Historical Infrastructure Analysis: Transportation Systems of Pocahontas County, West Virginia
1. Introduction: The Topographical Imperative
Pocahontas County, West Virginia, sits at the highest average elevation of any county east of the Mississippi River, a geographical distinction that has fundamentally dictated its history of human movement and economic development. Known as the "Birthplace of Rivers," the county contains the headwaters of eight major river systems, including the Greenbrier, Gauley, Elk, Cheat, and Tygart Valley rivers. While these waterways descend toward the Ohio Valley or the Chesapeake Bay, the county itself is a fortress of parallel mountain ridges—the Alleghenies, Cheat, Back Allegheny, and Droop Mountains—that form formidable barriers to east-west travel.
The history of transportation in this region is not merely a record of road construction; it is a chronicle of the struggle to overcome the "Trans-Allegheny" barrier. For centuries, the rugged topography isolated the region, preserving a wilderness that was both a refuge for indigenous peoples and a daunting frontier for European settlers. Unlike the coastal plains of Virginia, where tidal rivers facilitated early commerce, or the Shenandoah Valley, which offered a natural corridor, the mountains of Pocahontas County resisted the wheel. From the ancient footpaths of the Seneca Trail to the engineered gradients of the Staunton-Parkersburg Turnpike, and finally to the scenic corridors of the modern era, the evolution of infrastructure here has been driven by the shifting demands of warfare, extraction, and tourism.
This report provides an exhaustive analysis of the transportation history of Pocahontas County. It examines the transition from indigenous networks to state-sponsored turnpikes, the industrial imposition of logging railroads, and the eventual development of the federal and state highway system. Through this lens, we observe how the physical connectivity of the region determined its economic destiny, demographic patterns, and ecological health.
2. Pre-Industrial Networks and the Seneca Trail (Pre-1830)
2.1 The Great Indian Warpath
Long before the arrival of European surveyors, the valleys of the Greenbrier and Tygart rivers served as a critical artery in a continental transportation network. The Seneca Trail, also known historically as the Great Indian Warpath, was not a local footpath but a major thoroughfare connecting the Iroquois Confederation in present-day New York to the Cherokee and Creek nations in the American South.
In the context of Pocahontas County, the Seneca Trail followed the path of least resistance through the complex topography. Descending from the north, it traced the headwaters of the Tygart Valley River, crossed the low divide near present-day Elkwater, and entered the Greenbrier Valley. It passed through the site of Marlinton (originally known as Marlin’s Bottom), followed Indian Draft Run, and continued south toward White Sulphur Springs. This route was dictated by the north-south alignment of the mountain ranges, which made longitudinal travel feasible while latitudinal (east-west) travel remained arduous.
The trail was a multi-use corridor, serving as a route for trade, diplomacy, and warfare between the Shawnee, Seneca, and Delaware tribes. Its existence defined the early "frontier" line during the French and Indian War; the British Crown’s Proclamation of 1763, which forbade settlement west of the Alleghenies, roughly followed the alignment of this trail.
2.2 The First European Incursions
The indigenous infrastructure facilitated the very settlement that would eventually displace native populations. In 1749, Jacob Marlin and Stephen Sewell, the first recorded European settlers west of the Allegheny Mountains, utilized these ancient paths to reach the confluence of Knapps Creek and the Greenbrier River. Their settlement at Marlin’s Bottom (now Marlinton) established the node that would anchor the county’s future transportation network.
The strategic importance of the Seneca Trail was recognized by colonial military powers. During the French and Indian War (1755), Colonel Andrew Lewis was dispatched to the region to construct defensive fortifications. He established Fort Greenbrier near Marlin’s Bottom to monitor the trail, which was being used by Shawnee allies of the French to launch raids into the Virginia settlements. This militarization of the trail foreshadowed the county’s role in the Civil War a century later; the transportation corridor was the axis upon which control of the frontier turned.
2.3 Early County Roads and "The Worst Road in the Universe"
Following the Revolutionary War and the formation of Pocahontas County in 1821, the new local government faced the immediate challenge of connectivity. The Virginia General Assembly authorized a series of "state roads" in the 1780s, but authorization rarely equated to construction. These early routes were often little more than widened packhorse trails, unpaved and unmaintained.
