Mount Porte Crayon
| Mount Porte Crayon | |
| Summit | |
| Name origin: David Hunter Strother's pseudonym Porte Crayon | |
| Country | United States |
|---|---|
| State | West Virginia |
| Counties | Pendleton, Randolph |
| Part of | Allegheny Front |
| Elevation | 4,770 ft (1,453.9 m) |
| Prominence | 1,590 ft (484.6 m) |
| Coordinates | 38°55′44″N 79°27′22″W / 38.92889°N 79.45611°WCoordinates: 38°55′44″N 79°27′22″W / 38.92889°N 79.45611°W |
| Management | Monongahela National Forest |
| Owner | US Forest Service |
| Easiest access | off-trail hike |
| Topo map | USGS Laneville |
| Nearest city | Harman, West Virginia |
  Location of Mount Porte Crayon in West Virginia
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| Website: Monongahela National Forest | |
Mount Porte Crayon is a mountain in the Roaring Plains Wilderness of the Monongahela National Forest in the northeastern corner of Randolph County, West Virginia, USA. It rises to an elevation of 4,770 feet (1,450 m), the elevational climax of the Allegheny Front. The mountain is named for 19th century writer and illustrator David Hunter Strother (1816–88), known as "Porte Crayon" (French, porte-crayon: "pencil/crayon holder"), who produced a wide array of early West Virginia landscapes in his work.
Mount Porte Crayon is the sixth highest point in the state of West Virginia and the northernmost of the top ten state highpoints. It is also the highest point on the Roaring Plains, a natural extension of the Dolly Sods Wilderness.
It is also the highest point on the Eastern Continental Divide in Maryland, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia. The relatively flat plateau on which it sits is the highest, largest plateau in eastern North America with 5.5 square miles lying at or above the 4,500 ft. elevation contour.
The summit area is set aside as an 8.11-acre (32,800 m2) prescribed management area, and is a Research Natural Area, for a native mountaintop red spruce forest that is home to endangered northern flying squirrel and endangered Cheat Mountain salamander. Mount Porte Crayon is the remote headwaters to three drainages and is the highest point on the Eastern Continental Divide in West Virginia, Maryland, and Pennsylvania.
A group of admirers formed the "Porte Crayon Memorial Society" in 1940. Upon learning of the 4,760-foot (1,451 m) promontory (as it was then measured) in the heart of the writer-illustrator's beloved highland terrain, they successfully lobbied to have it named in his honor. On July 5, 1940, a dedication ceremony was held at the top of the Mountain following a three-hour trek to the site. It included a eulogy, a singing of the national anthem, and the raising of the Star-Spangled Banner atop a spruce flagpole.
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