Piedmont, West Virginia
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Piedmont is a town in Mineral County, West Virginia, United States. It is part of the 'Cumberland, MD-WV Metropolitan Statistical Area'. The population was 1,014 at the 2000 census. Piedmont was chartered in 1856. The town is the subject of Colored People: A Memoir (ISBN 0-679-73919-X) by Piedmont native, Henry Louis Gates, Jr.
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[edit] History
Piedmont is located along the North Branch Potomac River at the foot of the Allegheny Mountains as its name suggests. The town was also known as Mount Carbon due to the persuasiveness of the officers of the New Creek Company, a corporation chartered to construct canals, build railroads, purchase lands, and to carry on manufacturing. The officials convinced the Baltimore and Ohio, the Burlington and Mount Holly, the Boston and Lowell, and the Long Island railroads to use coal instead of wood in the firing of their locomotives. The first coal used was mined in the mountains surrounding Piedmont. In 1888, William Luke established the West Virginia Paper Company (Now Westvaco) on 50 acres (202,000 m²) of land known as West Piedmont (now Luke, Maryland). The company remains a major economic factor in the area.
[edit] Geography
Piedmont is located at (39.480232, -79.048086)GR1.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 1.1 km² (0.4 mi²), all land.
[edit] Demographics
As of the censusGR2 of 2000, there were 1,014 people, 423 households, and 266 families residing in the town. The population density was 932.2/km² (2,413.4/mi²). There were 499 housing units at an average density of 458.7/km² (1,187.7/mi²). The racial makeup of the town was 74.36% White, 21.79% African American, 0.20% Native American, 1.78% from other races, and 1.87% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 2.07% of the population.
There were 423 households out of which 29.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 38.1% were married couples living together, 20.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 37.1% were non-families. 32.9% of all households were made up of individuals and 13.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.40 and the average family size was 3.00.
In the town the population was spread out with 26.8% under the age of 18, 8.9% from 18 to 24, 28.6% from 25 to 44, 20.8% from 45 to 64, and 14.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females there were 89.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 88.8 males.
The median income for a household in the town was $21,190, and the median income for a family was $26,964. Males had a median income of $21,938 versus $18,250 for females. The per capita income for the town was $11,678. About 24.7% of families and 30.7% of the population were below the poverty line, including 41.3% of those under age 18 and 23.5% of those age 65 or over.
[edit] Well Known and Famous Piedmontians
[edit] External links
- Town of Piedmont website
- Gates Narrative about Piedmont
- West Virginia Cyclopedia article
- Maps and aerial photos
- Street map from Google Maps, or Yahoo! Maps, or Windows Live Local
- Satellite image from Google Maps, Windows Live Local, WikiMapia
- Topographic map from TopoZone
- Aerial image or topographic map from TerraServer-USA
| Image:Flag of West Virginia.svg | Mineral County, West Virginia |
|---|---|
| Municipalities |
Carpendale | Elk Garden | Keyser | Piedmont | Ridgeley |
| Unincorporated communities |
Antioch | Barnum | Beryl | Blaine | Burlington | Champwood | Claysville | Cross | Dans Run | Emoryville | Forge Hill | Fort Ashby | Hampshire | Hartmansville | Headsville | Laurel Dale | Limestone | Markwood | Nethkin | New Creek | Oakmont | Patterson Creek | Reeses Mill | Rocket Center | Russelldale | Short Gap | Skyline | Sulphur City | Wagoner | Wiley Ford |
| Rivers and streams |
Abram Creek | Dans Run | Limestone Run | Mill Creek | New Creek | North Branch Potomac River | Patterson Creek |
