In 1873, he hired Isiah Arnold Welch to survey timber and coal in the Flat Top Mountain area.

In addition to using the coal from a large outcropping on his property, he sold it to people who came to purchase it by the bushel.

The railroad extension was established in 1881 by The Southwest Virginia Improvement Company under the direction of Mine Superintendent William Arthur Lathrop and architect Charles W.

200 Hungarian, Swedish and German immigrant workers, recruited from Castle Garden, New York, arrived in January 1882.

On June 30, 1882, Powell's Bottom officially became Pocahontas when the post office was established with William A. Lathrop its first postmaster.

[15] The railroad line constructed to Pocahontas helped start the region's coal boom in the late 19th century.

The Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development gave the town a $1,000,000 grant to help fund their downtown revitalization.

In 2012, a lawsuit was filed on behalf of Historic Pocahontas to preserve buildings slated for demolition and redevelop them instead.

[citation needed] According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 0.6 square mile (1.6 km2), all land.

The Pocahontas State Correctional Center opened in 2007; the medium-security prison can house around 1,000 inmates.

The exhibition mine features a 13-foot-tall (4.0 m) coal seam, museum, education center, and restaurant.

[20] St. Elizabeth's Roman Catholic Church, built by Hungarian immigrants who came to work in the coal mines, features ten life-sized murals on the ceiling and walls.

The church holds an annual Hungarian cabbage roll dinner to honor the European heritage of workers in the coalfields.

[citation needed] Events in June include a car show and flea market, and the Pocahontas Bluegrass Festival.

[citation needed] Independence Day celebrations in July include fireworks, a street dance, bands, and food.

The Virginia Department of Transportation awarded the town funding to complete a walking trail which links the Pocahontas Exhibition Coal Mine to the Laurel Meadows Park.

In 2011, the West Virginia Department of Health recognized the town for efforts taken to protect its source water and safeguard the public.