Travelers in the early 19th century frequently described the roads of western Virginia with despair. The "Great Wagon Road" to the north was described as "the worst road in the universe," a quagmire of mud in the spring and a dust-choked, rock-strewn path in the summer. In Pocahontas County, the primary method of commercial transport for heavy goods was not the road, but the river. However, the Greenbrier River was not navigable by steamboat. Instead, timber and agricultural products were moved via rafts during spring floods, a precarious method that limited economic output. The isolation was profound; as late as the 1880s, Marlinton remained fifty miles from the nearest railroad, dependent on wagons hauling supplies over "almost impassable trails".
3. The Turnpike Era: Engineering the Trans-Allegheny (1830–1860)
The failure of local road maintenance led the Commonwealth of Virginia to adopt a "public-private partnership" model for infrastructure development. Following the War of 1812 and the failure of federal transportation plans, Virginia established a Board of Public Works in 1816 to charter turnpike companies. Under this system, the state typically subscribed to 40-60% of the stock, while private investors funded the rest. This era produced the first engineered roads in Pocahontas County, corridors that serve as the foundation for the modern U.S. highway system.
3.1 The Staunton-Parkersburg Turnpike (The Modern US 250)
The most ambitious project to traverse Pocahontas County was the Staunton-Parkersburg Turnpike. Unlike local farm-to-market roads, this was a strategic trans-montane highway designed to connect the Shenandoah Valley (Staunton) with the Ohio River (Parkersburg), securing the trade of the western settlements for Virginia rather than Baltimore or Philadelphia.
3.1.1 Engineering by Claudius Crozet
The success of the turnpike is attributed to Claudius Crozet, a French-born engineer who served as Principal Engineer for the Virginia Board of Public Works. A veteran of Napoleon’s army, Crozet brought European engineering standards to the Appalachian wilderness.
The Gradient Challenge: The legislative charter for the turnpike included a strict specification: the grade was not to exceed 4 degrees (approximately 4-5%). In the vertical terrain of the Alleghenies, this requirement forced Crozet to abandon direct routes in favor of complex geometries. He engineered a series of switchbacks and loops to ascend Allegheny Mountain (entering Pocahontas County from Highland County, Virginia) and the even more formidable Cheat Mountain.
Observation on Engineering: Crozet’s adherence to the grade standard meant that the road was longer than a direct path, but it allowed wheeled wagons to carry heavy freight without exhausting teams of horses. This efficiency was the 19th-century equivalent of a fuel-efficiency standard.
3.1.2 Construction and Labor
Construction began in 1838 but faced immediate delays due to funding shortages and the immense difficulty of the terrain. The section through Pocahontas County traversed some of the most sparsely populated and rugged land in the state. To supplement the local labor shortage, Irish laborers were imported to cut the road through the virgin spruce forests.
The road surface varied. While intended to be macadamized (a layered stone surface described in as utilizing angular stones locked by a heavy roller), financial constraints often meant that remote mountain sections were "summer roads"—dirt surfaces that were passable only in dry weather. However, the route utilized the "advanced macadam style" in critical sections, placing large stones at the base and smaller stones on the surface, a revolutionary technique for the region.
3.1.3 Economic and Social Impact
Completed to Parkersburg in 1847, the turnpike finally linked the Ohio River to the James River watershed.
Toll Operations: Toll houses were erected at strategic intervals—bridges, gaps, and intersections—where travelers could not bypass payment. These tolls funded maintenance and provided a return to investors, though few turnpikes in western Virginia were truly profitable.
3.2 The Huttonsville Turnpike (The Modern US 219)
While the Staunton-Parkersburg Turnpike provided east-west connectivity, the Huttonsville Turnpike was the spinal cord of the region, running north-south. Chartered to connect Lewisburg (in Greenbrier County) to Huttonsville (in Randolph County), this road traversed the length of Pocahontas County via Marlinton and the Greenbrier Valley.
By 1850, this road was the primary north-south artery in the westernmost part of Virginia. It followed the ancient alignment of the Seneca Trail, validating the logic of the indigenous pathfinders. The bridge constructed across the Greenbrier River at Marlins Bottom in 1854-1856 was a critical improvement, eliminating a dangerous ford and solidifying the town's status as a waystation.
3.3 The Huntersville-Warm Springs Turnpike (The Modern WV 39)
Before Marlinton became the county seat, Huntersville served that role. To connect this administrative center with the resorts and markets of eastern Virginia, the Huntersville and Warm Springs Turnpike was chartered. This road climbed the Allegheny Front to connect with the thermal springs in Bath County, Virginia, facilitating a flow of tourism and trade that predated the railroad era.
