By the Winding Allegheny

Looks pretty nice, doesn't it? It seems like the picturesque little community that only the movies could bring you. In fact, they did. The movie The Mothman Prophecies was filmed here. The producers were looking for a town to fulfill the need for a "1950's West Virginia town with a bridge," and Kittanning fit the bill better than any location in West Virginia apparently.

We're more Appalachian than Appalachia!

Let me give you a few statistics. As of the census of 2000, the racial makeup of Kittanning was 97.31% White, 1.57% African American, 0.23% Native Amrican, 0.25% Asian, 0.08 from "other races," and 0.56% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.67% of the population.

Needless to say, we Crackers is common.

In fact, the population for Kittanning is given as "4,787 people." So if you do a little basic math, you can determine that all but 129 people in the entire town are white. We give new meaning to the word "minority."

Kittanning has never had much luck with minorities. In fact, its history is based on quite a remarkable moment in race relations.

Kittanning was settled by the Delaware Indians as they "moved" west. They found this nice little spot on the Allegheny and set up "Kit-han-ne." Of course, these Indians weren't too pleased about being forced west. Hell, I wasn't too thrilled about being in Kittanning, and I lived there most of my life. So the Indians start staging revolts against British troops.

The British, not taking too kindly to this, send Lt. Col. John Armstrong to put the Indians in their place. For Armstrong, "overkill" wasn't just a word; it was a mantra! Armstrong stopped the Indians all right. He set fire to the entire town.

Armstrong, perhaps suffering from bipolar disorder, names the town after the Indians he killed (Kit-han-ne became "Kittanning"), and he names the county after himself (Armstrong County). What I love is that the whole town likes to proclaim its Native American heritage every once in awhile. The entire Kittanning Folk Festival seems to go for that. I've heard unconfirmed rumors that many residents in Kittanning want to recreate Armstrong's attack on Kit-han-ne. I'm not sure that's really something you want to advertise.

It's really tough to get a consistent story about what happened those many years ago. Most of the histories of Armstrong County are written by the people who live there. As our demographics will demonstrate, more residents have tipped a cow than have graduated college.

People from home jokingly ask me what life is like in West Virginia, but you know what? The most redneck stuff happens when I come home.

Well, except for that time I almost ran over a chicken in the road down here. That was pretty hillbilly.