Pocahontas County is a treasure chest of history. The first settlers crossed the Alleghenies in 1749, and thus, the roots of families and communities run deep.
Without special effort and proper care of collections local history can quickly disappear. Pocahontas County is rich in people who care about its history. This project will provide the resources to help them preserve it and share it with the world.
The Historic Preservation Project will identify, stabilize, curate and store papers, pictures, records, recordings and artifacts. We will capture writings, photographs, interviews, buildings, and artifacts as digital images, sound files and text. We will create and maintain a Digital Library on the World Wide Web where digitized material will be freely available to researchers, historians, students and genealogists. And, we will facilitate community building by working with individuals and organizations as they exchange ideas and showcase their hard work.
Neighbor working with neighbor is the cornerstone of "Preserving Pocahontas." People in our communities will be actively engaged in this project as they are trained in the digitization process. Families and individuals will be encouraged to have their records and photographs digitized and to share those materials with the project.
To learn more, visit pocahontaspreservation.org.
Pearl S. Buck and Marie Leist at The Greenbrier - 1970
Author Pearl S. Buck with Marie Orndorff Leist at The Greenbrier Hotel on March 5, 1970. Mrs. Leist, born in in Arbovale, was President of the Pearl S. Buck Birthplace Foundation. The occasion was a gathering of the West Virginia Federation of Women’s Clubs fundraising tour for the restoration of the birthplace in Hillsboro, Pocahontas County. Pearl Buck opened her 90-minute speech with the following:
“I’d like to have this house filled with life, and useful things for life, so that my mother’s extremely rich and busy and productive years, which began there, can go on into the life of this state which she loved so well. And now to see that life begin again in that house with her spirit there means more to me than anything in life. I don’t know how to thank you except to say that it is the loveliest thing to happen to me in my life.”
(Photo by Club Photos/The Greenbrier, Courtesy of Pearl S. Buck Birthplace, ID: MLC000002)
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
Preservation News
Preserving Pocahontas is excited to have received two separate grants to digitize the archive material at the Pearl S. Buck Birthplace.
A grant of $800 was awarded in April by the Women’s Fund of The Greater Greenbrier Valley Community Foundation to inventory and digitize the most fragile historical documents in the archive.
A recent grant of $4,000 from the Marie Leist Foundation in Lewisburg will be used to digitize the Marie Leist Collection which documents the restoration and opening of The Stulting House. See story elsewhere in this edition of The Pocahontas Times.
Group at Rock House Cave - 1901
A group of young people at the entrance to Rock House Cave near Rush Run in Buckeye on August 19, 1901. The women are wearing corsages, holding flowers, and some of the men are sporting boutonnieres. Not sure if this is a wedding party. However, a marriage records search at the WV State Archives revealed that M.C. (Marvin Coe) Smith did in fact marry Mary Daisy Ruckman (sister to Lee V. Ruckman) on October 2, 1902, and Sandy Auldridge married Emma Smith on October 7, 1903. Both M.C. Smith and Sandy Auldridge were old-time veterinarians.
Pictured Left to Right: Summers Ryder, Sandy Auldridge, Emma Smith, Penick Ryder, Birtie Curry, Lillie Smith, Lee V. Ruckman, George Rayburn, Daisy Ruckman, M.C. Smith, Lucy Smith , Ethel Curry. (Courtesy of Pocahontas County Historical Society, ID: PHS000312)
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
Preservation News
"Preserving Pocahontas" will make prints of historic photographs for a reasonable fee. This includes not only the photographs appearing in this newspaper but also those in our massive Digital Archive Collection. We hope to offer ordering on our website early next year. For now, you can contact the Preservation Officer directly by phone or email to order prints.
"Preserving Pocahontas" is now working to locate historical documents relating to the Civil War in Pocahontas County. Items will be digitized for preservation and for on-line research. Selected items will be reproduced and displayed at the Hunter House Museum next summer. If you have Civil War letters, tintypes or other memorabilia to loan for scanning please contact Preservation Officer, B. J. Gudmundsson, at 304-799-3989 or email bj@pocahontaspreservation.org
Hunting Party
A hunting party in Pocahontas County bringing their deer out of the woods. Scot Kelley and Wilbur Kelley are identified as the two men in the center of the photograph. (Courtesy of Pocahontas County Historical Society, ID: PHS000157)
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
Preservation News
Lots of folks are inquiring about prints of historic photographs. "Preserving Pocahontas" will make prints for a reasonable fee. This includes not only the photographs which appear in The Pocahontas Times, but also those in our massive Digital Archive Collection. We hope to offer ordering on our website early next year. For now, you can contact the Preservation Officer directly by phone are email to order prints.
