Historic Pocahontas structure caves in

POCAHONTAS - A June 19th storm may have been the final straw for a local landmark. The roof of the company store owned by Historic Pocahontas caved in and one wall is now sagging outward. Tom Childress, a member of the board of directors of Historic Pocahontas said he received a call at 7:30 a.m. June 20 that the building had fallen.

Childress said the collapse was not a complete surprise as the building had been in disrepair for several years. Childress said he spent part of the previous night in the office of Historic Pocahontas anticipating the store might collapse. He said the collapse occurred sometime between 3:30 a.m. when he left the office and 7:30 a.m. Childress said it is his opinion at least part of the building will have to be torn down.

The nine member board of directors of Historic Pocahontas was scheduled to meet June 21. Childress said he did not know if the board would deal with the store at that meeting or call a later meeting. He said Historic Pocahontas does not have funds to demolish the building and if it is demolished there will be no hope of restoring it.

The group was awarded $60,000 from the Virginia Department of Historic Resources during the just completed session of the general assembly. That money will actually be awarded July 1 and is earmarked for preservation. Childress said the board had voted to spend 90 percent of that money on the store prior to its collapse.

The group assumed ownership of the store three years ago and received grant funds from the Department of Agriculture’s Rural Development program to assist in restoring it. Historic Pocahontas has been trying to access matching funds to access that grant. Childress said the store was built in 1883 and operated as a company store until 1980. He said it was the oldest continually operated mercantile in the country.

The store was operated by the coal company as a supplement to its coal operations in the area. It was operated for several years in the 1980’s by a private company that leased it from Consolidated Coal Company.