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North America : United States of America : South : West Virginia : Mountains and Lakes Country : Buckhannon

Buckhannon

Buckhannon [1] 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, WV-20 12 miles south of Buckhannon, 304-924-6211, [2]. Open daily from 9 am to 5 pm. A modern zoological facility displaying native and introduced state wildlife, with a 1.25-mile interpretive trail through a mature hardwood forest.

Do

  • West Virginia Strawberry Festival, downtown Buckhannon, 304-472-9036, [3]. 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, [4]. 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, 304-472-6664, [5]. Stonewheel hand-engraved glassware, including stemware, pitchers, vases, bowls, suncatchers and special designs.
  • Hinkle's Dying Art Glassworks, Sago/Hampton Road off WV-20, 304-472-7963, [6]. Open 9 am to 5 pm Monday through Friday, and 9 am to 2 pm on Saturday; closed Sundays. Paperweights, stemware, designer vases, kitchen and bath accessories, "almost edibles", glass creatures and Christmas ornaments. Glassblowing classes offered. Demonstrations given 9 am to 3 pm Monday through Friday.

Eat

Drink

Sleep

Hotels and Inns

  • Bicentennial Inn, 90 E Main Street, 304-472-5000 or 800-762-5137, [7]. On-site restaurant called the 88 Restaurant.
  • Colonial Hotel-Motel, 24 N Kanawha Street, [8]. 14 hotel rooms, 21 motel unites, 3 efficiency suites. Built in the early 1900s and known locally for its friendly atmosphere. $35 - $50.
  • Deer Park Country Inn, 304-472-8400 or 800-296-8430, [9]. 4 bedrooms, 2 suites. Inn and lodge located in the country with an abundance of wildlife. Hiking trails, fishing ponds, croquet, hammock and rocking chairs. Murder mystery dinners available. On-site tavern.

Bed and Breakfasts

  • Governor's Inn Bed & Breakfast, 76 E Main Street, 304-472-2516, [10]. 6 rooms. Housed in a century-old brick mansion with a formal dining room serving a daily gourmet breakfast.
  • Post Mansion Inn, 8 Island Avenue, 304-472-8959. An elegantly-restored 20-room mansion.
  • Riverside Bed & Breakfast, 113 Island Avenue, 304-472-0796, [11]. Built in 1895 on a peninsula by the Buckhannon River. Sunroom, 4 acres of land with perennial gardens. Full homemade breakfast. $75 - $95.

Get out

  • Weston is about 20 minutes west on US-33.
  • Elkins is about 30 minutes east on US-33.

This page was last edited at 23:38, on 29 May 2008 by David. Based on work by Stacy Hall and Carson Maynard.