Mullens West Virginia

Mullens West Virginia Abandoned

Mullens was incorporated as a town on September 17, 1912 and operated under a charter issued by the Circuit Court of Wyoming County. It was named for A. J. Mullins, who owned the land upon which the town is built. The town's original name was spelled with an "i"; a recording error accounts for the error in spelling, which was never corrected.[6] An Act of the West Virginia Legislature granting a charter to the City of Mullens was passed February 22, 1929.

The early growth of the Mullens community came with development of the lumber and coal mining industries. In the early 20th century, coal-mining manager and developer William Nelson Page of Ansted helped open the Winding Gulf Coalfield with plans for the Deepwater Railway, a new short-line railroad. When Page ran into competitive collusion by the bigger railroads which would have wrecked his project, backed by his silent partner, wealthy industrialist Henry Huttleston Rogers, the plan was expanded in a secretive and massive way to build a line all the way east to the port of Hampton Roads.

Completed in 1909, the Virginian Railway (VGN) established engine terminal and yard facilities near Mullens which employed hundreds of workers during the first half of the 20th century. The VGN was merged with the Norfolk and Western Railway (N&W) in 1959, and both later became part of the Norfolk Southern Railway (NS). A caboose museum in Mullens celebrates the history of the railroad in the region

Wyoming Hotel

The Wyoming Hotel is located in Mullens, West Virginia and was initially constructed in 1918.1 Guests in the hotel over the years included then-Senator John F. Kennedy, United Mine Worker’s President John L. Lewis, Babe Ruth, Will Rogers and other dignitaries.

The original building was destroyed by fire in August 1919 and rebuilt a year later by J.C. Sullivan, owner of several coal mines at Tralee, Meade Poca and Barker’s Creek.1 The five-story hotel was designed by Alex Mahood and was built in the form of an “H.”2 It featured a grand lobby, restaurant and ballroom on the first floor, a mezzanine over the lobby and social rooms on the second floor. On the upper three levels, there was one bathroom per floor for the 68 guest rooms.1

Sullivan then moved his Bank of Wyoming from his company store building in Meade Poca or South Mullens to the hotel in 1922, occupying the front corner of the hotel.1

Despite the good fortunes of the decade, Sullivan went bankrupt in 1925 and the hotel was acquired by the Shenandoah Life Insurance Company of Roanoke, Virginia.2 In January 1926, the People’s Bank of Mullens replaced the Bank of Wyoming.

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Webster Apartments was built by Dr. W. H. Wallingford in 1921, originally Mullens General Hospital. First floor originally occupied by the Mullens Bakery. Later Lively Furniture. Second floor entered from Wyoming Street was originally fused or hospital out-patient treatment and patient rooms; the floor had the operating room in front with large windows for natural light