The first setter in what would eventually become Welch was Moses A. Cartwright. Cartwright was a cattleman from Mason, Indiana and built a homestead along the Tug River where the Coney Island amusement park would be operated. The next known settlers were the Hunt brothers and their families. In 1884 William G. Hunt built a house near the current location of the Welch Emergency hospital and operated a small store near at the future intersection of Sudduth Street and McDowell Street. His brother John H. Hunt would settle at the confluence of Elkhorn Creek and the Tug River the following year. His farm of a little more than 160 acres would later become downtown Welch. (1) Rose Marino page 4.
The Hunt farm would attract the attention of a trio of investors associated with the development of the Flattop-Pocahontas Coalfield. Their leader was Captain Isaiah A. Welch a former soldier in the Confederate army and Virginia state legislator from Kanawha County. Welch had surveyed the 500,000 acres Wilson Cary Nicolas tract that included the Flattop-Pocahontas Coalfield in 1873. Welch had been instrumental in the efforts of another Confederate officer, Major Jedediah Hotchkiss, to develop the coal and timber resources of the area. The second man in the group was an Englishman named Joseph H. Bramwell. Bramwell was a mine engineer who had managed steel mills in Pennsylvania and Ohio and was allied with Crozer Coal interests in the nearby Elkhorn River Valley. The third man was a Union Veteran from Pennsylvania named Casper H. Duhring. He served for a time in the 3rd Pennsylvania Reserve Infantry Regiment rising to the rank of Sergeant. After the war he rose to the rank of Major in the Pennsylvania National Guard.
These men possessed insider information that they wanted to exploit. They knew that the new line of the Norfolk and Western Railroad which was extending down the Elkhorn Creek servicing the numerous coal mining operations that were springing up. This same railroad would soon reach the area of the Hunt farm. John Hunts land was seen as the ideal spot to build a commercial and residential to service these same mining operations. The Hunt farm seemed ideally suited to this development. It was at the intersection of the Elkhorn Creek and the Tug River and was made up of relatively flat land, one of the rarest commodities in McDowell County, West Virginia.
These prospective purchasers were able to negotiate the sale of the Hunt farm. A local legend states that the land was traded for $40 and Captain Welch’s mare “Cellum”. The deed that was later recorded for the property states that the consideration for the transfer was $2,155.75. On March 17, 1893, Isaiah Welch , Joseph Bramwell and the heirs of Casper Duhring transferred their holdings in the village of Welch to a newly formed corporation: the Welch Land and Development Company. The land had already been surveyed and subdivided by Captain Welch and a marketing campaign advertising in newspapers as far away as Roanoke, Virginia was launched to encourage the growth and development of this new community. A series of these advertisements made that claim that, “Welch is the center of the Great Flattop-Pocahontas Coalfield” and further touted that , “No one has ever yet failed to make money on real estate at Welch.” (3) McDowell County Land Records DB#, page#. The Roanoke Times, May 16, 1893, page
The first post office in what would become Welch was established on April 20, 1891 in a small store owned by William Hunt, its first post master. William Hunt had applied for the name Hunt for the post office but it was given the designation of Stansill. This post office closed after only eight months and re-designated as the Welch post office under a new post master Lewis Blakely. This new name followed existing usage since the local residents already referred to the community as the Village of Welch. A petition to change the county seat to this new community was filed in the summer of 1891. The Norfolk and Western Railroad had reached the community and was in the process of constructing the tunnels and bridges that would carry the line onward to the Ohio River and beyond. It was argued by the proponents of moving the county’s government that Welch would soon be a major stop on the rail road while the existing courthouse was located in Perryville (now English), which was only accessible by horse trails. Among those who put up the surety bond to insure payment of the costs of the election was Captain Welch himself. (1) County Commission Minutes
This election was held in September of 1891 on this question of moving the courthouse and the results of the election favored the village of Welch over Perryville by a vote of 1,455 to 145. At time of the election the official population of McDowell County was only 7300. The county seat in Perryville had been located in house owned by George Washington Payne. Payne led a contigent of pro-Perryville supporters who believed that the election had been fraudlent and made the accusation that the many Welch votes had been obtained by stuffing the ballot boxes by transient railroad and mine workers. A court challenge ensued and it was not until October of 1894 that the court records and other documents were actually moved to Welch. At first the court was convened in space provided rent free by the Hutson Brothers saloon on Wyoming Street. This facility was the seat of McDowell County justice and government until the current courthouse was built in 1895. (5) "The Courthouse Wars," (Part II) by Eva Margaret Carnes, West Virginia Review, February 1944.
Welch received its first charter on July 12, 1894. The town limits started at about 380 acres and the population was estimated at 300. A special election was held on July 25, 1894. W. T. Hufford was elected as Mayor over E. H. Sudduth by a vote of 43 to 33. J.C. Beavers was elected the first recorder and W. G. Hunt, James Yonce, B. Kniffin, John Effler and W. L. Taylor made up the first city council. These men held their offices until the first regular election was held in January of the next year. (6) City of Welch Minute Book Volume 1
