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CONDITIONS BY COUNTIES. 



Greenbrier river, the principal stream, rises in the high moun 

 tains in the north and flows southward passing slightly east of 

 the center of the connty. Its drainage basin includes about three- 

 fourths of the whole area of the county. The larger eastern tribu- 

 taries of the Greenbrier, named from south to north^ are Joshua 

 creek, Beaver creek, Knapps creek. Thorny creek, North fork, 

 and East fork. These tributaries, with their numerous branch- 

 es, drain all the area east of the Greenbrier river. Its principal 

 western tributaries are Locust creek, Stamping creek, Swago 

 creek, Stony creek, Laurel run. Clover creek and West fork. 

 The streams which drain the western side of the county, named 

 from south to north, are North Fork of Cherry river, Cran- 

 berry river, Williams river^ tributaries of the Gauley; Old 

 Field fork, Slaty fork. Big Springs fork, and Dry fork, trib- 

 utaries of the Elk river ; Tygarts Valley river, tributary of the 

 Monongahela; and Shavers fork, tributary of the Cheat river. 

 A small area on the west is drained by the heads of the North, 

 Middle and South forks of the Gauley river. It is thus seen 

 that no fewer than 8 rivers have their sources in the mountains 

 of Pocahontas, making it an area of great importance from the 

 standpoint of water protection and distribution. 



The Original Timber Conditions. 



The county has been and still remains, one of the most im- 

 portant timber regions of the state. Red spruce once covered 

 the high mountains lying west of the Greenbrier river basin and 

 a large area in the north drained by the headwaters of the 

 Greenbrier and Shavers Fork of Cheat. With and near the 

 spruce grew such other woods as hemlock, black cherry, yellow 

 birch, sugar maple, beech and chestnut. On the lower grounds 

 between the mountainous sections of the east and west grew 

 most of the hardwoods common to central West Virginia. These 

 included such species as yellow poplar, black walnut, white and 

 red oaks, bass wood, white ash, hickories and maples. East of the 

 Greenbrier river, even on the highest elevations^ spruce was not 

 found to any extent south of the town of Greenbank. White 

 pine was distributed in large areas along Deer creek, Sitlington 

 creek, Knapps creek, and other eastern tributaries of the Green- 



