Pocahontas County Historic Landmarks Commission

A lot of folks in Pocahontas County have probably heard about the County’s Historic Landmarks Commission, but few really know a lot about it.

To remedy that, we attended their July 25^th meeting held at the McLaughlin Log Cabin they had moved to 4^th Avenue in Marlinton and restored.  As an aside, the restoration of that cabin typifies the very mission of the Commission. The cabin is the oldest known structure in Marlinton and used to be located on 10^th Avenue. It was discovered when the Catholic church tore down a house to build their parking lot, but lo and behold, when they peeled away the old asphalt shingling covering the house, they discovered hidden inside of all of those old shingles was the McLaughlin Log Cabin. The Historic Landmarks Commission stepped in and prevented the sale of that structure to an outfit that wanted to move it out of state, and purchased it as part of Marlinton’s historic heritage.

Anyway, their July meeting in the Cabin was attended by three of the five Commission members, Jason Bauserman, the Chairman, Ruth Taylor, the Secretary and Member Liz Gay. The Treasurer, Bob sheets and Member Tim Wade were unable to attend.

They discussed an upcoming program at the Green Bank Observatory about Dunmore’s War to be held on September 22^nd.

They also discussed the upcoming Camp Bartow Dedication at the site of the old Confederate Civil War campsite located near the Travelers Repose, a popular colonial era inn. Camp Bartow contains some of the best-preserved Civil War trenches; gun emplacements; and tent sites in the state, and was also the scene of the 1861 Battle of the Greenbrier River.

The site was purchased in the fall of 2016 by the West Virginia Land Trust, with the support of the Pocahontas Historic Landmarks Commission. Since then, they have been adding historical interpretive signage telling the story of the battle there; a kiosk at the entrance to the battlefield where an information pamphlet will be available; restoring the interpretive pathway through the site; and placing a large information sign at the cannon pit which overlooks the Town of Bartow. The opening ceremony to be held on Saturday, October 5^th , starting at about 11:00 am and light refreshments will be served to the public. They hope to add rustic benches along the trail and to have Civil War Reenactors at the dedication along with a Civil War cannon firing from the hillside.

Also, at the Commission’s meeting, the members discussed the Civil War reenactment at Droop Mountain State Park on October 12^th and 13^th. They talked about the purchase of flood insurance for, and repairs to the Opera House in Marlinton -which is also owned by the Historic Landmarks Commission.  They discussed the Workman Cabin restoration at Watoga State Park and needed repairs at the McLaughlin Cabin. Their next meeting will be on August 22^nd