Pickens, West Virginia
Pickens is a census-designated place in Randolph County, West Virginia, United States. Pickens is west-southwest of Huttonsville. It is the home of the Cunningham-Roberts Museum. Pickens has a post office with ZIP code 26230. As of the 2020 census, its population was 41.
History
In 1891, George M. Whitescarver, 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 festival.Climate
Pickens experiences mild-to-warm, humid summers and cold, snowy winters, with abundant precipitation falling evenly throughout the year. Due to its elevation, latitude, and position within the Allegheny Mountains, summer temperatures rarely reach 90 °F, while winters typically see well over 100 inches of snowfall. According to the Köppen Climate Classification system, Pickens has a humid continental climate, abbreviated "Dfb" on climate maps.Notable people
- Admiral Frank G. Fahrion, USN, was born in Pickens.
- John Joseph Swint, fourth bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Wheeling and later named archbishop ad personam by Pope Pius XII, was born and raised in Pickens.
- Hans Lineweaver, physical chemist known for popularizing the double-reciprocal plot, was born in Pickens.