Huntington, West Virginia | What Happened? 

This country never appreciated its healthy middleclass.

I live in Barboursville, which is right next to Huntington. I grew up with a Huntington address, but not in the downtown area. I have always loved living here. Now I'm raising a family here, and I still love it. It is very sad how many parts of downtown have become neglected and abandoned. But not all of Huntington looks like this, only certain areas. My parents both grew up in Huntington, both in very poor families. I think the one major thing that is different now from then is the population keeps declining. WV on the most recent census is one of the only states to continually lose more population than it gains. We have a serious brain drain problem here. People come to Huntington to get an education at Marshall, then leave and take themselves elsewhere because of few high paying job opportunities. I would say the main employers in the area are: Healthcare Infrastructure (construction, roadwork, etc) Education (Marshall and public schools) Retail/restaurants Huntington was built along the river and became the town it was because of the railroad. The town is literally designed to be a place the people pass through, transporting stuff from place to another. Huntington used to be a boom town in the 50s when manufacturing plants were all over. Now we have just special metals and maybe 1 or 2 other places. Teachers are paid and treated poorly here, so we continue to lose teachers. I do like a lot of the things that Steve Williams has done while serving as mayor. I do think that Huntington and the surrounding areas have bloomed in many ways over the past decade. There really is a whole lot to do here. I'm a lifetime resident and still haven't done everything the area has to offer. Huntington can be a fantastic place to live depending on the neighborhood and what job you have. Utilities run high, but most homes are a lot cheaper here than you can find most other places. I love Huntington, and I believe it can still become something great ❤️

I am from Huntington....heartbreaking what has happened to my hometown. I left in 88...the writing was on the wall and drugs sealed the deal. I hope for a better future. My family is still there trying to make the best of it.

My brother and I were both born in Huntington and my mom’s family is from there-everyone except her is still there. I spent the first half of my childhood in WV, stayed with my grandparents every summer in Ona. It’s heartbreaking what’s happened to WV.

The whole tri-state area (Ashland-Huntington-Ironton-Portsmouth) are in decline. Other than the downtown areas where they are spending money to beautify and draw people, the rest is really scary.

Portsmouth OH looks the same way. left there 30 years ago, I was 22. Perfect example of what happens when all the jobs move overseas. At one time the Ohio river valley was booming, now it just awful. My parents still live there, I have tried like crazy get them down here in Tennessee, I guess it's just home to them. Very sad to see this decline! Maybe the feds will someday quite sending some much money to our enemies, and help this part of the country be prosperous again.

I am from Huntington pretty much all of my grandmother's family is from there or is still there I haven't lived there since 1997 and I couldn't believe how bad it got when I moved back to Ohio right across the bridge. My daughter was born at Cabell Huntington in 2013 and I haven't been back since 2015 when my brother died at the same hospital. It pains me to see how bad Huntington has gotten but doesn't surprise me it was bad when I lived there as a kid it just seems to be gettin worse....

My company transferred me to Scott Depot in 2015. My district encompassed WV and parts of OH and KY. There are good and bad parts of every area in all states but I’ll have to say most of WV was very depressing. Poverty, drugs, lack of educational opportunity and lack of wealth building employment weigh heavy in the state. After 5 years I was transferred out of the area. I have a fondness for citizens of WV but I was ever so glad to leave.

I was born in Huntington, I left in 66 a couple of years after I got out of school, I've been back a few times last time was 20 years ago, I don't have any family there anymore no reason to go back again. The one thing I do miss about Huntington is going to Stewarts for hot dogs and root beer, something I did when I did go back.

I was looking to see if my daughter was in the groups. We lived in Huntington for about 6 months while she was in recovery, until she went back into addiction. They listen to police scanners and can tell when a shipment comes in from MI. There will be ODs starting at the bus depot and fan outwards. ODs are so bad that the health department gives narcan to anyone who wants it to give to anyone they see ODed. I liked Huntington, but hated it also. I went to the ER for a severe Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo (BPPV) episode, Dr told me what it was, then said "But I have a pill for that". That made me so mad, no wonder there are so many addicts there!