"Preserving Pocahontas" is now working to locate historical documents relating to the Civil War in Pocahontas County. Items will be digitized for preservation and for online research. Selected items will be reproduced and displayed at the Hunter House Museum next summer. If you have Civil War letters, tintypes or other memorabilia to loan for scanning please contact Preservation Officer B. J. Gudmundsson at 304-799-3989 or email bj@pocahontaspreservation.org
Bank of Durbin - 1905
The Bank of Durbin under construction during the winter of 1904-1905. The town of Durbin, incorporated on June 20, 1906, was built on land owned by John T. McGraw and named for his brother-in-law and Grafton bank teller, Charles R. Durbin. Sr. The Bank of Durbin opened for business in 1905. E. L. "Leroy" Fenton, from Elk Garden in Mineral County, was the first cashier. C. E. Carpenter was assistant cashier. Directors were W. J. Yeager, J. Hall Wilson and Kenna Rexrode. The bank statement on June 11, 1918, lists capital of $25,000; surplus and undivided profits $7,000; and deposits $136,000. The Bank of Durbin merged with the Bank of Marlinton during the financial crisis of the 1930s. (Courtesy of Pocahontas County Historical Society, ID: PHS000157)
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
Preservation News
The Pocahontas County Historical Society will hold its monthly meeting on Sunday, November 25, at 2 p.m. at the home of Ruth Taylor in Hillsboro. The program will be on the history of the Pleasant Green School and Pleasant Green Church. A walking tour of the church and cemetery is planned, weather permitting. The public is invited and encouraged to attend. For information or directions call Bill McNeel at 304-799-4369.
"Preserving Pocahontas" is now working to locate historical documents relating to the Civil War in Pocahontas County. Items will be digitized for preservation and for online research. Selected items will be reproduced and displayed at the Hunter House Museum next summer. If you have Civil War letters, tintypes or other memorabilia to loan for scanning please contact Preservation Officer B. J. Gudmundsson, at 304-799-3989.
World War II Enlistees - 1943
A group of “Boys in Service” in front of the Pocahontas County Courthouse in Marlinton. All World War II enlistees in the county on any given day were lined up for a group photograph. Cal Gay took this group photo on May 13, 1943. (Courtesy Ellen Doyle, Harvey Bright Collection, ID: PHP00559)
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
Hallow “eve” in Marlinton - 1906
Halloween pranksters left their mark on Marlinton’s Main Street as shown in this photograph taken following Hallow-“eve” in 1906. A pair of empty trousers can be seen suspended above the street. A previous owner of the photo left his own comical mark with drawings and captions, which can be seen clearly through your magnifying glass. The Bank of Marlinton, which is now known as the McKay Building, is on the right. The wooden bridge across the Greenbrier River is visible through the fog in the distance. (Courtesy of Susie Smith, ID: PHP00392)
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
Seebert Station
The Chesapeake & Ohio Train Depot at Seebert, on the Greenbrier River near Watoga. The first C&O agent at this station was Craig Friel, followed by M. Burton Jones. The mail was dispatched by train twice a day until March 1957. (Courtesy of Pocahontas County Historical Society, ID: PHS000433)
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
Ruby Beard Kerr – circa 1900
Local photographer Festy Yoakum left us with a picture that’s begging for a title. So let’s call it “A Hunting We Will Go.” The young lady is Ruby Beard Kerr, born May 19, 1881, at the logging town of Winterburn in northern Pocahontas. She poses here with her dog and hunting rifle, her bonnet tossed in the laurels behind her. Ruby Beard’s parents were Josiah Osborne and Eveline Medora Yeager Beard. Their fascinating family history can be found on Pg. 225 in “History of Pocahontas County WV 1981.” Ruby Beard married James McNeer Kerr on September 17, 1902. She died February 22, 1922, of pneumonia due to injuries received in an automobile accident. (Courtesy of Stephen McNally, ID: PHP000757)
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
Neal Barlow Funeral - 1936
A sepia-colored postcard is the source of this photograph contributed by Nancy Cochran Wooldridge. Family and friends are gathered at Maple Hill Farm in Edray for the funeral of Amos Neal Barlow on June 5, 1936. Neal Barlow was born on October 25, 1864, the son of Henry and Nancy Barlow. In 1891 he married Frances Sharp who died in 1950. They are buried in the William Sharp Jr. Cemetery. The house at Maple Hill Farm was built in 1908. It has been restored and remains in the family today. (Courtesy of Nancy Cochran Wooldridge, ID: PHP000660)
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
Camp Price Musicians - 1936
CCC workers playing music at Camp Price are pictured in this photograph taken in 1936. This Civilian Conservation Corps Camp was established in July 1935 at Droop Mountain Battlefield State Park and was named for Pocahontas Times Editor Cal Price. (Courtesy of Mike Smith, Park Superintendent, ID: PHP000092)
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
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