The former Carnegie Public Library was built in 1902-1903 with a $35,000 matching grant from the estate of industrialist Andrew Carnegie. It was constructed in the Beaux Arts style, which was a popular form of architecture for public buildings in the early twentieth century. The Carnegie Public Library was one of 3,000 public libraries built worldwide due to the contributions of Andrew Carnegie between 1885 and 1919. The building served as Huntington's public library until 1980 when the current Cabell County Library was completed across the street. Soon afterwards the former library was repurposed to house Huntington Junior College, a private institution that offers a number of Associate's Degree programs. The Carnegie Public Library building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1980.
In 1963, members of the Civic Interest Progressives, a civil rights organization led by Marshall students and Huntington community leaders, challenged racial discrimination at local eateries such as Bailey's and the White Pantry Inn. After students waging a sit-in were attacked at the White Pantry, they changed their strategy and held a series of "share-ins." In these protests, liberal white students who wanted to help challenge the color line would enter a restaurant and order a meal. After the meal was delivered, they would invite African American students to join them at their table. Although these protests, combined with the legal work of local attorney Herbert Henderson, led to the end of Jim Crow at many Huntington restaurants prior to the spring of 1963, the owner of the White Pantry turned violent and attacked one of the Black students with a cattle prod. The second video clip below shows a young woman on the ground gasping for air after the owner of the White Pantry Inn lit sulfur cakes to force Black students to leave his restaurant.
The Morris Building is a historic seven-story building on the southwest corner of 4th Avenue and 9th Street in downtown Huntington. Opened as the Hotel Farr in 1918 by businessman John S. Farr, it became a favorite amongst business travelers at the time. The building has changed owners and purposes several times since its construction: it operated as the Hotel Governor Cabell from the 1930s until 1965, when it was leased to the government and renamed Cabell Hall. The Morris Building acquired its current title in 1972, when it was purchased by Helen Morris. It housed offices, apartments, and businesses until an early morning fire in 2014 forced the building to be vacated. Until the owners of the Morris Building restore the structure and install a sprinkler system, it will not be allowed to reopen, and currently remains unoccupied. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places as part of the Downtown Huntington Historic District.
Originally known as the Union Bank and Trust Building, the West Virginia Building was constructed in 1924-1925 and was the largest commercial building in the state at the time. Huntington’s Union Bank and Trust company failed during the Great Depression, and the building was later renamed the West Virginia Building. The 9th Street Walgreens was housed in the first floor of the West Virginia Building from 1937 to 1961. The structure underwent a series of renovations and restorations beginning in the 1980s and continuing into the 2010s. Today the West Virginia Building houses luxury apartment units as well as businesses on the first floor. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places as part of the Downtown Huntington Historic District.
The M.D. Angel Company was a popular downtown Huntington clothing store for many years. It was the premier retailer for men's clothing in Huntington after it opened in 1929, and expanded over the years to include women’s and children’s departments. In 1961, the Union Company, a Columbus-based department store, purchased the building and operated out of it until 1963. A series of short-term tenants occupied the building and altered its appearance over the subsequent decades. In 2014, a Huntington developer bought the building and began renovations that were completed in 2018. It currently houses Movement Mortgage on the first floor and luxury apartments on its upper floors.
The Frederick Hotel opened in 1906 and was one of the most elegant hotels in both Huntington and all of West Virginia. The luxurious Edwardian Renaissance style building contained 150 guest rooms, 65 office spaces, and a host of amenities. The Frederick Hotel hosted many prominent visitors over the years including President Richard Nixon, musician Liberace, and comedian Bob Hope; Sid Hatfield was arrested here in 1920 for his involvement in the Battle of Matewan. The hotel closed in 1973 and the building today houses offices, apartments, and retail stores. The first floor of the Frederick maintains its original appearance, displaying artifacts and ornamentation from the hotel's glory days. The Frederick was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1986 as part of the Downtown Huntington Historic District.