I worked at that Exxon in my freshman year of college and quit after I got robbed at gunpoint. Honestly though, these aren't 'bad' areas of town. Might have a bad person here or there, but I'd feel comfortable walking through most of these parts of Huntington alone at night.

This video shows abandoned houses at :38 seconds along that city street to :51 seconds that corner house has the lawn mowed. This somewhat I seen in Detroit. There's places in Detroit of abandoned houses and buildings. Some burned from arson fires and yet some living in that environment. You go away from the downtown Detroit and you see what I described above. You look at RU-vid videos of northwestern and northeastern of Detroit and it a complete opposite of the middle of the city. I was born in Detroit and when I was 10 years old my parents bought a house in Livonia(due west of Detroit itself). This was to be closer to the Ford Motor Company plant my dad worked at from 1950 to 1984 when he retired from the company. Two years after high school I went into the USAF. When my wife and daughter left Texas after discharged, we went to the Grand Rapids, Michigan area where we bee9n ever since. My first job after USAF, I worked at a plant that made appliances like electric and gas ranges. The plant closed down in December, 1987. I was one of 830 people that lost their jobs when the plant closed down. Now because of what life given me my wife and myself have just our Social Security and nothing else to live on.

I use to live in and around Huntington until I was in my late 20s. I moved in 2016, and it was bad then. Looks like it’s gotten even worse.

The Exxon station next to the smoke shack can’t stay open because they get robbed constantly.

So sad. I attended Marshall University in the 70s. To see Huntington in this sad state just rips my heart out.

Wow man that is crazy. I used to go through there at nights driving mail truck and it always felt sketchy especially around the gas stations off 60.

Compared to Chester PA and a few others, this is like heaven. Sunshine, clear blue skies, people too numerous to count, only a few buildings and houses that were total losses. Most areas look well kept.

Drugs is what happened.

This is what most of America is going to look like in the next 50 years if we keep going the way we're going.

I live here. One of the biggest issues is drugs and mental health. My friend who was a sheriff for many years here said other town/cities send there addicts, and mental health patients here due to having several places of treatment and once they come here they usually end up staying. Its not all a bad place, but it has changed a lot in the past 10-15 years.

I was born in Huntington and moved before I was old enough to remember. It looks bad. Some of those apartments look like they could be in South East DC.

It's hard to look at. I remember trucking in Huntington, and Philly 15 years ago. Exporting industry, and importing drugs is laying waste.

The start of this looks like something from Fallout 4.

I still have cousins who live in Huntington. My dad was born there as his brothers and sister. He worked in a coal mine for a short time he hated it and joined the USMC. I haven’t been back since my uncle passed in September 1986. He lived in the house near the Frostop Drive In Root Beef Stand. I think it’s Hal Greer Blvd it use to be Sixteenth Street. I looked at Google Maps and the house he lived in was torn down on Hal Greer Blvd. Me and my sister would walk across the street and go to Frostop for root beer. Our uncle Ed & aunt Edna’s house eas on the corner of Sixteenth and Miller Streets. I remember a grocery store called something like Big Bear.

possibly the criminals chased most the people out of town. People can only take so much of crime and they leave to escape it Leaving the criminals to have less places to rob and burn down.

That area at 1:10 is full of tents filled with homeless people. The whole block! Never in my life had I seen that in Huntington. I came through there just a month ago. The city is depressing and not the same place I grew up in. My parents live downtown and I’m always in before dark when I visit. The West end of town is still horrible but much worse than in the 90’s. Even the nice areas near Ritter park are more run down and robberies are commonplace . It’s sad.

New subscriber. Hard to find words to describe my thoughts as I've watched a few of your videos. Sad. But I wondered if you might be able to include in some future videos, before and after photos of these areas? You can tell these places once thrived with life...so sad.

