Huntington, West Virginia: Pepperoni Biscuits, Phantom Trains, and the Museum Your Grandpa Built in His Garage

So you're thinking about visiting Huntington, West Virginia. Good news: you'll have plenty of room to park. The city had 46,842 residents at the 2020 census, making it the second-most populous city in West Virginia. Second place in West Virginia is a bit like being the second-tallest kid in a family of hobbits, but we respect the hustle.

Pack a stretchy waistband, a sense of humor, and a tolerance for locals explaining things to you with great passion.

The Breakfast That Started a Pilgrimage (and Maybe a Fight)

Let's begin with food, because Huntington certainly does. The city's signature breakfast is a biscuit from Tudor's Biscuit World, a drive-thru chain with a fan club. The menu includes a pepperoni roll biscuit, which is exactly what it sounds like: a Southern classic that someone decided needed pizza energy. Locals defend it like a family member. Say something unkind about it and you may be asked to leave the parking lot.

The chain's other star is The Mountaineer, a biscuit. Every out-of-towner gets walked in like it's a pilgrimage. It is a drive-thru. You are in a Toyota. Nobody is being canonized.

To be fair, it's delicious, and you'll want a second one before you hit the interstate.

A Railroad Town Waiting on a Train That's Never Coming Back

Huntington's origin story is pure Gilded Age. The city was incorporated on February 27, 1871, and it was founded by railroad magnate Collis P. Huntington, who put his name on the place the way other people put their name on a lunchbox. He was building a rail line to the Ohio River and needed a western terminus. Huntington got a city out of the deal and has been waiting for the glory days to roll back in ever since.

And roll in they did. The timeline is startling: the population was 3,174 in 1880 and 10,108 by 1890. That's tripling in a decade, which is a growth rate modern city planners would sell a kidney for. By 1920 it hit 50,177, and it kept climbing until it peaked at 86,353 in the middle of the 20th century.

Today? The population was 49,138 in 2010 and 46,842 in 2020. The city has been steadily shrinking, but the pride is still full-sized.

The Railroad Museum is the shrine to all this, basically a monument to a train schedule that left decades ago. Meanwhile, the Ohio River is right there, and the most exciting thing floating past is a barge hauling something that isn't yours.

Randy Moss Is Not Walking Through That Door

Now, football. Huntington is Marshall University's hometown, and the Thundering Herd play at Joan C. Edwards Stadium. Mention 1997 within a mile of a tailgate and you will receive a lecture. Randy Moss and Chad Pennington are discussed with the reverence normally reserved for Roman emperors. Every pregame is one guy in a green jersey explaining the Clinton administration to a college kid who was born in 2005.

Look, the nostalgia is earned. Marshall football has a story of tragedy and resurrection that's bigger than any highlight reel, and the town's loyalty to it is the real deal. But there is a limit to how many times a person can say "back when we had Moss" before the rest of us start checking our phones. A city that peaked in the Clinton years and still runs the same highlight reel is at least running a great highlight reel.

The Museum Lineup Written by a Fever Dream

Here's where the tourism board got creative. Huntington offers a Museum of Radio and Technology and a Railroad Museum. That's not a cultural district. That's what happens when your grandpa gets a garage and a grant.

Honestly, it's the best kind of weird. Where else can you geek out over vintage radios in the morning and admire locomotive history by lunch? (Please eat lunch first.) It's a perfectly curated itinerary for a very specific type of person, and if you are that person, you've found paradise.

The Fine Print: What's Happening in Huntington Now

Huntington isn't just a museum piece. Mayor Patrick Farrell has said that homelessness is one of the city's primary issues. And the holidays wait for no one.

The demographics tell the story of a resilient, hard-working place. More than one in four residents live below the poverty line. That's real, and it's part of why the folks here are so fiercely proud of what they've got. A town that has been counted out as often as Huntington has earned the right to be loud about its pepperoni biscuits.

As for that exit strategy? The bridge to Ohio is, frankly, the most exciting escape route in the tri-state area. Come for the riverfront, stay for the biscuits, and if you leave, at least leave full.

Think we were too nice? See the full roast on RoastMyTown.com.