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The commerce of Cabell County in western West Virginia includes dairy and poultry farms, livestock, corn, oil wells, coal, and natural gas. The county was officially formed in 1809. Huntington is the county seat, but only after it won the county government away from Barboursville. Barboursville served as the county seat from 1813 to 1887, when it was moved to Huntington. Oddly enough, part of Huntington is situated in Wayne county. It has 11 miles of flood walls to protect it from the Ohio River. The city was founded in 1870 by Collis P. Huntington, the railroad magnate. It was chartered by the legislature in 1871. Huntington is one of the largest cities in West Virginia and serves as the principal trading center and shipping port for the coal fields of southwest West Virginia and eastern Kentucky. It is the center for quality hand blown and handcrafted glassware. Its economy is supported also by the chemical industry, electrical products, nickel, wood products, paint, and dyes. It is the home of Marshall University, founded in 1837, and Huntington Galleries, the primarily art gallery of the Appalachian region. Cabell County, in the extreme western part of the state, was founded in 1809, and named to honor William H. Cabell, who served as Governor of Virginia from 1805 to 1808. Cabell County comprises some 286 square miles of West Virginia territory. |