It's mostly the drugs. You show alot of my neighborhood here, it was a nice area when I moved here 2 years ago, but the junkies and the homeless kind of overtake everything so people move out of town. It's cheaper to live out in lavalette or Wayne, and you don't have to worry about your car window getting busted or your catalytic converter getting stolen. Huntington has all the problems of a city with few of the services, and until those services get up to par its just going to keep going down hill.

I live right across the bridge, in Ohio, from Huntington. I was actually born at Cabell Hospital, but I've known this my whole life. My mom used to hang out in those houses before I was around. I wish I could say I wasn't desensitized to it, but this video didn't make me feel anything. I pretty much see this every day and have since I was born. You learn to watch your back and don't be alone at night.

Thanks for posting this. This makes me SO sad. I just fell in love with a stone house there and was going to push hard to buy it. But in doing research i saw crime was really high. Then saw this and read a bunch of the comments. Someone calling it "little Detroit" sealed it for me. I'm so sad, all those beautiful old homes there! 😭

Thanks for the tour! ❤

My dad and uncle ran that exxon for a few years. My initials are in the concrete somewhere

I used to live there in the late 90’s. Such a shame to see how drugs and gangs have destroyed the Mayberry feel it has then.

8:34 definitely the 52 underpass on Jefferson Ave. My grandparents house was on the corner of Jefferson and 16th. Made the drive from Ohio many times and miss it and them dearly. Glad they never had to see it like this, almost all the houses on 16th are gone including theirs. Such a shame and it's only getting worse. Used to love going to the flea market where Sheetz is now.

Them houses are not just dilapidated they are burned to a crisp wonder why they are left up?

Drugs have done some major damage

Thanks for sharing your drive!

Visited Huntington on an Amtrak excursion in 2021. I heard some things about it and I only stayed on the river which is I guess the nicer part I liked what I saw. Considered buying a cheap property there.

Remember in 1961 going through Huntington is on route 60 W. coming through town and they had a lot of beautiful homes there at that time I think route 60 was a one-way street on that side that I went through but I remember all the beautiful homes on that I was about 12 years old but I didn’t miss anything special when I came to my home state of West Virginia

So the 9th Ave at 6:16 is a ministry known as ReBuild. Lots of good things happening there daily! The owners love the community well. We come from Atlanta a couple times a year to hang out and help with them homes. God is good and He can restore lives!

It looks so sad and boring. Still lightyears better than Philly.

I like your videos. There's no talking, just read along the bottom of the screen and look. Quiet and your own thoughts as to the places and people. Thank you for that.

I live in West Virginia. Huntington is bad. Charleston too. But I live up a holler with God fearing folks. I love my state. But I’ll stay in my hills and my hollers. Jesus Christ Saves!

Dang I thought South Louisiana looked bad. Watched your videos this morning. What is happening to our country. we've been on a decline for years.

Starting to look like Detroit does

Nah man Huntington rules. It's like real life Gotham City. For real tho everyone keep in mind if the only thing you filmed were the worst parts of any city it would look bad. For example the portion where the text comes up saying there's lots of homeless people he was literally driving in front of the homeless shelter lol. I would assume if you drove past any cities homeless shelter there would be homeless people standing around. No doubt there's sketchy areas but also plenty of good ones as well. Nonetheless the city is worse now than previous decades and I enjoyed the video lol.

It amazed me to see seemingly fairly new cars and trucks on the road in an area of such poverty

I was born in Huntington, migrated out of WVA at an early age and fortunately so. Back then it was the Coal and Union Carbide boom.

I was born in Huntington, WV.. he up in Wayne. I moved 27 years ago. Sad to see how run down everything is. May God bless y'all

Sad to see that. 🥺

I was born and raised in Huntington and left when I was 23, thank God!! I've been back to visit and it was so disappointing.All the run down house's and building's and no progress.I could never live there again.

