Canaan Valley (locally /kəˈneɪn/) is a large bathtub-shaped upland valley in northeastern Tucker County, West Virginia, USA. Within it are extensive wetlands and the headwaters of the Blackwater River which spills out of the valley at Blackwater Falls. It is a well-known and partially undeveloped scenic attraction and tourist draw. Since 1994, almost 70% of the Valley has become the Canaan Valley National Wildlife Refuge, the nation's 500th National Wildlife Refuge,[1] with Canaan Valley Resort State Park and Blackwater Falls State Park nearby.
Canaan Valley was designated a National Natural Landmark in 1974.[2] The National Park Service citation indicates that the Valley is "a splendid 'museum' of Pleistocene habitats ... contain[ing] ... an aggregation of these habitats seldom found in the eastern United States. It is unique as a northern boreal relict community at this latitude by virtue of its size, elevation and diversity."[1]
The local pronunciation of "Canaan" is /kəˈneɪn/, rather than the conventional /ˈkeɪnən/ for the Biblical region from which the area questionably takes its name. According to legend, this is the result of improper pronunciation by the German settler who named the valley.[3]
As the legend goes, he described the valley as being as gorgeous as the Canaan described in the Bible. His mispronunciation of the word stuck.
However, it has also been speculated for decades now that Canaan Valley early on was called the "Canadian Valley", little resembling the biblical Canaan's land of "milk and honey". That speculation is based on arguments that the valley looks very similar to Canada and was first described by early expeditions into its wild, nearly impenetrable wilderness as a place suffix to strike terror into the hearts of men, not being fit for man or beast, and as harboring the dark River of Styx (River of the Dead), now called less frighteningly, the Blackwater River. Furthermore, the name "Canaan" is strikingly similar to "Canadian", with Canaan only missing only two letters (d & i) to spell "Canadian".
^ ab"Canaan Valley National Wildlife Refuge". www.fws.gov. Retrieved 2009-02-25.
^"National Natural Landmarks - National Natural Landmarks (U.S. National Park Service)". www.nps.gov. Retrieved 2019-04-13. Year designated: 1974
^Martin Griff (2017-02-23), Canaan Valley Resort - the proper pronunciation, archived from the original on 2021-12-13, retrieved 2018-10-16
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