Pickens is a

census-designated place A census-designated place (CDP) is a Place (United States Census Bureau), concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only. CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the counte ...

(CDP) in Randolph County,

West Virginia West Virginia is a mountainous U.S. state, state in the Southern United States, Southern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States.The United States Census Bureau, Census Bureau and the Association of American ...

, United States. Pickens is west-southwest of Huttonsville. It is the home of the Cunningham-Roberts Museum. Pickens has a

post office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letter (message), letters and parcel (package), parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post o ...

with ZIP code 26230. As of the 2020 census, its population was 41 (down from 66 at the 2010 census).

History

In 1891, George M. Whitescarver (1831-1914), a railroad official and coal and timber magnate, along with several other investors, purchased a large tract of land in Randolph County from James Pickens, Jr. Here they built several planing mills and a sawmill that had a capacity of ten million feet per year. Pickens was founded and named the following year, by which time the railroad had been extended to that point.

Events

Pickens hosts West Virginia's yearly

maple syrup Maple syrup is a sweet syrup made from the sap of maple trees. In cold climates, these trees store starch in their trunks and roots before winter; the starch is then converted to sugar that rises in the sap in late winter and early spring. Ma ...

festival.

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, Pickens has a

marine west coast climate An oceanic climate, also known as a marine climate or maritime climate, is the temperate climate sub-type in Köppen classification represented as ''Cfb'', typical of west coasts in higher middle latitudes of continents, generally featuring co ...

, abbreviated "Cfb" on climate maps.

Notable people

*Admiral Frank G. Fahrion, USN, was born in Pickens.Admiral Frank G. Farion
/ref> * John Joseph Swint (1879-1962), fourth

bishop A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of di ...

of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Wheeling and later named archbishop ''ad personam'' by

Pope Pius XII Pope Pius XII (; born Eugenio Maria Giuseppe Giovanni Pacelli; 2 March 18769 October 1958) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 2 March 1939 until his death on 9 October 1958. He is the most recent p ...

, was born and raised in Pickens. * Hans Lineweaver (1907–2009), physical chemist known for popularizing the double-reciprocal plot, was born in Pickens.

References

Census-designated places in Randolph County, West Virginia Census-designated places in West Virginia {{RandolphCountyWV-geo-stub