D’oh, Petco!

Thanks to a reader for sending:

“Petco is opening near Fort Totten by the new-ish Walmart. The promotional postcard they sent out shows a map of Hurricane, WV though.”

We might as well take this opportunity to learn a little bit about Hurricane, West Virginia:

“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. A party of surveyors commissioned by George Washington noted the site appeared to have been struck by a hurricane,[9] giving rise to the name. Locals pronounce the town (HURR-i-KINN) not (HURR-i-CANE).[10] Less than 17 miles (27 km) southeast of Hurricane is a post office named Tornado.

A town named Hurricane Bridge was located where West Virginia Route 34 now crosses the creek, near current-day Hurricane. The town can be traced back to an 1811 Virginia map. The town primarily consisted of a small inn. On March 28, 1863, Union and Confederate forces fought a Civil War battle at Hurricane Bridge, now known as the Skirmish at Hurricane Bridge.[11]

Hurricane itself can be traced back to 1873, when a railroad track was laid through the town and a small depot was constructed. It was during this period that Main Street developed, and other businesses in the area. 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.

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

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.”