Things to do in , Pocahontas County: The Best Historic Sites

The Locust Creek bridge is the last surviving covered bridge in Pocahontas County, West Virginia. It was built in the 1870s; rebuilt inside “sometime after 1904”; and renovated in 2002. It served as the route 31 bridge across Locust Creek until 1991, when a modern bridge was built beside it and the covered bridge was restricted to pedestrian traffic. Construction is of the Warren double intersection truss sort (see photo below) – not a very common one, to my knowledge, although it is similar to other designs. The bridge, 113.75 feet long and 13.5 feet wide, is just over 6 miles south of Hillsboro (birthplace of author Pearl S. Buck) and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1981. [Information from Remaining Covered Bridges of West Virginia.]

The C&O Railroad 1868-1873) linked Huntington with Richmond, VA opening up southern West Virginia to industrialization. The depot is over 100 years old and listed on the National Register of Historic Places and serves as Marlinton's Visitor's Center.

Completed in 1894 and designed by Millard F. Giesey in a popular interpretation of the Romanesque Revival style, the courthouse rises two-and-a-half stories and is an important symbol of Marlinton’s ascendance as the principle center of industry and commerce in the county and stands as one of Marlinton's many Historic Landmarks today.

The I.O.O.F. Lodge Building is a good local example of an Italianate style commercial building. It is characteristic of the style, type, and function of buildings often found in railroad boom communities in West Virginia in the early 20th century. The IOOF building served as a downtown commercial building housing a drug store, a movie picture house, and other commercial ventures which served the community.