Pocahontas County, West Virginia
| Pocahontas County, West Virginia | |
|---|---|
 Location in the U.S. state of West Virginia |
|
 West Virginia's location in the U.S. |
|
| Founded | December 21, 1821 |
| Named for | Pocahontas |
| Seat | Marlinton |
| Largest town | Marlinton |
| Area | |
| • Total | 942 sq mi (2,440 km2) |
| • Land | 940 sq mi (2,435 km2) |
| • Water | 1.5 sq mi (4 km2), 0.2% |
| Population (est.) | |
| • (2015) | 8,607 |
| • Density | 9.2/sq mi (4/km²) |
| Congressional district | 3rd |
| Time zone | Eastern: UTC-5/-4 |
| Website | www |
Pocahontas County is a county located in the U.S. state of West Virginia. As of the 2010 census, the population was 8,719. Its county seat is Marlinton. The county was established in 1821 and is named after the Native American chief's daughter from Jamestown, Virginia.
Pocahontas County is the home to the National Radio Astronomy Observatory Green Bank Telescope and is part of the National Radio Quiet Zone.
When Andrew Lewis, early American pioneer, soldier, surveyor, and soldier from Virginia, came to survey one of the land grants for the Greenbrier Company in 1751, he found Jacob Marlin and Stephen Sewell living where Marlinton is found today. They had come from Frederick, Maryland, in 1749 and are considered the first settlers west of the Alleghenies. They built their original cabin where Marlin Run met Knapp’s Creek but Lewis found Sewell living in a large hollow sycamore tree near the cabin in what is now the area between Eighth and Ninth Avenues between Eighth and Ninth Streets.
The move Westward by settlers was not met well by the Indians as this was one of their many favored hunting areas. A treaty of 1758 confirmed the land west of the Allegheny Mountains to the Indians and forbidding any of his Majesty’s subjects to settle or hunt.
As the white settlers encroached onto the Indian land, there were many raids and massacres reported. After the Revolution, the Indian squabbles quieted and the settlers’ land claims were secured in an orderly manner.
In June 1863, West Virginia became the 35th state of the Union. Although part of Virginia at the time, the two areas differed culturally and pioneering individuals traditionally settled the western portion, while a slave-holding aristocratic society developed in the eastern portion. When Virginia seceded from the Union in 1861, the residents of the western counties, few of whom owned slaves, decided to stay with the Union.
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