Huntington WV (West Virginia)

Huntington WV is an Ohio River cruise port and city in West Virginia USA (Cabell County and Wayne County) with population around 50,000. The city is located at the mouth of Guyandotte River (one of Ohio's tributaries). By annual shipping traffic, Port Huntington Tri-State is currently ranked West Virginia state's largest river port and the USA's second-largest inland port (after New Orleans) and the USA's 15th-largest. Excepting the neighborhoods Westmoreland and Spring Valley, most of Huntington is in Cabell County.

Huntington is the largest city in the Huntington-Ashland Metro (combining 7 counties in WV-KY-OH/West Virginia-Kentucky-Ohio) with total population around 370,000. The city's current economy is based on river shipping and heavy industries like coal, oil, chemicals, steel production. The settlement was founded in 1775 (as Holderby's Landing, part of Great Britain's Virginia colony), incorporated in 1799 (as Guyandotte), and in 1871 renamed Huntington - after Collis Potter Huntington (1821-1900, industrialist and railway magnate).

Huntington WV is best known for its Marshall University (1837-founded, in downtown), Huntington Museum of Art (1952-opened, in the Park Hills neighborhood), Collis P. Huntington Historical Society and Railroad Museum, Mountain Health Arena (fka Huntington Civic Center, 1977-opened), Camden Park (1903-opened amusement park), Special Metals Corporation's Plant (refractory alloys). The city's largest employers are Marshall University, Cabell Huntington Hospital (303-bed medical center), St Mary's Medical Center (393-bed medical center), CSX Transportation (freight railroad network in the eastern USA and Canad's Ontario and Quebec provinces), US Army Corps of Engineers (LRD-Great Lakes and Ohio River Division), Amazon.com Inc (e-commerce), DIRECTV (direct broadcast satellite service provider).

As a cruise port, Huntington WV is included in the schedule of one of the USA's largest river cruise companies - AQSC-American Queen Voyages/Steamboat Company. The next table shows a 7-night/8-day itinerary (from Pittsburgh to Louisville) as port sequences.

Prices start from ~USD 2700 per person (with double occupancy). Traditionally for AQSC, the cruisetour is operated by paddle-wheel riverboats.