Pocahontas County Story Archives - Page 2 of 7 - West Virginia Public Broadcasting

Four W.Va. Counties Receive Federal Dollars To Boost School Safety Measures

More than $800,000 has been awarded to four county school boards in West Virginia to help with school safety needs.

Grant, Pocahontas, Upshur and Marshall County Boards of Education will see a portion of an $824,774 grant from the U.S. Department of Justice Office of Community Oriented Policing Services.

West Virginia U.S. Sens. Joe Manchin and Shelley Moore Capito made the announcement in a joint press release this week.

The funding can be used for training opportunities for local law enforcement, such as preventing student violence, or for purchasing metal detectors, locks, lighting, and other deterrent measures at schools.

The funding may also be used for enhanced technology to more quickly contact police during an emergency.

“Our students deserve to be safe, especially while they’re in their classrooms and on the playground,” Manchin said. “And as our students face the challenges of attending school during the COVID-19 pandemic, we should work to provide as much safety as possible.”

“It is great to see this funding from such a competitive program awarded to our law enforcement community and schools in West Virginia,” said Capito. “Ensuring the safety of our kids and the peace of mind for our parents is critical.”

Grant County will see $390,069 of the grant; Pocahontas County will see $167,915; Upshur County will see $146,230, and Marshall County will see $120,560.

April 14, 1928: W.Va Fish and Game Commission Purchased the First State Park

On April 14, 1928, the West Virginia Fish and Game Commission purchased Droop Mountain Battlefield in Pocahontas County. Three months later, Droop Mountain was dedicated as West Virginia’s first state park. In November 1863, one of the most important Civil War battles in West Virginia occurred at Droop Mountain, when Union forces repulsed one of the last major Confederate advances into West Virginia.

By the early 20^th century, Droop Mountain had changed dramatically in appearance. The American chestnut tree blight, extensive logging, and a severe drought in the 1930s had left the mountain mostly barren and susceptible to forest fires.

Although the park had been dedicated in 1928, Droop Mountain didn’t really take on the appearance of a state park until 1935, when the Civilian Conservation Corps established Camp Prince on the mountain. CCC workers forged paths that highlighted battle graves, breastworks, and battlefield monuments. Other features of the park include picnic shelters, overnight cabins, a small Civil War museum, and an observation tower with a spectacular view of the surrounding countryside. And today, the mountain is again lush with native trees.

April 2, 1900: Marlinton Incorporated

The Pocahontas County seat of Marlinton was incorporated on April 2, 1900, but its history dates back to frontier days. Jacob Marlin and Stephen Sewell’s arrival about 1749 is generally considered the first white settlement in the Greenbrier Valley. By the early 1800s, Marlin’s Bottom—as it was known—was a transportation crossroads, with turnpikes converging from Warm Springs and Greenbrier and Randolph counties. A covered bridge was built across the Greenbrier River in 1854.

By the 1890s, Marlinton was still mostly farmland. But, at the urging of land developers, the county seat was relocated from Huntersville to Marlinton in 1891. After the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway arrived around the turn of the century, Marlinton boomed. By 1910, it had a tannery, two banks, two newspapers, about 20 stores, a hospital, an opera house, a fire department, a school, a water system, and electric power.

The late 20^th century took a toll on Marlinton. The tannery and railroad line shut down, and floods in 1985 and 1996 inflicted significant damage. But the town is on an uptick now as a destination site for heritage tourism.

March 6, 1973: Author Pearl S. Buck Dies

Author Pearl Buck died in Vermont on March 6, 1973, at age 80. She was born in 1892 at her maternal grandparents’ home at Hillsboro in Pocahontas County. Buck grew up with Southern Presbyterian missionary parents who traveled around the world. To her, the family home at Hillsboro—now a museum—represented “security and peace.”

At an early age, she spent time with her parents in China and learned to speak Chinese almost as early as English. She later visited small Chinese farming villages, which would provide settings for her most popular novels.

Her literary career began with the book East Wind: West Wind in 1930, followed by The Good Earth, which won the 1932 Pulitzer Prize. Over the next four decades, Buck wrote more than 100 works of fiction and nonfiction and, in 1938, became the first American woman to receive the Nobel Prize for Literature.

Perhaps her most lasting legacies are the Welcome House, which she founded in 1949 to oversee the adoption of mixed-race children, and the Pearl S. Buck Foundation, established in 1964 to care for Amerasian children in their home countries.

November 19, 1899: Sculptor Gladys Tuke Born

Sculptor Gladys Tuke was born in Pocahontas County on November 19, 1899. After studying art in Washington, D.C., and Philadelphia, she returned to West Virginia in the 1930s. She took up residency at The Greenbrier resort’s Art Colony and became well known for her sculptures of horses. During World War Two, Tuke taught sculpture and pottery to soldiers who were recovering at The Greenbrier, which had been converted into an army hospital. She set up her own studio in White Sulphur Springs after the war.

In 1956, Tuke reopened The Greenbrier’s Art Colony. She was assisted by Jeanne Eleanore Coyne, a pictorial artist and teacher at the Greenbrier College for Women. The Art Colony’s tradition continues today as skilled artisans craft woodwork, clothing, jewelry, pottery, and other items on site.

Over the years, Gladys Tuke’s sculptures were featured at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, the Woodmere Art Gallery in Philadelphia, the All-American Exhibition of Sculpture at the Cincinnati Museum of Art, and the Corcoran Gallery in Washington, D.C. She died in Denmar Hospital in 1982 at the age of 82.

November 6, 1863: Battle of Droop Mountain

The Battle of Droop Mountain opened with nearly six hours of artillery fire, musketry, and hand-to-hand combat. Averell’s infantry finally broke through the Confederate left. The Rebels retreated, and the battle turned into a Union rout.

On November 6, 1863, one of the most important Civil War battles in West Virginia occurred in Pocahontas County. In August of that year, Union General William W. Averell had launched a series of raids to disrupt the Virginia and Tennessee Railroad in southwestern Virginia.

During his second raid, Averell hatched a scheme to trap Confederate troops around Lewisburg. His overall plan failed. But, he was able to attack some 1,700 Confederates under General John Echols at Droop Mountain, just south of Hillsboro. The battle opened with nearly six hours of artillery fire, musketry, and hand-to-hand combat. Averell’s infantry finally broke through the Confederate left. The Rebels retreated, and the battle turned into a Union rout.

At first glance, the battle might not have seemed that significant because Echols’s forces managed to escape. Plus, Averell failed to achieve his ultimate objective. However, Droop Mountain marked the last large-scale battle of the war fought on West Virginia soil. It was also the last time the Confederacy made a push to control the new state. The site of the battle is now preserved as a state park.