Marlinton is a town in and the

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or parish (administrative division), civil parish. The term is in use in five countries: Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, and the United States. An equiva ...

Pocahontas County, West Virginia Pocahontas County is a county located in the eastern part of the U.S. state of West Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 7,869. Its county seat is Marlinton. The county was established in 1821. It is named after the daughter o ...

, United States. The population was 998 at the 2020 census. Located along the

Greenbrier River The Greenbrier River is a tributary of the New River (Kanawha River), New River, long,McNeel, William P. "Greenbrier River." ''The West Virginia Encyclopedia''. Ken Sullivan, editor. Charleston, WV: West Virginia Humanities Council. 2006. . in ...

, it is known for its scenery.

History

Marlinton is named for Jacob Marlin, who, along with Stephen Sewell, became the first non-native settlers west of the

Allegheny Mountains The Allegheny Mountain Range ( ) — also spelled Alleghany or Allegany, less formally the Alleghenies — is part of the vast Appalachian Mountain Range of the Eastern United States and Canada. Historically it represented a significant barr ...

, in the Greenbrier Valley in 1749. New Englanders Marlin and Sewell built a cabin in what would become Marlinton, but after various religious disputes, Sewell moved into a nearby hollowed-out sycamore tree. In 1751, surveyor

John Lewis John Robert Lewis (February 21, 1940 – July 17, 2020) was an American civil rights activist and politician who served in the United States House of Representatives for from 1987 until his death in 2020. He participated in the 1960 Nashville ...

discovered the pair. Sewell eventually settled on the eastern side of Sewell Mountain, near present-day Rainelle. Located at Marlinton and listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

are the Frank and Anna Hunter House, IOOF Lodge Building,

Marlinton Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad Station Marlinton Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad Station was a historic train station, railway station and bunkhouse located at Marlinton, West Virginia, Marlinton, Pocahontas County, West Virginia. They were built in 1901 by the Chesapeake and Ohio Railwa ...

, Marlinton Opera House, Pocahontas County Courthouse and Jail, and Pocahontas Times Print Shop. Located near Marlinton are Droop Mountain Battlefield and New Deal Resources in Watoga State Park Historic District. As a result of its rural location and proximity to the facilities of the

United States National Radio Quiet Zone The National Radio Quiet Zone (NRQZ) is a large area of land in the United States designated as a radio quiet zone, in which radio transmissions are restricted by law to facilitate scientific research and the gathering of military intelligence. ...

, the town has been a late adopter of

broadband Internet In telecommunications, broadband or high speed is the wide- bandwidth data transmission that exploits signals at a wide spread of frequencies or several different simultaneous frequencies, and is used in fast Internet access. The transmission m ...

. A 2018 article in

Motherboard A motherboard, also called a mainboard, a system board, a logic board, and informally a mobo (see #Nomenclature, "Nomenclature" section), is the main printed circuit board (PCB) in general-purpose computers and other expandable systems. It ho ...

explains that the nearby Snowshoe Mountain ski resort has been able to provide fast internet, WiFi, and cell phone coverage by having a custom system built which is specially designed so as not to interfere with

radio telescope A radio telescope is a specialized antenna (radio), antenna and radio receiver used to detect radio waves from astronomical radio sources in the sky. Radio telescopes are the main observing instrument used in radio astronomy, which studies the r ...

Geography

According to the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal statistical system, U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy, econ ...

, the town has a total area of , of which is land and is water. It is located in the southwest part of the

Climate

The climate in this area has mild differences between highs and lows, and there is adequate rainfall year-round. According to the

Köppen Climate Classification The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...

system, Marlinton has a

humid continental climate A humid continental climate is a climatic region defined by Russo-German climatologist Wladimir Köppen in 1900, typified by four distinct seasons and large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers, and cold ...

, abbreviated "Dfb" on climate maps.

Demographics

2010 census

As of the

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

of 2010, there were 1,054 people, 467 households, and 247 families living in the town. The

population density Population density (in agriculture: Standing stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geog ...

was . There were 658 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the town was 97.8%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

, 1.4%

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

, 0.3% Native American, 0.1% from other races, and 0.4% from two or more races.

Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...

or Latino of any race were 0.5% of the population. There were 467 households, of which 24.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 31.7% were

married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...

living together, 16.5% had a female householder with no husband present, 4.7% had a male householder with no wife present, and 47.1% were non-families. 40.3% of all households were made up of individuals, and 18.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.12 and the average family size was 2.80. The median age in the town was 47.4 years. 18.2% of residents were under the age of 18; 7.7% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 20.9% were from 25 to 44; 32% were from 45 to 64; and 21.2% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the town was 45.6% male and 54.4% female.

2000 census

As of the

of 2000, there were 1,204 people, 552 households, and 290 families living in the town. The

was 539.8 inhabitants per square mile (208.5/km²). There were 653 housing units at an average density of 292.8 per square mile (113.1/km²). The racial makeup of the town was 97.92%

, 1.16%

, 0.08% Native American, 0.08% Asian, 0.08% from other races, and 0.66% from two or more races.

or Latino of any race were 0.17% of the population. There were 552 households, out of which 22.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 37.9% were

living together, 12.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 47.3% were non-families. 42.4% of all households were made up of individuals, and 21.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.04 and the average family size was 2.80. In the town, the population was spread out, with 19.6% under the age of 18, 7.5% from 18 to 24, 22.8% from 25 to 44, 24.8% from 45 to 64, and 25.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 45 years. For every 100 females, there were 83.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 76.6 males. The median income for a household in the town was $21,293, and the median income for a family was $33,125. Males had a median income of $26,500 versus $16,477 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...

for the town was $14,957. About 17.5% of families and 24.0% of the population were below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line, or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for ...

, including 29.0% of those under age 18 and 16.2% of those age 65 or over.

Events

Marlinton is home to the ''Roadkill Cook-off'' and ''Hudson Cream West Virginia Biscuit Bake Off'' during the Autumn Harvest Festival. The first cook-off was in 1991, and has become nationally known through television shows about food and travel.Eating roadkill in West Virginia
BBC News, October 3, 2016, retrieved September 9, 2021. The Roadkill Cook-off was cancelled in both 2020 and 2021 due to the

Covid pandemic Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fev ...

but organizers have restarted the tradition in 2022 and continued to 2023.

Gallery

File:Greenbrier River Marlinton.jpg, The

in Marlinton File:Pocahontas_Opera_House.jpg, Pocahontas County Opera House

References

External links

*
Traveling 219: Marlinton History
{{authority control Towns in Pocahontas County, West Virginia Towns in West Virginia County seats in West Virginia Populated places on the Greenbrier River