SNOWSHOE FARMS is a 550 acre generational and sustainable farming operation for well over 2 centuries with an adjacent like-minded, thriving residential community, Headwaters, all located on 647 acres at the base of Snowshoe Mountain Resort. This combination positions the farm for prosperity or self-sufficiency.
The strategic location was proven in 1861 when General Robert E. Lee commandeered the farm and sustained his Cheat Mountain Campaign from July to September (R. E. Lee’s Cheat Mountain Campaign by Jack Zinn).
Designed for the 21st Century and is as ready as it was for the 19th Century. The sustainability is built with an ongoing cattle farming operation supported by barns, scale building, lambing building, chicken coop, machinery and equipment sheds, spring house, root cellar, woodsheds, apple orchard, walnut grove, hickory groves, timber, blackberry thickets, fish pond, numerous developed springs, and seasonal streams.
There is abundant wild game including White Tail deer, grouse, wild turkey, rabbits, and squirrels, all living among hundreds of acres of hardwood timber, predominately white oak, red oak, sugar maple, hickory, locust, ash, birch, and beech. Pond fishing, hiking, biking, and cross country skiing in the winter are all here. And if you want to stream fish, you just have to walk down the road to the Big Spring Fork of the Elk River.
The farm offers enjoyability in good times. The entrance to Snowshoe Mountain Resort (http://www.snowshoemtn.com/) is just one mile away. Snowshoe attracts 450,000 skier visits a year plus 10’s of 1000’s of additional seasonal tourists and is the home of the Gary Player Signature Raven Golf Club (http://www.snowshoemtn.com/raven/raven-home.aspx). Snowshoe is West Virginia’s #1 tourist attraction and is part of Intrawest (NASDAQ-SNOW). Whistler Resort, formerly owned by Intrawest, hosted the 2010 Winter Olympics.
Although we are 21st Century supported by 5G high speed DSL, AT&T cellular service, and looped electrical power for the Resort area, the 3 homes also have well and spring water capabilities, wood stoves, and oil lamps in the event of a power outage.
INFRASTRUCTURE
Snowshoe Farms has 3 owner residences with 2 barns, scale building, several outbuildings, spring house, root cellar, 10 miles of fencing, 4 miles of roads, 12+ springs, a cave with spring, a pond with fish, and several seasonal streams.
The Linwood Cave spring was tested for everything required by EPA and was found sodium free and excellent for bottling by REIC Laboratory (available upon request).
RESIDENCES
The 1890 Homeplace was milled and constructed of materials harvested here. All of the walls are oak and cherry beaded board with chair molding, and the floors are finished oak plank throughout the 4 bedrooms, parlor, living room, dining room, and kitchen comprising @2,600 s.f. of living space. Three bedrooms and the parlor have wood handcrafted mantles for the fireplaces (see 1914 photo courtesy of the Pocahontas County Historical Society).
The Sears cottage was assembled in the 1930s. It has 3 bedrooms, living room, dining room, sun porch, mud room, kitchen, pantry, and 1 bath comprising @ 1,700 s.f. of living space.
The guest house was also constructed in the 1930s and has 2 bedrooms, living room, dining room, kitchen, and 1 bath and @1,000 s.f. of living space.
FEATURES
SnowshoeFarms is a Turn-Key operation.
Farming operation: 3 farmers (including a farm manager & caretaker)
Support personnel: Real estate & litigate lawyer, Public Service Commission lawyer, real estate agents, surveyor, well driller, and dirt contractor.
Governmental & Corporate contacts: WV Department of Environmental Protection, WV Public Service Commission, Pocahontas County Commission, Snowshoe Mountain Resort
New $27M Regional sewage treatment plant to be constructed (2014-2015) providing
Snowshoe Farms and Headwaters with approximately 4,000’ of sewer mainline
3200’ state-maintained road frontage on the 1850 Huttonsville Turnpike
Elevation ranges from 3000’ – 4000’
Grazing for 200 head of cattle
60 acres of hay meadows
230 acres of timber including old growth white oak, red oak, & sugar maple
Apple orchard of several varieties for eating and canning
2 caves—the Linwood Cave & the Devils Dining Room Cave
Marcellus shale geology
Marketable building tracts available with wells
The Civil War Headquarters of Robert E. Lee in 1861 during the Cheat Mountain Campaign is located at Snowshoe Farms.
The Progressive Farmer magazine featured the farm on its’ November 1989 cover (see photo).
Snowshoe Farms is located 1½ hours from the 2 oldest resorts in the U.S.: The Homestead and The Greenbrier, a 4-Star Resort with casino and home to the 4th of July PGA tour—the Greenbrier Classic.
The Greenbrier County Airport has the longest runway in WV with daily flights to Atlanta and DC. The airport is 60 miles from the farm.
Amtrak provides service from the Greenbrier Resort to Chicago, DC, Philly and more.
Snowshoe Farms is nestled in theMonongahela National Forest and located near native trout fishing streams, white water rafting, mountain bike trails, spelunking, and, of course, the best skiing in the Eastern United States.