3.4 The Green Bank Road (The Modern WV 28)
Intersecting the Staunton-Parkersburg Turnpike at Bartow was the "Green Bank Road," a public thoroughfare running south toward Huntersville. Although not a chartered turnpike with the same capital investment as the arterial routes, it was a vital connector for the agricultural communities of the upper Greenbrier Valley and was in active use prior to the Civil War.
Table 1: Major Antebellum Turnpikes of Pocahontas County
4. The Civil War: The Weaponization of Infrastructure (1861–1865)
When the Civil War erupted in 1861, the turnpike network of western Virginia transformed from commercial arteries into military objectives. In the rugged terrain of the Alleghenies, armies could not move cross-country; they were bound to the turnpikes for the movement of artillery, supply wagons, and massed infantry. Consequently, the battles fought in Pocahontas County were fundamentally battles for control of the road network.
4.1 The Fight for the Staunton-Parkersburg Turnpike
Control of the Staunton-Parkersburg Turnpike was paramount. For the Union, holding the road prevented Confederate raids on the Baltimore & Ohio (B&O) Railroad to the north. For the Confederacy, the road was the gateway to recover western Virginia.
Battle of Camp Allegheny (1861): Located at the crest of Allegheny Mountain on the turnpike (the border of Pocahontas and Highland counties), Camp Allegheny was a Confederate fortification established to hold the high ground of the road. The winter battle fought there was a direct struggle for the turnpike pass.
4.2 The Cheat Mountain Campaign and the Huttonsville Turnpike
General Robert E. Lee’s first campaign of the Civil War was conducted along the Huttonsville Turnpike (US 219). Lee established his headquarters at a farm near present-day Linwood (at the base of Cheat Mountain) in the summer of 1861. His objective was to coordinate a multi-pronged attack to dislodge Union forces from the turnpike passes. The campaign failed largely due to the difficulty of coordinating movements over the primitive roads in abysmal weather, illustrating the limitations of the very infrastructure they fought to control.
4.3 The Battle of Droop Mountain
In November 1863, Union General William Averell advanced south along the Huttonsville Turnpike with the objective of severing the Virginia and Tennessee Railroad. Confederate forces attempted to block this advance at Droop Mountain, utilizing the natural breastworks overlooking the turnpike. The resulting battle, the largest in West Virginia, was a fight for the corridor. The Union victory opened the road to the south, though the raid ultimately had limited strategic success.
Impact of War on Roads: The heavy traffic of artillery and supply wagons decimated the turnpikes. By the end of the war, the macadam surfaces were ground to dust, bridges were burned, and the toll companies were financially ruined. The state of Virginia’s investment in these roads (and the debt incurred) became a central issue in the litigation following West Virginia’s statehood, as the new state inherited the roads but disputed the debt.
5. The Railroad Era and Industrial Extraction (1890–1920)
Following the Civil War, the road system stagnated. The turnpike companies dissolved, and maintenance devolved to county courts, which lacked the funds for upkeep. The roads returned to a primitive state, described as "mud turnpikes". However, the late 19th century brought a new transportation revolution that would fundamentally alter the county's economy: the railroad.
5.1 The C&O Greenbrier Division: Ending Isolation
While the Chesapeake & Ohio (C&O) main line was completed through neighboring Greenbrier County in 1869, Pocahontas County remained isolated until the turn of the century. The driving force for rail expansion was timber. The immense stands of virgin red spruce and hardwood in the county were valuable, but river rafting (the previous method of transport) was inefficient and damaging to the timber.
Construction of the C&O Greenbrier Division began in 1899 at Ronceverte. The line reached Marlinton in 1900 and Durbin in 1902.
Route Logic: The railroad followed the Greenbrier River, utilizing the water-level grade to avoid the mountain crossings that plagued the turnpikes.
Demographic Shift: The arrival of the railroad sparked an immediate boom. Marlinton, which had a population of just 171 in 1900, grew to 1,045 by 1910. It also facilitated the immigration of Italian and other European laborers who came to build the line and work the timber.
5.2 The Logging Railroads: Climbing the Peaks
While the C&O served as the main artery, a vascular system of logging railroads was constructed to harvest the timber from the high peaks.
