This postcard of Cass, W.Va. (the original is in color) was mailed to Miss Pearl Carter, of Marlinton, postmarked at Augment, W.Va. in 1916. The lumberyard of the West Virginia Pulp and Paper Company sits alongside the Greenbrier River. The steel bridge crossing the river is difficult to see but you may be able to spot it just to the right of the lumberyard. This is a fascinating photograph because we don’t see very many pictures taken from this side of the river.
Ernestine Clarkson wrote about the other side of the river in her history of Cass in the Pocahontas County History book published in 1981. She writes:
“In the early 1900s Cass was a well kept little town with white houses and white picket fences and board walks. This is where all of the company people lived yet the Greenbrier River which runs through Cass divided the town and the people. On the other side of the river lived the less affluent and here was the street known as “Dirty Street” where the “Woodhicks” from the lumbering camps stayed when they came to town.” (Pearl Carter Ward Collection, Preserving Pocahontas Archives, ID: PHP001640)
Access the “Preserving Pocahontas” Digital Library at www.pocahontaspreservation.org or www.preservingpocahontas.org
If you have historical records or photographs to be scanned for the county Historical Archive contact Preservation Officer B. J. Gudmundsson at 304-799-3989 or email info@pocahontaspreservation.org Prints of photographs are available.