Point Pleasant, West Virginia: Making a Tourism Landscape in an Appalachian Town
2015; University of North Carolina Press; Volume: 55; Issue: 3 Linguagem: Inglês
10.1353/sgo.2015.0026
ISSN1549-6929
Autores Tópico(s)Recreation, Leisure, Wilderness Management
ResumoThis paper focuses upon the town of Point Pleasant, West Virginia located at the confluence of the Ohio and Kanawha rivers in the Ohio Valley. It examines the processes involved in developing and coordinating several types of tourism. In addition to promoting heritage tourism, Point Pleasant markets itself as the location of alleged sightings of the Mothman, a monstrous creature depicted in a film starring Richard Gere. Point Pleasant also gained national attention in 1967 when the Silver Bridge collapsed into the Ohio River resulting in over 40 deaths. This project provides an analysis of the ways in which the heritage and paranormal tourism narratives are interwoven with narratives and markers of the bridge disaster. Through interviews with local leaders and an analysis of the tourism landscape in Point Pleasant, this paper illuminates the strategies employed by local leaders to improve the local economy and actively shape the representation of the town to its visitors.
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