Cass Scenic Railroad (West Virginia Pulp & Paper Co.): Established in 1901, the town of Cass became the hub for a massive logging operation. To reach the red spruce on Cheat Mountain, the company built a standard-gauge railroad that utilized geared Shay locomotives. These engines were designed to climb grades of up to 11% and navigate sharp switchbacks, feats impossible for conventional rod locomotives.
Case Study: The Mower Lumber Company Operating on Cheat Mountain until 1960, the Mower Lumber Company was one of the last major rail-logging operations. Their extensive network of rail grades facilitated the complete clear-cutting of the high-elevation forest. When the operation ceased, the land was sold to the U.S. Forest Service (becoming part of the Monongahela National Forest). The legacy of this transport network is visible today: the Cass Scenic Railroad State Park operates on the original track, preserving the mechanics of extraction for tourism.
6. The Federal Highway Era (1920–1960)
With the advent of the automobile and the "Good Roads Movement," the focus returned to road building. The creation of the U.S. Highway System in 1926 and the subsequent investments by the state and federal government modernized the old turnpike routes.
6.1 U.S. Route 250: The Modern Mountain Crossing
Designation and Improvement: U.S. Route 250 was designated in 1928, initially ending near Grafton. In 1934, it was extended eastward to Richmond, absorbing the route of the old Staunton-Parkersburg Turnpike through Pocahontas County. This federal designation brought funding for paving and bridge construction.
The Cheat Bridge (1934): A critical modernization project was the construction of the Cheat Bridge over the Shavers Fork in 1934. Built by the Monty Brothers Company, this 110-foot steel pony truss bridge replaced earlier wooden structures and facilitated reliable automobile traffic over the mountain. The bridge and the route remained a challenge; the ascent of Back Allegheny and Cheat Mountains retained the tortuous geometry of Crozet’s 1840s alignment, preserving the "roller-coaster" character of the road.
Ecological Conflict: The modernization of US 250 created an ecological barrier. The road bisects the habitat of the Cheat Mountain Salamander (Plethodon nettingi), a threatened species found only in this region. The compacted road berms prevent these amphibians from migrating. Recent efforts by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to modify the road embankments represent a new phase in transportation history: retrofitting infrastructure for ecological connectivity.
6.2 U.S. Route 219: The Seneca Trail Highway
Development: U.S. Route 219 was extended south through West Virginia in 1934, replacing the state designation WV 24. It essentially paved the Huttonsville Turnpike, solidifying the north-south corridor. By the late 1930s, the route was fully paved, linking the county seats of Elkins, Marlinton, and Lewisburg.
The CCC and Road Building: During the Great Depression, the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) played a major role in upgrading the county’s secondary infrastructure. A notable project was the construction of the road access to Droop Mountain Battlefield State Park (an offshoot of US 219). Photographs from 1936 show CCC crews grading the road, highlighting the role of New Deal labor in creating the recreational infrastructure of the county.
6.3 West Virginia Route 39: The Prison Labor Road
Origins: WV 39 follows the general path of the Huntersville-Warm Springs Turnpike. Its modernization in the 20th century has a unique history involving the Mill Point Federal Prison Camp.
Construction Narrative: Opened in 1938, the Mill Point Prison Camp was established specifically to provide labor for the construction of State Route 39 (which connects Richwood to Marlinton and continues to the Virginia line). Inmates initially lived in tents while cutting the road through the Cranberry wilderness. This road eventually became the lower leg of the Highland Scenic Highway corridor. Paving was completed in stages, with the link to the Virginia line finished in the early 1950s.
6.4 West Virginia Route 28 and Bridge Evolution
Route History: WV 28 connects the county to the Potomac Highlands in the north. It appeared as a primary route in 1922.
Bridge Evolution: The bridges along these routes illustrate the technological shifts in the county:
Locust Creek Covered Bridge (1870): Built for $1,250 on a county road near Hillsboro, this Warren truss bridge served traffic until 1990. Its preservation as a pedestrian landmark highlights the transition from functional infrastructure to heritage asset.
7. The Tourism Era and Modern Corridors (1960–Present)
In the post-industrial era, the economic engine of Pocahontas County shifted to tourism. Transportation infrastructure was re-imagined not for moving coal or timber, but for moving people to scenic vistas and ski resorts.
7.1 The Highland Scenic Highway (WV 150)
The Highland Scenic Highway is a distinct anomaly in the transportation network: a road built purely for the experience of driving it.