Half my family is from here and I ended up at Marshall for a couple years in 2004 to 06, lived right on 3rd Ave across from Hillbilly Hotdogs (got to help put up decor as they Opened) It was known as Little Detroit to many, at least then, but it certainly hasn't improved. The train track splitting the low income housing from the University is right out of a comic book or film. It was wild because they filmed We Are Marshall while I was enrolled, so there was a cool buzz for a bit, but that didn't create any effective change for anyone there.

The sad thing is there are some potentially some nice properties there. With the exception of the graffiti it looks quite pleasant , a lot of the properties seem well maintained. Living in the UK I find it difficult to understand this gereral malaise the US is going through .🇬🇧

Not one of those politicians that sent those jobs overseas is living in poverty. Or even in an area of poverty.

That's a shame. I spent a lot of time in West Virginia for work. If you love the outdoors, WV is a great state. It's beautiful but like all other states, you are going to have bad, run down places

Huntington (not unlike West Virginia as a whole) was hit extremely hard with the one-two punch of the loss of industrial jobs and the opioid epidemic. And to this day the city is still punch-drunk and trying to regain its bearings. Still, I used to enjoy going there. Sometimes I would make weekend day trips and drive out there from Cincinnati (where I lived at the time) just for fun.

Don't understand how the mayor let's such a nice community go to waste

Always crazy to me how all these neighborhoods everywhere at 1 time was perfect condition hustling and bustling and Now they're like this just would love to know what Happens

If you work in WV you get taxed like crazy..

I live west of the city in Pea Ridge and just love it here! There are pockets of scary places in Huntington to avoid, but overall I've been in far-far worse small cities all over the United States. Most of Huntington is still very beautiful.

These are all the bad spots but to be honest, the town is moving in the right direction now. Marshall University has been expanding and artisan businesses along with restaurants have been fighting back against the run down and empty spaces that used to make up much of downtown and central city. It takes a while for a city to come back from such a huge economic downturn and drug epidemic but I believe Huntington is on the right track

Braver than I for driving through Marcum Terrace like that. Highest crime area in H-town.

Amazing has it changed in 20 years... My mother aunt Mary lived there in the 80's .She came to live with us in Youngstown after uncle harold died from cancer. He worked in the coal mining there. People worked so hard to make a living and got paid so little...

One thing I notice here, these folks might be poor, but you don't see trash all over the place like some cities.

I see a lot of newer cars, where do people get their money from? There can't be very much manufacturing around

Huntington use to be a wonderful city. So sad to see how it is today with crime and rundown neighborhoods. I lived there 40 years , but finally moved out. Felt like it was too dangerous anymore.

There was nothing like Huntington in the Eighties. I started up in Lesage off Route 2 then we moved to 12 Avenue where I went to Children's Place in Guyandotte then on to Miller Elementary. Before the start of 2nd grade my dad and I moved to Hal Greer Blvd, a few houses down the road from Meadows where I attended 2nd through the end of 4th grade. Those were epic times. My friends and I would play any time of the day or night without problems, from 12th ave all the way over to Ritter Park and Enslow Blvd. Then in 89 we moved to Cincinnati. There is something different in the water over in Ohio. West Virginia had the nicest people, Ohio was the opposite. In 2009 I had a brief stint living in H Town, working for a guy painting his properties and living in an apartment behind Subway and RTO Center. What was funny is that the house on Hal Greer where I lived in that time was for rent, I literally walked right into the house and nobody was there. Had a look around and that was surreal to relive childhood in that moment. Now I call Costa Rica home. It's been a long journey. Much love and don't give up hope, the people of the US are going to reclaim their country and cast out the evil that has been plaguing the foundation of society for so many years. If you were in Huntington in the 80s, give me a shout out!

That DT area was clean…some people sitting outside but no one living under overpass and bridges. The rest was old and rough no doubt

Wow. My mom's whole side of the family was from Hinton WV. We would take a train from Richmond to my Gr Grandma's house on the side of the mountain. No running water, we used an outhouse. I haven't been back there is 45 years. How things change.

