Road construction crew on the Droop Mountain section of U.S. Route 219 in 1936. The Civilian Conservation Corps was working at Camp Price during this time constructing Droop Mountain Battlefield State Park. (Courtesy of Mike Smith, ID: PHP000113)

Access the “Preserving Pocahontas” Digital Library at www.pocahontaspreservation.org
If you have photographs or documents to be scanned for the county Historical Archive Project contact Preservation Officer B. J. Gudmundsson at 304-799-3989 or email info@pocahontaspreservation.org Prints of photographs from the archives are available.

Preserving Pocahontas News

Mr. Murrill Colburn called last week from Michigan and it was truly a pleasure talking with him. A number of folks in Pocahontas County will remember him from his days with the telephone company here.

Colburn came to Marlinton with his family in the late 1950s as an employee of Telephone Utilities of Pennsylvania, which had purchased the local phone company. Colburn’s job was to modernize the system – upgrading it from an operator system to a dial system. The Colburns returned to Pennsylvania when the job was completed which would have been around 1965.

Many of us remember the days when our phone numbers consisted of three digits. To place a call you simply picked up the phone and a local operator, working at the office on the corner of Third Avenue and Ninth Street, would answer with “Operator. May I help you?” You gave her the number you were calling and she would patch through the call.

The Colburn Family is donating a collection of photographs to our historical archives. The collection includes photos of the many local employees at the phone company and the company dignitaries at that time.

Mr. Colburn talked in great length about Hiter Cashwell and his wife, Margaret. He has fond memories of Marlinton and his time here. He asked about many people in the community and extended best wishes to all those who knew him

I sometimes think that the renewed communication with people connected to Pocahontas County is as important as preserving our recorded history. Preserving Pocahontas has opened a door least expected – the preservation of relationships with friends young and old.