Huntington Is Born 

The city of Huntington was incorporated on February 27, 1871 by act approved by the West Virginia Legislature. By the end of the year people were flocking to the new city. Homes and businesses appeared overnight it seems. The wood-burning locomotive, the Greenbrier, was transported down the Ohio River and work on the western end of the C&O Railroad began.

Twenty years later on November 25, 1891, the Spectator of Staunton, Virginia, ran an article about the first train to Huntington. It read as follows:

"When C. P. Huntington started the town of Huntington, W.Va., about 20 years ago, it attracted a great deal of attention. It was the first town to spring up and assume city shape and style within a few years. But when the Chesapeake & Ohio extended its line beyond Huntington croakers said that the new town was 'done for,' that it could only live as the terminus of the C&o. The fact is, though, that Huntington is growing as a faster rate today than ever before. When the road made its western connection Huntington had a population of only about 4,000. It now has a population of about 15,000, and is regarded as one of the most solid cities in the Ohio Valley. Ashland, Kentucky, was laid out about 30 years ago, but it did not begin to grow fast until the Chesapeake and Ohio reached it. The Chesapeake and Ohio has done much for Virginia, and Kentucky. Cities and towns are springing up all along the line, and people and foreign capital are pouring into these places. Twenty-five years ago Mr. Huntington predicted all this Chesapeake and Ohio development that is now taking place."

The West Virginia Legislature also provided for an election to be held. On December 31, 1871, under the supervision of J.C. Parker, a justice of the peace, the first city mayor and city council members were elected. The Officials elected were:

The new council held its first meeting on January 6, 1872, not even eight months after the new city had been officially recognized by the U.S. Post Office. At this meeting the following offices were filled:

City Hall was first located at 4th Avenue and 9th Street until 1915. The city purchased a lot at the current location, 8th Street and 5th Avenue in 1886 and completed the current building in 1915. This building was also used as a temporary courthouse until 1905.