ADDITIONAL FEATURES
3 entrances from US 219 & the historic 1850 Huttonsville Turnpike
3,200’ state-maintained asphalt road frontage along the Old Huttonsville Pike
@ 4 miles of interior roads
HEADWATERS is a handcrafted year round residential community with all underground utilities and all the amenities that are provided by Snowshoe (skiing, golfing, biking, skeet shooting, concerts, festivals, bars, and restaurants). In addition, Headwaters will soon be served by a state of the art Regional sewage treatment plant.
More hunting & hiking next door: The farm’s western boundary connects to @ 10,000 acres of private timber lands and then on into more than 100,000 acres of the Monongahela National Forest. Hunting permits can be obtained from the timber company for a nominal annual fee.
REGIONAL SEWAGE PLANT (2014-2015)
The estimated cost is $27,089,990 ($11,000,000 at 0% with 0.5% admin fee for 40 years and $16,089,990 at 1% for 40 years) including @4,000’ of 8” gravity-fed sewer mainline along the Huttonsville Turnpike and through Snowshoe Farms and Headwaters.
Hard cost construction benefit to Snowshoe Farms of $1,001,800—see “Route 219 North Sewer Alignment Cost Comparison” (available upon request).
Snowshoe Farms is the largest contiguous commercial landholding to be served by the Regional Sewage Treatment Plant with the exception of Snowshoe Mountain Resort. Therefore, the farm and Headwaters are positioned to be the dominant interest in the Northern valley of U.S. 219. (The Southern valley along U.S. 219 will not get service.)
The Regional sewer is the final ingredient for The Snowshoe Resort area to become the Gatlinburg, Pigeon Forge, or Dollywood of West Virginia.
HERITAGE
This hundreds-of-years-old farm and these lands are a Historic Civil War site as Robert E. Lee’s Cheat Mountain Campaign Headquarters for 3 months in 1861 as evidenced by a U.S. 219 highway marker (see photo) and book entitled Robert E. Lee’s Cheat Mountain Campaign.
The Huttonsville Turnpike was the only north-south route into what was in 1850 the westernmost part of Virginia before West Virginia was divided by the Civil War and thus had to be defended. This is commemorated by “LEE’S HEADQUARTERS” highway marker. It reads:
“On this knoll, General Robert E. Lee maintained headquarters from July to September, 1861, after taking command of the Confederate forces in West Virginia. His army on Valley Mountain guarded the road leading south into Virginia.” (The “road leading south” is the Huttonsville Turnpike—see marker photo.)
The Confederate munitions plant was located on the present site of the big barn.
1890 Home place designated by the Pocahontas County Historical Society (see photo here and published inThe Pocahontas Times, May 26, 2011, p. 7)
MINERALS
All mineral rights will be conveyed.
NATURAL INFRASTRUCTURE
There are 96 caves recorded in Pocahontas County. Two grace this land. The Greenbrier Series outcrops on the valley floor of Elk River and its headwaters in the northern part of the county.
CAVES
LINWOOD CAVE
Elevation 3050 feet 38° 25’ 04” N.
Mingo Quadrangle 80° 02” 42” W.
Linwood Cave is 0.4 miles north of Linwood and a few hundred feet west of U.S. 219. The entrance is almost visible from the road and is in an obvious sink with trees around it.
The cave entrance consists of a steeply downsloping passage 8 feet high and wide which leads to a passage of similar size. At the base of the entrance passage is a stream which sinks into a breakdown-choked hole. The stream resurges at Linwood Water Cave, 0.4 miles south.
Linwood Cave consists of a single passage, averaging 10 feet in height and width and trending west for 800 feet. Two small side passages, 100 and 400 feet from the entrance respectively, go northwest and are unsurveyed. The stream in the cave can be followed upstream to a point where it emerges from a passage 2 feet high and 3 feet wide. The cave has been explored and mapped for several hundred feet beyond this point but becomes increasingly miserable.
The cave parallels a hill to the south of the owner’s house (Holt). Water in the cave apparently comes from a hillside spring which flows into a sink and then into the cave. Linwood Cave is in the upper part of the Greenbrier Group. About 1700 feet of passage have been mapped.
NOTE: During the Cheat Mountain Campaign, the Confederate Army wedged poles in the top of the cave to hang their meat for preservation. The cave also provided a water supply.
DEVILS DINING ROOM CAVE
Elevation 3100 feet 38°26” 00” N
Mingo Quadrangle 80° 02” 45” W.
Devils Dining Room is one mile north of Linwood, 1000 feet west of U.S. 219. It is a shaft 3 feet in diameter which is over 50 feet deep. No passage is reported to exist at the base. The pit is in the upper part of the Greenbrier Series.
SPRINGS
There are approximately 12 springs producing 10s of 1000s of gallons of spring water per day (REIC Laboratory analysis available upon request).
POCAHONTAS COUNTY
Pocahontas County is known as the Birthplace of Rivers, as eight rivers have their headwaters here. These are the Cherry, Cranberry, Elk, Gauley, Greenbrier, Tygart, Williams, and the Shaver Fork of the Cheat.
Pocahontas County is fortunate to have more parks and forests than any other county in West Virginia. Over sixty-percent of our 900 square miles is protected state parks or federal forest land. These treasures are a tribute to the preservation of our vast natural resources.