Near Seebert in Pocahontas County, West Virginia — The American South (Appalachia)
Home for a Separatist Community
Greenbrier River Trail
Photographed by Bernard Fisher, August 11, 2021
1. Home for a Separatist Community Marker
If you look closely, you can see the ruins of the vault of an old general store. This is the last large landmark remaining from the town of "Watoga. In 1922, 51 African American coal miners and their families moved from Mercer County into an abandoned timber camp that sat here.
The growth of the violence and power of the Ku Klux Klan in southern West Virginia along with Jim Crow laws spurred this group to create their own self-sustaining community in Pocahontas County. They learned to farm the land, attended the African Methodist Episcopal Church that they founded, and worked to provide for their needs. This Black separatist community offered an opportunity to own land and to succeed together free of segregation and racial strife.
(caption)
Image of the Watoga Timber Town that was settled by African American miners and their families and transformed into the Watoga Land Association. Photo Courtesy of Pocahontas County Historical Society "Preserving Pocahontas"
Erected by Greenbrier River Trail.
Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: African Americans • Civil Rights •
this page online
Location. 38° 8.66′ N, 80° 9.077′ W. Marker is near Seebert, West Virginia, in Pocahontas County. It can be reached from Greenbrier River Trail 1.1 miles north of Seebert Road (County Route 27), on the right when traveling north. Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: Marlinton WV 24954, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Regionally, this marker is in West Virginia’s Potomac Highlands. It is also in the American South, specifically in the Upper South, in Appalachia, and specifically in Southern Appalachia. Globally, it is in North America, the Western Hemisphere, the Western World, and the Anglosphere. Historically, it finds itself in what was once the territory of the Mississippian Culture.
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within 3 miles of this marker, measured as the crow flies: A Spectacular Crash! (approx. 0.2 miles away); William L. "Mudwall" Jackson (approx. 1.7 miles away); Battle Of Mill Point (approx. 1.9 miles away); Anna Wallace (approx. 1.9 miles away); Mill Point (approx. 1.9 miles away); Birthplace of Pearl S. Buck
Photographed by Bernard Fisher, August 11, 2021
2. Home for a Separatist Community Marker
Another marker is no longer nearby. Yankee Army Camp (was approx. 2.9 miles away but has been permanently removed).
Also see . . .
1. Preserving Pocahontas. (Submitted on August 13, 2021.)
2. Greenbrier River Trail. West Virginia State Parks (Submitted on August 13, 2021.)
August 11, 2021
3. Watoga
Credits. This page was last revised on March 31, 2026. It was originally submitted on August 11, 2021, by Bernard Fisher of Richmond, Virginia. This page has been viewed 1,443 times since then and 74 times this year. Photos: 1, 2. submitted on August 11, 2021, by Bernard Fisher of Richmond, Virginia. 3. submitted on August 13, 2021, by Bernard Fisher of Richmond, Virginia.
