POINT PLEASANT, WV

As the Kanawha River dumps into the mighty Ohio River, there you will find Point Pleasant, WV. According to town lore, it was first named by George Washington when he stood on the point by the river and said it was a “pleasant point”….so there you go. As with most of my favorite small towns, you are not going to get here accidentally. It is in the middle of nowhere along the Ohio and West Virginia border. So, if you are in the mood for a road trip or ever happen to be in this area of the country…go see Point Pleasant. Now, for the obvious next question…why?? I can answer that in one word…MOTHMAN.

Besides the 50-year throwback look of the town and the nice, mural lined riverfront park, what makes this town special is Mothman. Visit the Mothman museum and absorb all the historic data on this local legend. Well, I guess you can say its more than just a local legend as evidenced by the Richard Gere movie, the Mothman Prophecies. This movie is very loosely based on Point Pleasant’s Mothman. The real story goes something like this…In November of 1966, a couple teenagers were making out in their car in some field north of town. When suddenly, they spotted this very strange creature (see statue picture below). This was the first siting of Mothman. Over the next 13 months, the Point Pleasant citizens reported many other sightings of Mothman. Ultimately, exactly 13 months after the initial sighting of Mothman…the Silver Bridge, that spanned the Ohio River, collapsed during rush hour. Forty-six people died from the collapse (the bricks in the picture below bear the names of all victims). No further sightings of Mothman occurred following the collapse of Silver Bridge. Did Mothman cause it??? Was Mothman merely warning of pending doom??? No one knows for sure…

Anyway, believe what you want about Mothman, but the tragedy of Silver Bridge is absolutely real. So, why not make an afternoon for a Mothman research project. Visit the Mothman museum to soak up all the lore/facts. Get your picture taken at the statue. Catch a lunch. Take a walk along the Ohio river at their riverfront park. If you can get here, I recommend an afternoon at Point Pleasant. PT