Pendleton County Story Archives - West Virginia Public Broadcasting

Monongahela National Forest Prepares For Prescribed Burn Season

Staff at the Monongahela National Forest are preparing to conduct prescribed burns in the area through June.

Prescribed burns are planned fires meant to maintain a forest’s health and prevent overgrowth. They help improve habitats by removing invasive species, recycling nutrients into the soil and providing forage for wild game. It also helps to prevent more dangerous wildfires.

“What we’re doing is we’re trying to reestablish fire’s natural role in forest ecosystems,” Monongahela National Forest Fire and Fuel Planner Conor Shanahan said.

The areas scheduled for prescribed burns include units in Pendleton, Pocahontas and Greenbrier counties, totaling 1,251 acres.

The areas include:

Big Mountain Unit 9 and 10 in Pendleton County
Chestnut Ridge North/South Savanna Units 1 and 2 in Pocahontas County
Hopkins Units A, B and C in Greenbrier County
Brushy Mountain Units B2, B4 and B6 in Greenbrier County

These areas will be closed off during the day of the burn, and may be closed during the few days after for public safety.

“Our burns might be seen by the public but usually we post signs on roads the day of or the day before burning,” Shanahan said. “People may see or smell smoke, but besides that, they wouldn’t really have much encounters with any of our burning corps or fire.”

No specific dates have been announced as burns are scheduled for days with specific weather conditions and could be delayed because of temperature, humidity, smoke dispersion and wind.

Information and maps about the burnings will be available online when they begin.

Gov. Justice Hires Former Campaign Staffer As Regional Representative For Eastern Panhandle

Gov. Jim Justice has hired a former campaign staff member as his Regional Representative for West Virginia’s Eastern Panhandle counties.

Martinsburg-native Summer Ratcliff will split her time between Martinsburg and Charleston and work as a Legislative Assistant during the state Legislative sessions, according to a press release.

After the session, Ratcliff will serve as a Regional Representative to Jefferson, Berkeley, Morgan, Hampshire, Mineral, Grant, Hardy, and Pendleton Counties.

Her role will be the primary point of contact for constituents in those counties and serve as a direct line to the governor.

The press release states she will assist local governments, organizations, and residents who want to communicate with the governor’s office and state government as a whole.

Ratcliff is a graduate of West Virginia University, and has spent her career in public service and politics.

Businesses in Two W.Va. Counties Eligible for Disaster Loans

Some small businesses in two West Virginia counties are eligible to apply for economic injury disaster loans as a result of storms last year.

The U.S. Small Business Administration said the loans are available to small businesses, small agricultural cooperatives, small businesses engaged in aquaculture and private nonprofit organizations in Hardy and Pendleton counties.

The loans are available as a result of a drought disaster declaration by the agriculture secretary covering the effects of rain, flash flooding, flooding and hail that began April 15, 2018.

Kem Fleming of SBA’s Field Operations Center East says Hardy and Pendleton counties are eligible because they are contiguous to one or more primary counties in Virginia.

Applications may be made online or by calling (800) 659-2955, or (800) 877-8339 for the hearing impaired.

December 25, 1887: Folk Artist James T. Rexrode Born

Folk artist James T. Rexrode was born in Pendleton County on Christmas Day 1887. Although he’d always been an amateur photographer, he didn’t start painting until late in life.

He made his living as a Pendleton County teacher. Then, after his wife’s death in 1966, he found a new hobby. At the age of 78, he began sketching local buildings, churches, schoolhouses, and mills. At first, he drew only from his photographs but then started painting what he called the “old-timey subjects” of his youth. These included butchering, one-room schools, old-time Christmases, barn raisings, quilting, and harvesting. Working at his kitchen table, he painted in a folk-art style similar to Grandma Moses. In fact, a folk art expert later referred to Rexrode as “Grandpa Moses.”

His timing couldn’t have been better because folk art was becoming extremely popular in the late ’60s. His paintings caught on quickly and were sold in Winchester, Virginia, and in the Georgetown section of Washington, D. C. As a result, the octogenarian became a celebrated folk artist. James T. Rexrode died in 1976 at the age of 88.

April 27, 1758: Indian Warriors Attack Pendleton County

On April 27, 1758, Delaware and Shawnee Indian warriors attacked Fort Upper Tract in present Pendleton County. Some accounts state that all 23 settlers in the fort were killed. Others suggest the Indians took some hostages.

The English name of the Indians’ war chief was Killbuck. During the French and Indian War, he led a number of bloody raids against frontier settlements in what is now eastern West Virginia.

The day after his assault on Upper Tract, Killbuck attacked Fort Seybert, nine miles to the east. His warriors intimidated Fort Seybert’s garrison into surrendering—after which, they executed 17 adults and captured 24 women and children, who were forced to return with the Indians to their villages in the Ohio country.

Eventually, most of the captives returned to Pendleton County. Two or more of the smaller children remained with the Indians in Ohio, and at least three others died in the Indian villages.

In 1756, George Washington—who, at age 24, was the highest-ranking officer in the Virginia militia—had ordered the construction of Upper Tract, Seybert, and other forts to protect settlers against this type of Indian attack.

Eastern Panhandle Author Shows Diversity in Coffee-Table Book Set

If you’re out-and-about West Virginia bookstores or gift shops this Christmas, you may come across a coffee-table book set titled, Panhandle Portraits: a Glimpse at the Diverse Residents of West Virginia’s Eastern Panhandle.

The two-volume set features 77 portraits of people and groups in the 8 Eastern Panhandle counties – Berkeley, Grant, Hampshire, Hardy, Jefferson, Mineral, Morgan, and Pendleton.

Author & Photographer Katherine Cobb is originally from California, but 25 years ago, she followed a friend out to West Virginia and never left.

Cobb lives in Jefferson County and works as a columnist for the Martinsburg Journal. Two years ago, she published her first novel, and now Panhandle Portraits.

Statement from Katherine Cobb:

“I wanted to show the breadth and depth of West Virginians. We have such an interesting population, both people who have lived here for several generations and others who arrived at various junctures but who have made a significant contribution in some way,” said Cobb. “It’s also no secret West Virginians are often negatively stereotyped, and I find that frustrating. The people here are like anyone in any other state. I enjoyed putting something positive about our citizens into print, and putting something positive into the world, period. There’s so much negativity and tension this past year — this is something that will make people feel good when they open it up.”

Panhandle Portraits is available for purchase at select bookstores and gifts shops across the state. It is also available on Amazon.