Pocahontas County, West Virginia
Encyclopedia
As of the census
of 2000, there were 9,131 people, 835 households, and 527 families residing in the county. The population density
was 10 people per square mile (4/km²). There were 7,594 housing units at an average density of 8 per square mile (3/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 98.38% White
, 0.78% Black
or African American
, 0.07% Native American
, 0.14% Asian
, 0.05% from other races
, and 0.58% from two or more races. 0.43% of the population were Hispanic
or Latino
of any race.
There were 3,835 households out of which 25.80% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 53.90% were married couples
living together, 7.90% had a female householder with no husband present, and 34.10% were non-families. 29.60% of all households were made up of individuals and 14.40% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.30 and the average family size was 2.83.
In the county, the population was spread out with 20.90% under the age of 18, 7.00% from 18 to 24, 27.50% from 25 to 44, 27.40% from 45 to 64, and 17.30% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 42 years. For every 100 females there were 106.20 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 103.60 males.
The median income for a household in the county was $26,401, and the median income for a family was $32,511. Males had a median income of $26,173 versus $16,780 for females. The per capita income
for the county was $14,384. About 12.70% of families and 17.10% of individuals were below the poverty line, including 20.20% of those under age 18 and 14.60% of those age 65 or over.
which attracts thousands of visitors every summer and winter.
Census
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population. The term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common...
of 2000, there were 9,131 people, 835 households, and 527 families residing in the county. The population density
Population density
Population density is a measurement of population per unit area or unit volume. It is frequently applied to living organisms, and particularly to humans...
was 10 people per square mile (4/km²). There were 7,594 housing units at an average density of 8 per square mile (3/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 98.38% White
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...
, 0.78% Black
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...
or African American
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...
, 0.07% Native American
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...
, 0.14% Asian
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...
, 0.05% from other races
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...
, and 0.58% from two or more races. 0.43% of the population were Hispanic
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...
or Latino
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...
of any race.
There were 3,835 households out of which 25.80% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 53.90% were married couples
Marriage
Marriage is a social union or legal contract between people that creates kinship. It is an institution in which interpersonal relationships, usually intimate and sexual, are acknowledged in a variety of ways, depending on the culture or subculture in which it is found...
living together, 7.90% had a female householder with no husband present, and 34.10% were non-families. 29.60% of all households were made up of individuals and 14.40% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.30 and the average family size was 2.83.
In the county, the population was spread out with 20.90% under the age of 18, 7.00% from 18 to 24, 27.50% from 25 to 44, 27.40% from 45 to 64, and 17.30% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 42 years. For every 100 females there were 106.20 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 103.60 males.
The median income for a household in the county was $26,401, and the median income for a family was $32,511. Males had a median income of $26,173 versus $16,780 for females. The per capita income
Per capita income
Per capita income or income per person is a measure of mean income within an economic aggregate, such as a country or city. It is calculated by taking a measure of all sources of income in the aggregate and dividing it by the total population...
for the county was $14,384. About 12.70% of families and 17.10% of individuals were below the poverty line, including 20.20% of those under age 18 and 14.60% of those age 65 or over.
Incorporated towns & cities
- Town of DurbinDurbin, West VirginiaDurbin is a town in Pocahontas County, West Virginia, United States. The population was 262 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Durbin is situated in the northern part of Pocahontas County at the confluence of the East and West Forks of the Greenbrier River. It is thus the starting point of the...
- Town of HillsboroHillsboro, West VirginiaHillsboro is a town in Pocahontas County, West Virginia, United States. The population was 243 at the 2000 census.- History :Hillsboro was named for pioneer John Hill, from North Carolina, who built a log cabin near what is now Lobelia...
- Town of MarlintonMarlinton, West VirginiaMarlinton is a town in Pocahontas County, West Virginia, United States. The population was 1,204 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Pocahontas County.-History:...
