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The History Project – Episode 146
It’s the Daily 304’s presentation of famous people, places and events that shaped West Virginia.
Welcome to The History Project. Today, we take look at… Bramwell – The Unique Town of Millionaires
Bramwell is not one of the state’s oldest towns, and with a current population of only 272, it is by far not its largest. But it is one of West Virginia’s and America’s most unique towns.
By the 1880s, coal was booming in Mercer County when the Norfolk & Western Railway formed the Flat Top Coal Company, dotted the area with coal mines. Needing a central base, Flat Top founded a new community along the Bluestone River in 1888. It is said that J.H. Bramwell, a civil engineer from New York and the community’s first postmaster, named the town for himself.
Flat Top became the Pocahontas Land Corporation, and the extent of its coal empire canvased the region with Bramwell its capital and the keeper of the company’s capital. Norfolk & Western trains made 14 stops a day in Bramwell, and vast amounts of money were wheeled between the rail cars and Bramwell National Bank. Coal barons built mansions there, including Edward Cooper, W. H. Thomas, Philip Goodwill, and Isaac T. Mann. By the turn of the 20th century, Bramwell was the wealthiest town in America per capita and garnered the nickname “The Town of Millionaires,” and rebuilt after a fire destroyed its downtown in 1910.
Of course, coal is no longer king and the wealth of the area dissipated with the coal dust. But the proud Bramwell residents of today work to sustain the town and make it a well-preserved remnant of coal’s boom. With its restored main street and refurbished mansions, the entire town of was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983. Bed and Breakfasts and tony shops welcome tourists and guests who wish to step back in time and enjoy the Victorian-era beauty of a town that once had the greatest concentration of wealth in America.
