Hurricane was named after Hurricane Creek, which was, in turn, named after a group of trees at the mouth of the river bent in one direction. In 1774 a party of surveyors commissioned by George Washington noted in their journals the location as “the place of the hurricane”, since the site appeared to have been struck by a hurricane. The creek became known as Hurricane Creek.
By 1811, according to early Virginia maps, the Town of Hurricane Bridge was located where Route 34 now crosses the creek near Route 60. Less than 17 miles southeast of Hurricane is a post office named Tornado. Through the years, Hurricane Bridge became a stage coach stop and a thriving livestock market center.
On March 28, 1863, Union and Confederate forces fought a Civil War battle at Hurricane Bridge, now known as the Skirmish at Hurricane Bridge. In 1873, completion of a single track railroad by Collis P. Huntington, connecting the waters of the Chesapeake and the Ohio River (a distance of 423 miles) caused the town to be slightly relocated, and the name changed to Hurricane Station. The railroad caused Hurricane to grow with the addition of hotels and stores. Hurricane was a trading and residential town for tobacco growers and other farmers in the early 1900s. The fire department was established March 2, 1936. It was incorporated as a town in 1888 and as a city in the 1970s.
Construction of Interstate 64 during the 1960′s gave Hurricane easy access to Charleston and Huntington, enabling the town to be an ideal location for persons working in those cities. With the population rising to 3,000 in the 1970′s the status of the town was raised to that of city.
In the early 1990s, the old depot, which once served as the catalyst for the town’s development, was torn down and replaced with a small gazebo. It was also during the 1990s that the city began to see a surge in urban growth as several subdivisions were established in the city limits. The population increase resulted in the widening of Route 34, a connecting road to Teays Valley, and an expansion of Hurricane High School.
In 2002, a winning multi-state Powerball ticket was sold at a convenience store in Teays Valley near the city of Hurricane. The winning ticketholder was Jack Whittaker. At the time it was the largest jackpot ever won by a single winning ticket in the history of American lottery.
The three oldest continuously operating businesses are:
- The Hurricane Breeze, a weekly newspaper established October 1900
- Putnam County Bank, established October 25, 1901
- Rappold’s Barber Shop, established June 1906
I have been a resident of the Charleston, WV area for over 37 years. My children go to school here. Many of my immediate family members live here. 