Unincorporated communities
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Dunmore, West Virginia Dunmore is an unincorporated community in Pocahontas County, West Virginia, United States. Dunmore is located at the junction of West Virginia Route 28 and West Virginia Route 92 northeast of Marlinton. Dunmore has a post office with ZIP code 24934.... Frank, West Virginia Frank is an unincorporated census-designated place located in Pocahontas County, West Virginia, USA. As of the 2010 census, its population is 90. It was named to honour Frank Hoffman in 1926. Hoffman was a member of the Pocahontas Tanning Company that operated a tannery here.... Green Bank, West Virginia Green Bank is a census-designated place in Pocahontas County in West Virginia's Potomac Highlands inside the Allegheny Mountain Range. Green Bank is located along WV 28. Green Bank is also close to the Snowshoe Mountain ski resort... Huntersville, West Virginia Huntersville is an unincorporated census-designated place located in Pocahontas County, West Virginia in the Alleghany Mountains. As of the 2010 census, its population was 73. It is located six miles east of Marlinton and four miles west of Minnehaha Springs. Huntersville received its name because... Mill Point, West Virginia Mill Point is an unincorporated community in Pocahontas County, West Virginia, United States. Mill Point is located at the junction of U.S. Route 219, West Virginia Route 39, and West Virginia Route 55 northeast of Hillsboro.... |
Minnehaha Springs, West Virginia Minnehaha Springs is an unincorporated community located in Pocahontas County, West Virginia, USA. It was named for the Native American princess, Minnehaha, and the mineral springs on the Lockridge farm. It is the only community with this name in the United States. On the site of what is now Camp... Seebert, West Virginia Seebert is an unincorporated community in Pocahontas County, West Virginia, United States. Seebert is located on the Greenbrier River east of Hillsboro.... Snowshoe, West Virginia Snowshoe is an unincorporated area in Pocahontas County, West Virginia, known for the Snowshoe Mountain ski resort. The area is amongst the Allegheny Mountains, located in the bowl shaped convergence of two ranges, Cheat and Back Allegheny, at the head of the Shavers Fork of the Cheat River... Stony Bottom, West Virginia Stony Bottom is an unincorporated community located in Pocahontas County, West Virginia, USA. In the early 19th century, the town was known as Seldom Seen. At some point, this was changed to Driftwood by loggers who would drift logs by on the Greenbrier River. By 1908, it took its present name... |
National Register of Historic Places listings
- Camp Allegheny
- Camp Bartow Historic DistrictCamp Bartow Historic DistrictCamp Bartow Historic District, also known as "Traveller's Repose" and site of the Battle of Greenbrier River, is a national historic district located at Bartow, Pocahontas County, West Virginia. The district encompasses 10 contributing buildings and 9 contributing sites. The house known as...
- Cass Historic DistrictCass Historic DistrictCass Historic District is a national historic district located at Cass, Pocahontas County, West Virginia. The district encompasses 79 contributing buildings and 1 contributing structure. Cass was founded in 1902 as a company town for lumbering by the West Virginia Pulp and Paper Company...
- Cass Scenic Railroad
- Reber Radio TelescopeReber Radio TelescopeReber Radio Telescope is a parabolic radio telescope. It is significant for its pioneering of radio astronomy.Grote Reber was an amateur astronomer who built this telescope in Illinois in 1937, implementing a proposal of Karl Jansky, the discoverer of radio waves emanating from the Milky Way...
(also a National Historic Landmark) - GW Jeep Site
- Locust Creek Covered Bridge
- The Pearl S. Buck BirthplaceThe Pearl S. Buck BirthplaceThe Pearl S. Buck Birthplace is a historic home in Hillsboro, West Virginia where American writer Pearl S. Buck was born. The home now serves as a museum offering guided tours...
- Richard Beard HouseRichard Beard HouseRichard Beard House is a historic home located near Hillsboro, Pocahontas County, West Virginia. It was built about 1890, and is a two-story Queen Anne style frame dwelling. The house has a side facing T-plan. The front facade features a one-story front porch running one half the width of the house...
- Huntersville Presbyterian ChurchHuntersville Presbyterian ChurchHuntersville Presbyterian Church is a historic Presbyterian church on CR 21 at WV 39 in Huntersville, Pocahontas County, West Virginia. It was built in 1854, and is a two-story, rectangular frame building, two bays wide and three bays deep. It features a three-story bell tower centered on the front...
- Droop Mountain BattlefieldDroop Mountain Battlefield State ParkDroop Mountain Battlefield State Park is a state park located on Droop Mountain in Pocahontas County, West Virginia. Droop Mountain was the site of the last major conflict of the American Civil War in West Virginia. A private in the U.S. Army at the Battle of Droop Mountain, John D...
