Talcott (also Rolinsburgh or Rollinsburg) is an

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a parcel of land that is not governed by a local general-purpose municipal corporation. (At p. 178.) They may be governed or serviced by an encompassing unit (such as a county) or another branch of the state (such as th ...

in Summers 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. It lies along West Virginia Route 3 and 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 ...

to the east of the city of Hinton, 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 ...

of Summers County. Its elevation is 1,526 feet (465 m), and it is located at about (37.6506762, -80.7511921). It 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 the ZIP code 24981.

History

Talcott is named for Capt. Talcott, a civil engineer with the

Chesapeake and Ohio Railway The Chesapeake and Ohio Railway was a Class I railroad formed in 1869 in Virginia from several smaller Virginia railroads begun in the 19th century. Led by industrialist Collis Potter Huntington, it reached from Virginia's capital city of Rich ...

who was in charge of building the Big Bend Tunnel.

John Henry legend

Talcott has gained some fame for being what many in the area consider to be the home of the John Henry legend. Henry was an African-American railroad worker in the 1800s who supposedly competed in a legendary race with a steam-powered drill bit, and won, dying in the process. Historian Louis Chappell traveled to Talcott in the 1920s and interviewed railroad workers who claimed to have worked with Henry when building the Great Bend tunnel on the C&O line through Talcott. The accounts of the surviving workers seemed to corroborate that Henry was, in fact, a real person, although the other aspects to the legend were impossible to confirm or deny based on the interviews conducted by Chappell The Hilldale-Talcott Ruritan Club raised a statue of Henry atop Big Bend mountain in 1972 to commemorate the legend. The statue now stands outside of the Great Bend Tunnel, in John Henry Park. Talcott now hosts an annual John Henry Days festival each July that features re-tellings of the famous legend, duck races, craft booths, and other festivities.

Recreation and activities

Talcott lies along the lower

. As a river community, activities revolve around fishing, boating, and canoeing. A public boat ramp is located next to the Talcott Bridge, and this is a popular starting point for float trips down the Greenbrier to Hinton, WV. Fishing camps and summer houses line the river in the area.

References

{{authority control Unincorporated communities in Summers County, West Virginia Unincorporated communities in West Virginia Populated places on the Greenbrier River