Point Pleasant, West Virginia

Continuing northward from Huntington and Lesage, and passing various things named after a certain former klansman Senator from West Virginia, I arrived in Point Pleasant.  This place is notorious for alleged sightings of a creature called the Mothman during the late 1960's.  The Mothman was reportedly seen by over 100 people, and is thought to have possibly been an omen that warned of impending disaster.  Today, the Mothman Museum sits in downtown Point Pleasant, with a statue of the creature just down the street.

Here he is from another angle.  The locals appear to like driving red cars.

Point Pleasant also includes Tu-Endie-Wei State Park, at the confluence of the Ohio and Kanawha Rivers.  This park commemorates a battle fought in 1774 between a Virginia militia led by Colonel Andrew Lewis and Shawnee Indians led by Chief Cornstalk.  (Considering that corn was very important, and sometimes sacred, to many Indian tribes, being named "Cornstalk" may well have been a great honor.)  The Battle of Point Pleasant was the principle battle of Lord Dunmore's War, Lord Dunmore himself being at the time the governor of the colony of Virginia.  This circular stone monument commemorates a magazine located in the area.  Directly behind it is the Kanawha River, with the Ohio to the right.

This building, called the Mansion House, was originally a tavern, and is now a museum.

In the middle of the park is this obelisk.

The monument to Chief Cornstalk, leader of the Shawnee, sits near one corner of the park.  West Virginia Route 2 passes over the green trestle bridge in the background.

Some people and organizations, such as the Daughters of the American Revolution (one of whom taught me how to play the piano way back when), consider the Battle of Point Pleasant to be the first battle of the American Revolution.  I consider this rather dubious, because the Virginia militiamen were not at the time rebelling against the British crown or the colonial government.  In other words, the sides that fought in the American Revolution had not yet been established.

On a personal note, I was already familiar with the name Andrew Lewis because there once was a high school in Salem, Virginia bearing his name.  Also in the area is Fort Lewis Mountain, named after Fort Lewis, this fort having been previously named after Lewis himself.  All of these are not too far away from where I once lived in southwestern Virginia.