United States Steel Corporation began developing these coal mining facilities in 1917, and the first coal was shipped on November 2, 1917. The No. 31 mine portals were finished in 1920 while coal was being removed from temporary portals to the west. The main haulage ran straight through the mountain to Lewis Creek in Letcher County, while an offset continued to Colliers Creek, about 5 miles away, and the mine closed in 1963. In 1968 the three main entries were rehabilitated to serve the new Winifrede Mine borehole, 1800 feet underground, and the conveyor here hauled coal at 500 tons per hour from the Winifrede Mine to a 2300 ton storage silo at the tipple. Coal shipments reached 1,243,000 tons in 1919. The complex included the No. 31 Mine Portal, No. 31 Mine Lamphouse, Lynch Firehouse, Bathhouse and Office, No. 31 Mine Coal Dump Pit, Power House, Machine Shop, Coal Tipple, Blending Bin and Lower Conveyor, City Water Plant, Restaurant Building, Railroad Station, Bore Cores for the Winifrede Mine, the Winifrede Mine Conveyor, the Winifrede Mine Conveyor Ventilating Fan, and the No. 31 Mine Shop floor slab. To build the town and mine support facilities, Big Looney Creek was rerouted and more than one mile was walled with locally quarried native sandstone. In addition to these structures, the coal company built six miles of concrete paved streets, fifty miles of water lines, power lines, one of the largest company stores in the world, a hospital, a 120 room hotel, a bank, a post office, elementary and high schools, and 1000 homes served by outhouses connected to a central sewage disposal plant. At one time the city had more than 10,000 residents.