# Pickens, West Virginia

Pickens is a census-designated place (CDP) in Randolph County, West Virginia, United States. Pickens is 13 miles (21 km) 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 2010 census, its population was 66.

## History

In 1891, George M. Whitescarver (1831-1914), 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.

## Climate

The climate in this area has mild differences between highs and lows, and there is adequate rainfall year-round. According to the Köppen Climate Classification system, Pickens has a marine west coast climate, abbreviated "Cfb" on climate maps.
Climate data for Pickens 2 N, West Virginia, 1991–2020 normals, 1996-2020 precip/snowfall: 2880ft (878m) :
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °F (°C) | 67 (19) | 71 (22) | 78 (26) | 85 (29) | 85 (29) | 87 (31) | 91 (33) | 89 (32) | 94 (34) | 80 (27) | 78 (26) | 72 (22) | 94 (34) |
| Mean maximum °F (°C) | 61.0 (16.1) | 61.4 (16.3) | 68.3 (20.2) | 77.7 (25.4) | 79.6 (26.4) | 82.9 (28.3) | 83.7 (28.7) | 84.2 (29.0) | 81.9 (27.7) | 74.4 (23.6) | 68.1 (20.1) | 62.1 (16.7) | 84.1 (28.9) |
| Mean daily maximum °F (°C) | 36.4 (2.4) | 38.7 (3.7) | 47.5 (8.6) | 58.2 (14.6) | 67.1 (19.5) | 74.0 (23.3) | 76.9 (24.9) | 76.5 (24.7) | 72.2 (22.3) | 61.2 (16.2) | 49.2 (9.6) | 41.1 (5.1) | 58.3 (14.6) |
| Daily mean °F (°C) | 28.3 (−2.1) | 30.4 (−0.9) | 38.6 (3.7) | 49.1 (9.5) | 58.3 (14.6) | 65.5 (18.6) | 68.9 (20.5) | 67.7 (19.8) | 62.7 (17.1) | 51.9 (11.1) | 40.9 (4.9) | 33.6 (0.9) | 49.7 (9.8) |
| Mean daily minimum °F (°C) | 20.1 (−6.6) | 22.1 (−5.5) | 29.6 (−1.3) | 40.0 (4.4) | 49.5 (9.7) | 57.0 (13.9) | 60.9 (16.1) | 58.9 (14.9) | 53.3 (11.8) | 42.6 (5.9) | 32.7 (0.4) | 26.1 (−3.3) | 41.1 (5.0) |
| Mean minimum °F (°C) | −0.6 (−18.1) | 1.8 (−16.8) | 9.1 (−12.7) | 21.4 (−5.9) | 33.4 (0.8) | 44.1 (6.7) | 50.4 (10.2) | 49.8 (9.9) | 40.1 (4.5) | 27.5 (−2.5) | 14.9 (−9.5) | 4.8 (−15.1) | −2.5 (−19.2) |
| Record low °F (°C) | −11 (−24) | −13 (−25) | 0 (−18) | 14 (−10) | 28 (−2) | 34 (1) | 42 (6) | 44 (7) | 33 (1) | 22 (−6) | 2 (−17) | −6 (−21) | −13 (−25) |
| Average precipitation inches (mm) | 5.50 (140) | 4.42 (112) | 5.49 (139) | 5.93 (151) | 7.17 (182) | 5.91 (150) | 6.64 (169) | 4.91 (125) | 4.97 (126) | 3.99 (101) | 4.57 (116) | 5.17 (131) | 64.67 (1,642) |
| Average snowfall inches (cm) | 33.0 (84) | 23.8 (60) | 16.3 (41) | 6.1 (15) | trace | 0.0 (0.0) | 0.0 (0.0) | 0.0 (0.0) | 0.0 (0.0) | 2.1 (5.3) | 8.5 (22) | 24.4 (62) | 114.2 (289.3) |
| Source 1: NOAA ||||||||||||||
| Source 2: XMACIS (precip/snowfall, temp records & monthly max/mins) ||||||||||||||

## Notable people

* Admiral Frank G. Fahrion, USN, was born in Pickens.
* John Joseph Swint (1879-1962), 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 (1907–2009), physical chemist known for popularizing the double-reciprocal plot, was born in Pickens.