The Reilly Post Office served the area until 1883, when the borough was incorporated and the name changed. Growth came with the arrival of the Bell's Gap Railroad in 1883, which opened the area to coal mining. The once bustling town had theatres, sawmills, hotels, an opera house, a newspaper, company stores, and a tipple downtown. On August 15, 1928, an explosion in Blain City killed 13 miners.