- Frank and Anna Hunter HouseFrank and Anna Hunter HouseFrank and Anna Hunter House, also known as Pocohontas County Museum, is a historic home located at Marlinton, Pocahontas County, West Virginia. It was built in 1903, and is a two-story, square frame dwelling. The house has a hipped roof with dormers and crowned with a captain's walk. The front...
- IOOF Lodge BuildingIOOF Lodge BuildingIOOF Lodge Building, also known as the Peacock Building, is a historic building located at Marlinton, Pocahontas County, West Virginia. It was built in 1905, and is a two-story, rectangular frame Italianate style commercial building. It measures approximately 106 feet by 56 feet...
- Marlinton Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad StationMarlinton Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad StationMarlinton Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad Station was a historic railway station and bunkhouse located at Marlinton, Pocahontas County, West Virginia. They were built in 1901 by the Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad. The station was a frame, rectangular, one-story building measuring 76 feet by 16 feet and...
- Pocahontas County Opera HousePocahontas County Opera HouseThe Pocahontas County Opera House is located in rural Marlinton, West Virginia. Railroad magnate J.G. Tilton built the original building in 1907. In 1910, the current building was added on...
in MarlintonMarlinton, West VirginiaMarlinton is a town in Pocahontas County, West Virginia, United States. The population was 1,204 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Pocahontas County.-History:... - Pocahontas County Courthouse and JailPocahontas County Courthouse and JailPocahontas County Courthouse and Jail is a historic courthouse and jail located at Marlinton, Pocahontas County, West Virginia. The courthouse was built in 1894, and is a 2 1/2-story, brick, Victorian Romanesque building with a stone raised basement level. It has irregular massing with a central...
- Pocahontas Times Print ShopPocahontas Times Print ShopPocahontas Times Print Shop is a historic building located at Marlinton, Pocahontas County, West Virginia. It was built in 1900, and is a one-story, rectangular frame building measuring approximately 21 feet by 75 feet. It was built to house The Pocahontas Times newspaper operations. It houses a...
- McNeel MillMcNeel MillThe McNeel Mill is located just south of the intersection of route 219 and route 39 and route 55 in Mill Point, Pocahontas County, West Virginia . The mill was completed in 1868 by Isaac McNeel and was in operation until 1947...
National Natural Landmarks
- Cranberry Glades Botanical AreaCranberry Glades Botanical AreaCranberry Glades — also known simply as The Glades — are a cluster of five small, boreal-type bogs in southwestern Pocahontas County, West Virginia, USA. This area, high in the Allegheny Mountains at about , is protected as the Cranberry Glades Botanical Area, part of the Monongahela National Forest...
- Gaudineer Scenic AreaGaudineer Scenic AreaThe Gaudineer Scenic Area is a scenic area and National Natural Landmark in the Monongahela National Forest . It is situated just north of Gaudineer Knob of Shavers Mountain on the border of Randolph and Pocahontas Counties, West Virginia, USA, about northwest of the town of...
- Swago Karst Area (de-designated in 2006 at owner's request)
National Literary Landmarks
- The Pearl S. Buck BirthplaceThe Pearl S. Buck BirthplaceThe Pearl S. Buck Birthplace is a historic home in Hillsboro, West Virginia where American writer Pearl S. Buck was born. The home now serves as a museum offering guided tours...
(Website)
Tourism
As of 2008, there were approximately 30,000 out-of-towners who own property in Pocahontas County. The tourism industry has continued to be one of the county's largest economic industries. The main tourist attraction is Snowshoe MountainSnowshoe Mountain
Snowshoe Mountain is a ski resort in Snowshoe, West Virginia. The resort has skiable terrain across and covers a total area of in the Allegheny Mountains, which are a part of the vast Appalachian Mountain Range. It is positioned in the bowl shaped convergence of two mountains, Cheat and Back...
which attracts thousands of visitors every summer and winter.
