Hurricane, West Virginia
History
Hurricane was named after Hurricane Creek. Hurricane Creek was, in turn, named after a group of trees at the mouth of the river bent in one direction. A party of surveyors commissioned by General George Washington noted the site appeared to have been struck by a hurricane, so they named it so. It is interesting to note that less than 17 miles south-east of Hurricane is a small village named Tornado.
A town named Hurricane Bridge was located where West Virginia Route 34 now crosses the creek, near current-day Hurricane. The town can be traced back to an 1811 Virginia map. The town primarily consisted of a small inn. On March 28, 1863, Union and Confederate forces fought a Civil War battle at Hurricane Bridge, (West) Virginia, now known as the Skirmish at Hurricane Bridge.
Hurricane itself can be traced back to 1873, when a railroad track was laid through the town and a small depot was constructed. It was during this period that Main Street developed, and other businesses in the area. It was incorporated as a town in 1888, and as a city in the 1970s.
In the early 1990s, the old depot, which once served as the catalyst for the town's development, was torn down and replaced with a small gazebo. It was also during the 1990s that the city began to see a surge in urban growth as several subdivisions were established in the city limits. The population increase resulted in the widening of Route 34, a connecting road to Teays Valley, and an expansion of Hurricane High School.
In 2002, a winning multi-state Powerball ticket was sold at a supermarket in Hurricane. The winning ticketholder was Jack Whittaker. At the time it was the largest jackpot ever won by a single winning ticket in the history of American lottery, let alone West Virginia.
The town's weekly newspaper is whimsically called "The Breeze".
Geography
Hurricane is located at 
38ˇĆ25ˇÇ57ˇČN 82ˇĆ1ˇÇ11ˇČW / 38.4325ˇĆN 82.01972ˇĆW / 38.4325; -82.01972 (38.432483, -82.019718).
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 3.0 square miles (7.7 km©÷), of which, 3.0 square miles (7.7 km©÷) of it is land and 0.04 square miles (0.1 km©÷) of it (0.67%) is water.
Demographics
As of the census of 2000, there were 5,222 people, 2,098 households, and 1,518 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,765.0 people per square mile (681.2/km©÷). There were 2,258 housing units at an average density of 763.2/sq mi (294.5/km©÷). The racial makeup of the city was 98.12% White, 0.67% African American, 0.08% Native American, 0.38% Asian, 0.10% from other races, and 0.65% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.54% of the population.
There were 2,098 households out of which 34.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 59.2% were married couples living together, 10.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 27.6% were non-families. 24.8% of all households were made up of individuals and 9.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.49 and the average family size was 2.98.
In the city the population was spread out with 25.2% under the age of 18, 8.4% from 18 to 24, 30.8% from 25 to 44, 23.1% from 45 to 64, and 12.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females there were 92.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 89.0 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $39,591, and the median income for a family was $43,155. Males had a median income of $34,808 versus $22,972 for females. The per capita income for the city was $20,119. About 8.2% of families and 10.3% of the population were below the poverty line, including 14.6% of those under age 18 and 8.3% of those age 65 or over.
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