Vision and Construction: Championed by Senator Robert C. Byrd and Senator Jennings Randolph, the highway was conceived in 1961 as a "parkway" similar to the Blue Ridge Parkway. Construction of the 22-mile parkway section (designated WV 150) began in 1965 and was completed in 1981.
Design: The road traverses the high crest of the Alleghenies at elevations up to 4,500 feet. It carries no commercial traffic and is not maintained in the winter, emphasizing its role as a recreational facility rather than a transport artery.
7.2 West Virginia Route 66 and Snowshoe Mountain
From Logging Camp to Ski Resort: The development of Snowshoe Mountain Resort in 1974 necessitated a massive upgrade in local infrastructure. The mountain, previously logged barren by the Mower Lumber Company, had no adequate access for tourists.
WV 66: This state route was designated (in its current form) in the 1990s to upgrade the county roads (CR 9) leading from US 219 to the resort and the town of Cass.
7.3 Corridor H and Future Connectivity
While not passing directly through the center of the county, the development of Corridor H (US 48) to the north has impacted traffic flows into Pocahontas County. The controversial four-lane highway, part of the Appalachian Development Highway System, aims to link I-79 to I-81. Its construction has been a decades-long battle involving environmental concerns, particularly regarding the Cheat River crossing. For Pocahontas County, it represents better connectivity to eastern markets, continuing the centuries-old quest to breach the Allegheny barrier.
7.4 The Greenbrier River Trail: Adaptive Reuse
The final evolution of the C&O Greenbrier Division (abandoned in 1978) was its conversion into the Greenbrier River Trail in 1980. This 78-mile state park uses the grade engineered for steam trains to support bicycles and hikers. It is the ultimate symbol of the county's transportation history: an industrial corridor repurposed for a service economy, preserving the path of the river and the rail for a new generation of travelers.
8. Conclusion
The history of transportation in Pocahontas County is defined by the persistence of geography. The mountains that forced the Seneca Trail to follow the valleys also dictated the path of the Huttonsville Turnpike and the modern US 219. The ridge lines that challenged Claudius Crozet in 1838 continue to challenge the snowplows on US 250 today.
The data reveals a cyclical pattern of development. The indigenous trails became the settler's paths; the paths became turnpikes; the turnpikes were eclipsed by railroads; and finally, the railroads were dismantled or converted, leaving the highways (often built on the old turnpike alignments) as the primary mode of transport once again. However, the driver of this development has shifted. Where once the roads were built to extract timber and secure borders, they are now maintained to invite visitors into the "high country," monetizing the very isolation that made transportation so difficult in the first place. The infrastructure of Pocahontas County is not merely a collection of asphalt and steel; it is a historical record of the region’s changing relationship with the land.
_at_Snowshoe_Drive_(Pendleton_County_Route_9-3)_in_Linwood,_Pocahontas_County,_West_Virginia.jpg)
Settlement Corridor: The road facilitated the movement of settlers into the Little Kanawha and Tygart valleys. It also allowed Pocahontas farmers to drive livestock to eastern markets in Staunton, integrating the subsistence economy of the mountains with the commercial economy of the Valley.
Cheat Summit Fort: To block the Confederates from advancing westward along the turnpike, Union General George McClellan ordered the construction of a fort at the summit of Cheat Mountain (White Top). This fortification effectively sealed the turnpike to Southern forces, securing the Tygart Valley for the Union.
The End of Rafting: The completion of the line in 1902 marked the end of the log drives on the Greenbrier River, shifting the county from a river-based transport economy to a rail-based industrial economy.
Infrastructure Legacy: The logging railroads were temporary by design, but their impact was permanent. They stripped the mountains bare—by 1960, Cheat Mountain was described as "virtually barren". However, the grades cut by these railroads (such as the Mower Lumber Company lines) often became the foundations for future forest roads and trails.
Saulsbury Run Arch (1913): Located on a connector to WV 28, this reinforced concrete bridge represents the arrival of modern materials (concrete) to replace timber, driven by the increasing weight of vehicles.
Unfinished Ambition: Original plans called for the highway to extend all the way to US 50 in the north. These plans were abandoned, leaving WV 150 as a scenic spur connecting WV 39 and US 219.
Snowshoe Drive (CR 9/3): The primary ascent to the resort village. The resort utilizes the terminology of its industrial past (trails named "Ballhooter," "Shay's Revenge"), and the road network itself is superimposed on the old logging grades.
