Bramwell, West Virginia

From West Virginia (WV) Cyclopedia

A community in Mercer County, incorporated in 1888, Bramwell, WV was named for J. Herbert Bramwell, superintendent and mining engineer of the Flat Top Coal Company. The community was famous as the home of many millionaires in the early 1900s. The Bramwell Historic District protects several such mansions on a bend in the Bluestone River.

Bramwell was first laid out in 1884, following the opening of the Flat Top Coalfield which occurred with arrival of the Norfork & Western Railway (http://www.wvrailroads.net/index.php/Norfolk_%26_Western_Railway) (N&W). Antipating the arrival of the railroad, several mining operations in the area were ready for production when the N&W completed its rail line to Bramwell on Nov. 10, 1884, with the Beury-Cooper mines make their first shipment of coal that same day.

The corporation of Bramwell extended for nearly three miles, and included Coopers, a post office and junction on the N&W Railway, and Freemans, a post office and shipping point. By early 1885, the newly created town of Bramwell had twenty-five dwellings, two stores and two boarding houses, with about 500 workers employed by nearby mines. The W.Va. Geological Survey (1916) listed the town's population as 3,207 (1910) and indicated Bramwell had 5 churches, a graded public school, one bank, 5 stores, 4 restaurants, and one hotel.

Population: 426

Elevation: 2253 feet

Weather: Bramwell, WV (http://www.wvwebsites.com/cgi-bin/weather/hamweather.cgi?user=default&theme=default&forecast=zandh&state=wv&place=Bramwell)

Lodging: Bramwell, WV Hotels (http://www.wvexplorer.com/Bramwell_WV_Hotels.asp)