Kingwood, West Virginia

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Kingwood is a city in Preston County, West Virginia, United States. Kingwood was founded in 1815. The population was 2,944 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Preston County^GR6.

1 Geography
2 Demographics
3 Buckwheat Festival
4 External links

[edit] Geography

Kingwood is located at 39°28′17″N, 79°41′5″W (39.471280, -79.684839)^GR1.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 6.4 km² (2.5 mi²), all land.

[edit] Demographics

As of the census^GR2 of 2000, there were 2,944 people, 1,283 households, and 844 families residing in the city. The population density was 460.2/km² (1,192.9/mi²). There were 1,417 housing units at an average density of 221.5/km² (574.2/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 97.69% White, 1.02% African American, 0.44% Asian, 0.07% from other races, and 0.78% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.34% of the population.

There were 1,283 households out of which 28.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 50.5% were married couples living together, 12.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 34.2% were non-families. 31.1% of all households were made up of individuals and 15.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.28 and the average family size was 2.83.

In the city the population was spread out with 22.3% under the age of 18, 7.5% from 18 to 24, 25.6% from 25 to 44, 26.3% from 45 to 64, and 18.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 42 years. For every 100 females there were 84.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 81.8 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $29,155, and the median income for a family was $36,313. Males had a median income of $30,658 versus $18,190 for females. The per capita income for the city was $16,299. About 16.3% of families and 17.0% of the population were below the poverty line, including 25.2% of those under age 18 and 13.6% of those age 65 or over.

[edit] Buckwheat Festival

One of the largest festivals in West Virginia is the Preston County Buckwheat Festival and is held on the last weekend in September in Kingwood, WV. It is famous for the Buckwheat cakes that are served all over the county of Preston during the festival. Buckwheat cakes are a sourdough cake that resembles a pancake but has a very distinct taste that is all its own. The festival features arts and crafts, Carnival rides and livestock exhibitions.