By Suzanne Stewart, The Pocahontas Times
POCAHONTAS COUNTY, W.Va. — Those who travel to Cass Scenic Railroad State Park know that they are going to learn about the history of the lumber industry and the steam locomotives which are still used today at the tourist attraction.
The museum is filled with artifacts left behind by the woodhicks and families who lived in the area during the timber boom. In the showcase room, you will find an intricately built miniature of the town, complete with trains, company housing and the forest which was filled with red spruce trees.
Among the artifacts and in a glass case near the entrance, is a replica model of the Wright Flyer III, the first plane built by the Wright Brothers to successfully take flight. It is a curious sight to behold at a historic lumber and locomotive town, but when visitors see the photocopy of a letter next to the model, its connection to the area becomes clearer.
The typed letter on a sheet of letterhead paper from the Wright Cycling Company in Dayton, Ohio, dated March 5, 1904, was addressed to the West Virginia Spruce Lumber Co. In the letter, Wilbur Wright inquires if the company has red spruce that is free of knots and twists which could be used in an airplane.
“They were looking for straight spruce lumber that was free of knots and during that time, it was very hard to find, particularly to the lengths they desired,” Cass Superintendent Marshall Markley said. “They reached out to the company to get that and, of course, there’s this letter of exchange. That lumber was part of the Wright Brothers III plane.”
Read more: https://pocahontastimes.com/wright-brothers-used-local-spruce-to-become-first-in-flight/