The Keith Albee Theatre, located on 4th Avenue in Huntington, WV, opened in May of 1928 with a seating capacity of 2,720. The theater was originally built as a vaudeville performing center by the Hyman family, who also ran the Orpheum, State, and Huntington Theatres. The Keith Albee was named after the Keith-Albee-Orpheum Corporation, one of the leading vaudeville performance chains in the 1920s. When the Keith Albee opened, it was the largest performance theater in West Virginia and was second largest nationally next to the Roxy in New York City. The Keith Albee was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1986 and joined the National Trust for Historic Preservation in 2014. The theater still holds numerous events each year through the Marshall Artist Series.
Along with the leading downtown department stores, the Huntington Arcade was the premier shopping destination in the Tri-State are from the 1920s until the creation of the Huntington Mall in Barboursville. The neoclassical facility was built in 1925 and housed local retailers on the first floor. The second floor was home to the offices of doctors, lawyers, and other professionals. Businesses in the Arcade and the rest of downtown Huntington struggled following the opening of the Huntington Mall in the 1980s. After years of high vacancy rates, the building was sold in 2009 and converted into living spaces. The Arcade was re-dubbed The Galleria and opened to tenants in 2014. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places as part of the Downtown Huntington Historic District.
The Day and Night Bank opened on the first floor of a five-story building on the corner of 4th Avenue and 10th Street in downtown Huntington on March 25, 1912. True to its name, the Day and Night Bank distinguished itself by staying open later than other banks in the area. Under president F.L. Whitaker and his successor Frank Enslow, Jr., the bank enjoyed brief success until it surrendered its charter to the Huntington National Bank on December 15, 1919. A series of tenants have since occupied the building, with nTelos being the most recent. As of 2019, the building remains vacant.
The St. James Building, originally the First National Bank Building, has been a prominent feature of the downtown Huntington skyline since its completion in 1914. Designed by architect Verus T. Ritter, the building was initially occupied by the First National Bank, with office spaces for doctors, lawyers, and other professionals on its upper floors. In 1925, the First National Bank and the Huntington National Bank merged into the First Huntington National Bank (FHNB), prompting a significant expansion of the building. In 1981, the FHNB relocated and the building changed ownership to the Old National Bank of Huntington before being sold in 1987 to the St. James Condominium Association. The First State Bank of Barboursville now operates out of the first floor and luxury apartments occupy the sixth through twelfth floors.
The Emmons-Hawkins Hardware Company was a longtime business in downtown Huntington. It was incorporated in 1899 after undergoing a series of different partnerships and name changes since the store was originally founded by C.F. Parsons in 1871. The company operated for many years as both a retail and wholesale establishment, with salesmen traveling throughout the region, until the retail business was ended in 1941. In 1970, the company went out of business and the building was demolished by the Huntington Urban Renewal Authority. Mack & Dave's, a department store selling new and used goods, operated in its place from 1974 until its closure in 2016. The nearly one-block long building remains vacant as of 2019.
The Masonic Temple/Watts, Ritter Wholesale Dry Goods Co. building was built in 1914 to provide the Freemasons' Huntington Lodge No. 53 with a permanent location. Most of the building was occupied by the Watts, Ritter Wholesale Dry Goods Co., one of the most successful wholesale businesses in the region until the its closure in 1959. The original building consisted of five floors dedicated to Watts, Ritter and Company, and the top two floors housing the Masonic Temple; an annex was constructed on the right side of the building in 1922 to accommodate the expansion of Watts, Ritter, and Company. In 1990 most of the building was converted into a series of upscale office spaces known as the River Tower. The Masonic Lodge continues to use the top two floors of the western half. The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1993.
The Emmons Apartments were built by Arthur S. Emmons in 1911. Emmons was the son of a Delos W. Emmons, who was a prominent figure in Huntington and Collis P. Huntington's brother-in-law. The first building became known as Emmons Sr. once the second building, Emmons Jr., was built in 1924, and they quickly became known as luxurious places to live. In 2007, a fire started in the closet of Emmons Jr., quickly spreading and ultimately claiming the lives of nine people. The buildings were damaged and subsequently demolished, and the lot currently remains empty.
This Tour is a Walking Tour.
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This tour starts at the County Courthouse and moves towards historic 4th Avenue. The tour includes a number of well-known Huntington landmarks such as the Keith-Albee Theatre as well as "Lost Huntington" buildings and businesses such as the Day and Night Bank, the Emmons-Hawkins Hardware Company, the and the Emmons Apartments.