So sad, I was born here at St. Mary’s once this was a thriving bustling community.

Empire's don't last forever

Either you get on with the railroad, become a truck driver, or work at a local gas station. Not much out there for jobs. Honestly I'm suprised how many news cars are on the video.

I love Appalachia, and these videos are great to see, but it's sad whats happened economically. Beautiful country all the same.

You know it’s bad when you see closed down gas stations. Everyone needs gas and if a store can’t make enough money selling gas it must be really poor.

I was born in Huntington but left the state in 1959. Remember going to school at Barnett Elementary School which is no longer there. Simms Elementary School in 1957-1959. Became Marble Champion at Simms in 1958. You didn't have to go far to find boys engrossed in a serious game of marbles (keeps) in my neighborhood. You didn't hear of much crime in Huntington back then. I understand music man and songwriter Danny Pelfrey is from Barboursville. He was once married to Linda Lawley (RIP) of Music Group Eternity's Children who had a mild hit in the mid 60's, Mrs. Bluebird. Go Marshall Thundering Herd! Remembering Coaches, Staff and Marshall Football Team 1970. (RIP)

This is going to be every small-town that existed that has had its industry that created the town leave. This is what is kept behind.

My Dad lived down there and it looked like it use to be a great place to live but when I was down there for a weeks visit it looked like it has Fallen on bad times, i will say this though the local people were super nice and they seemed welcoming , it is still a beautiful place just needs the right people in place to get things cleaned up and make it a great town again.

Wow. I lived at 1st & 6th in the early 70’s….I guess my fantasy of what Huntington is like today just burst. Very sad. Best not visit in my Mercedes.😢

Dang, it looks just like Detroit!!!

Coal died. People followed.

Im wondering something though, you go online and you see homes being sold for $250K in Huntington... is that bc of hedge funds taking over is there good areas and only the bad areas are being shown?

After our son graduates, my wife and I are getting away from the area. Even Lesage has become a place that has experienced more break-ins, robberies, and such plus someone getting shot and killed not far from our house a few years back. Idk what or why my family thinks that Huntington is end all, be all of the world but it's horrible and doesn't look yo get any better.

Really sad

4:54 Nothing to see here

9:16 this used to be food land in westmoreland when I lived there in the 90s . Used to ride my bike with friends there after gathering change and we would get sodas and a bag of chips . Wild seeing this place so ran down .

Really cool to see Huntington on this channel

From Australia always wanted to see west Virginia ! Meet a guy Dave baggerly in West palm beach in 1978

Looks similar to detroit but not nearly as bad. It's actually pretty clean.

It so sad to see so many towns and cities ending up with way, obviously these towns were booming at one time with housing and businesses.

Veterans Memorial Fieldhouse was often sold out for championship wrestling in the 70s and 80s.

Detroit and political corruption is what happened. It's common knowledge around here.

Wow,that city needs a major demolition program!

I was there in 1953 on my senior trip it was beautiful then what a change

One of my step kids left Alabama to go up there somewhere, last I heard he was totally strung out

Worked on some of the coal burners in the early 80's. The were getting them under the new EPA standards that had been passed under the carter administration. I told them it was a losing proposition because they would lower the standards again later on until they couldn't reach them cost effectively. Voila now you see the end results.

Grew up there Moved in 2017, everytime I come back it seems worse not better. Only nice part now is within a mile of Marshall University that's all Huntington has going for it.

America has dropped the rope; leaving no hope. 🥺

Eventually some developers will snatch up the land for really cheap and build warehouses. Sucks being human and seeing this outcome for the world.

WOW, you know i live and work in NC but i have a nice little hideaway/house in Quinwood and the realtor said i can make a SUBSTANTIAL profit so i was thinking of it then reinvest, i see some listings in Huntington so i guess i better do my homework.

Lol i just knew you would show marcum terrace. That place was built to be a hood. That was dangerous as soon as they started filling it with tenants.