um, one of the people that's actually running for mayor is a pivotal person in getting him here, which was Patrick Farrell. Patrick Farrell was huge on getting him here.

>> Vanessa: I did not know that.

>> Jason Arthur: And a lot of people were saying, no, you know, this isn't a good decision. He said, listen to me, he's unbelievably smart. Look at the leadership roles that he's played on an, uh, international level. You don't understand how special this can be. And it's been nothing but ever since he got here. So hats off to him, too.

>> Vanessa: Yeah, absolutely.

>> Jason Arthur: There's a lot of players involved. But listen, these are big things that we need to see. And again, I invite everybody to be a part of that. Let's be a part of building this place up instead of tearing it down, and let's work together.

>> Vanessa: Absolutely. I, um, said we were going to close on Marshall, but we're not going to because I just remembered something else. I remembered something else.

Huntington has had 17 mayors and two at large council members

>> Jason Arthur: Correct.

>> Vanessa: We have had 17 mayor in the history of Huntington. Um, am I right in that?

>> Jason Arthur: That sounds right, yeah. Starting with Buffington. Yeah.

>> Vanessa: Yeah. So 17 mayors. Um, how many council? We have nine council and two at large.

>> Jason Arthur: Two at large gives you eleven total. Yeah.

>> Vanessa: So, I mean, how cool is it that as a community, you get to elect someone to represent you at, ah, every council meeting?

>> Jason Arthur: That's a big deal.

>> Vanessa: It's a very big deal. Like, I'm so thankful that I can, uh. Our current council member lives. Uh, our elected council person lives two blocks from me. If I need something, I can literally walk my dog and knock on his door. I'm gonna be able to do the same thing in the other direction to your house. Right. I, um, just think it's a phenomenal situation that we have. And I think a lot of people don't realize that not every community has a council representation.

>> Jason Arthur: Not at all. They get what they get.

>> Vanessa: They get what they get. And you get over it. Not even. They're a fit.

>> Jason Arthur: You just get over it. You just get over it.

>> Vanessa: You just get over it.

>> Jason Arthur: No, it's a special thing. The way the system is here. I think it works very well. Um, yeah, you're going to have your goods and bads, your pluses, your monitor. But listen, you need all the personality. You got to have that. You got to have that. That's the whole point of it, is to have those differences on mindsets and the way of doing things. But more importantly, it is so important to vote in people that are going to represent your people. And we all get that chance. Whereas, like, you know, we said, some people just get what they get. You're getting a chance to go out, make your voice heard, say, this is who we want to be our representative. And then that person is supposed to, by all means necessary, represent you, the people. And by doing that, now, you, for instance, like with us, district one gets to be represented by that one person. He's a piece of the puzzle.

>> Vanessa: He's a piece of the puzzle.

>> Jason Arthur: And that is going to affect the entire city, right?

>> Vanessa: Absolutely.

>> Jason Arthur: And the way our leadership's going to go and the way we do things. So this is a real special thing. I, uh, encourage everybody, make your voice heard, go out and vote regardless of who it's for. And that way you feel like you do have a voice in your city.

>> Vanessa: Absolutely. All right. Thanks for joining us.

>> Jason Arthur: Thank you very much.

>> Vanessa: Have a great day.

>> Jason Arthur: Thank you.

Thanks for listening to the tri state time machine podcast

=Thanks for listening to the Tri State Time Machine brought to you by Alex R. White, PLLC at ah suedistracteddriver.com. if you have a memory you want Vanessa to talk more about, just send her an email@tstmail.com or post a comment on the Tri State Time Machine Facebook page. Did you like the episode? Episode? Be sure to share it with friends and family. It's the only way we can continue this fun work that we do. You can find a link in the show notes that you can use to share it. And be sure to let our sponsors know you like the podcast as well. Their contact information can be found in this episode's show notes.