Notable natives and residents
- Pearl S. BuckPearl S. BuckPearl Sydenstricker Buck also known by her Chinese name Sai Zhenzhu , was an American writer who spent most of her time until 1934 in China. Her novel The Good Earth was the best-selling fiction book in the U.S. in 1931 and 1932, and won the Pulitzer Prize in 1932...
was born in HillsboroHillsboro, West VirginiaHillsboro is a town in Pocahontas County, West Virginia, United States. The population was 243 at the 2000 census.- History :Hillsboro was named for pioneer John Hill, from North Carolina, who built a log cabin near what is now Lobelia...
and her house is preserved as The Pearl S. Buck BirthplaceThe Pearl S. Buck BirthplaceThe Pearl S. Buck Birthplace is a historic home in Hillsboro, West Virginia where American writer Pearl S. Buck was born. The home now serves as a museum offering guided tours... - W. E. BlackhurstW. E. BlackhurstWarren E. "Tweard" Blackhurst was an author and a lifelong resident of the Cass community who centered on the culture of eastern West Virginia where the higher elevations supported northern pine forests...
Known as "Tweard" by the citizens of Pocahontas County, this author wrote of the logging industry at the turn of the century in a style called "low level, high interest" (easy to understand language and dialog and interesting plotlines). His most famous work may be Riders of the Flood, which was turned into a subject for the outdoor theater in the town of RonceverteRonceverte, West VirginiaRonceverte is a city in Greenbrier County, West Virginia, on the Greenbrier River. The population was 1,557 at the 2000 census.- Culture and History :...
. - B.J. Gudmundsson is award-winning film-maker for Patchwork Films, a nonprofit renowned for its documentaries on mountaintop removalMountaintop removalMountaintop removal mining is a form of surface mining that requires the removal of the summit or summit ridge of a mountain in order to permit easier access to the coal seams...
, the Appalachian culture, the lives of remarkable citizens, and New EnglandNew EnglandNew England is a region in the northeastern corner of the United States consisting of the six states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut...
. - Another Patchwork filmmaker, Doug Chadwick, also resides in Pocahontas County. http://www.patchworkfilms.com
See also
- Cass Scenic Railroad State ParkCass Scenic Railroad State ParkCass Scenic Railroad State Park is a State Park located in Cass, Pocahontas County, West Virginia.It consists of the Cass Scenic Railroad, an long heritage railroad that is owned by the state of West Virginia...
- Droop Mountain Battlefield State ParkDroop Mountain Battlefield State ParkDroop Mountain Battlefield State Park is a state park located on Droop Mountain in Pocahontas County, West Virginia. Droop Mountain was the site of the last major conflict of the American Civil War in West Virginia. A private in the U.S. Army at the Battle of Droop Mountain, John D...
- Greenbrier River TrailGreenbrier River TrailThe Greenbrier River Trail is a rail trail operated by West Virginia State Parks. The trail is a long former railroad, now used for hiking, bicycling, ski-touring, horseback-riding, and wheel-chair use. The trail passes through numerous small towns and traverses 35 bridges and 2 tunnels as it...
- Handley Wildlife Management AreaHandley Wildlife Management AreaHandley Wildlife Management Area is located on northwest of Marlinton in Pocahontas County, West Virginia. It is near the headwaters of the Williams River in the Monongahela National Forest.-See also:*Animal conservation*Fishing*Hunting...
- National Radio Astronomy ObservatoryNational Radio Astronomy ObservatoryThe National Radio Astronomy Observatory is a Federally Funded Research and Development Center of the United States National Science Foundation operated under cooperative agreement by Associated Universities, Inc for the purpose of radio astronomy...
- National Register of Historic Places listings in Pocahontas County, West VirginiaNational Register of Historic Places listings in Pocahontas County, West VirginiaThis is a list of the National Register of Historic Places listings in Pocahontas County, West Virginia.This is intended to be a complete list of the properties and districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Pocahontas County, West Virginia, United States...
- Watoga State ParkWatoga State ParkWatoga State Park is the largest of West Virginia’s state parks, covering slightly over . It is located near Seebert in Pocahontas County, West Virginia.-History:...
- Shavers MountainShavers MountainShavers Mountain, is a high and rugged ridge situated in the Allegheny Mountains of eastern West Virginia. It is about long, north to south, and several of its peaks exceed in elevation...
- Spice Run WildernessSpice Run WildernessSpice Run Wilderness is a U.S. Wilderness area within the Monongahela National Forest of West Virginia, USA. Fairly remote, it has no passenger car access whatever.-Access:...