Buckhannon is a city of 5,725 people in West Virginia, and the only incorporated community in Upshur County. It was established in 1816 and named for Buckongahelas, a Native American chief of the Lenni-Lenape tribe who often hunted around the area, and whose name was often mispronounced by English settlers as "Buckongehanon".
Get in
Buckhannon is located on US-33 between Weston and Elkins.
Get around
See
- West Virginia Wildlife Center, +1 304-924-6211. Open daily from 9AM-5PM. WV-20 12 miles south of Buckhannon. A modern zoological facility displaying native and introduced state wildlife, with a 1.25-mile interpretive trail through a mature hardwood forest.
- Audra State Park, 8397 Audra Park Rd (near town of Audra). It's not bad because it has a lively creek and a boardwalk that enters a passage below a sandstone overhang called Audra Cave. 304-457-1162
Do
- West Virginia Strawberry Festival, +1 304-472-9036. Downtown Buckhannon. Held the third week in May since 1936. Parades, a carnival, fireworks, helicopter rides, arts and crafts exhibits, quilt show, photography show, souvenir shop, band competition, car show, live entertainment, a strawberry auction and a sweetest berry contest.
Learn
- West Virginia Wesleyan College, 59 College Avenue, 304-473-8000, . A liberal arts university founded in 1890, with 36 academic majors including biology, business, education, political science and psychology.
Buy
- Catherine Miller Designs, 7 Cloverleaf Lane, +1 304-472-6664. Stonewheel hand-engraved glassware, including stemware, pitchers, vases, bowls, suncatchers and special designs.
- Ron Hinkle Glass, +1 304-472-7963. Sago/Hampton Road off WV-20. Open 9AM-5PM Monday through Friday, and 9AM-2PM on Saturday; closed Sundays. Paperweights, stemware, designer vases, kitchen and bath accessories, "almost edibles", glass creatures and Christmas ornaments. Glassblowing classes offered. Demonstrations given 9AM-3PM Monday through Friday.
Eat
Drink
Sleep
Hotels and Inns
- Bicentennial Inn, 90 E Main Street, +1 304-472-5000. On-site restaurant called the 88 Restaurant.
- Colonial Hotel-Motel, 24 N Kanawha Street. 14 hotel rooms, 21 motel unites, 3 efficiency suites. Built in the early 1900's and known locally for its friendly atmosphere. $35-50
Bed and Breakfasts
- Post Mansion Inn, 8 Island Avenue, +1 304-472-8959. An elegantly-restored 20-room mansion.
Go next
- Weston is about 20 minutes west on US-33.
- Elkins is about 30 minutes east on US-33.
- Clarksburg is about 40 minutes north on I-79.