Kimball, named for Frederick Kimball, the Norfolk and Western Railway’s second president from 1881 to 1903, developed as a representative coal company town along the railway line through McDowell and nearby counties in the 1890s and early 1900s. A civil engineer with an interest in geology, Frederick Kimball helped develop the Pocahontas coalfields in Virginia and West Virginia. The railway’s route along Elkhorn Creek to the Tug River at Welch required the construction of several tunnels, including Elkhorn Tunnel through Flat Top Mountain and nearby West Vivian Tunnel. The Houston Coal Company laid out and developed Kimball, which was incorporated in 1911. Before the coal industry expanded in southern West Virginia, the area had only scattered self-sufficient farms and small communities. Because the population was low and labor was scarce, coal companies recruited workers from the older coalfields in Pennsylvania and then from Eastern and Southern Europe and the American South, and these groups brought languages and customs that created ethnic diversity previously found mainly in larger cities. To house and provide for workers, coal companies built self-sufficient communities. By 1920, almost 80 percent of coal miners in West Virginia were estimated to be living in company-owned housing. In many communities, the flattest land held mining, railroad, and commercial facilities, while company housing stood on nearby hillslopes. The company store formed the commercial center of towns such as Kimball, serving both the convenience of mine workers and the profit of the coal company. Stores such as the nearby Houston Coal Company Store were placed prominently and often featured distinctive architecture reflecting the company’s wealth and position. They sold a wide range of goods, including food, hardware, clothing, furniture, and appliances, and often also contained the local post office, the company’s business office, a doctor’s office, and a clubhouse for visitors. Because of their central locations and multiple functions, these stores also became centers of social activity. Most company stores used a scrip system of paper or metal currency issued by the coal company and redeemable only at the store. Miners could be paid in cash and were not required to use scrip or shop at the company store, but many, out of necessity for food and other goods, drew their wages in scrip and became caught in a cycle that left no currency due them at payday.