Captain Isaiah Arnold Welch (circa 1824-1902) was a land surveyor, civil engineer, and captain in the Confederate Army. Hired by cartographer Major Jedediah Hotchkiss to survey the coal and timber values of southern West Virginia, Welch began in 1873 to survey what would become the Pocahontas coalfields. He was impressed by the quality and quantity of coal, though he feared it would be a couple of generations before it could be transported to markets. His report stirred interest among capitalists and led to the development of the coal industry in McDowell County. In 1889, Welch purchased 164.98 acres at the junction of the Tug Fork River and Elkhorn Creek from John Henry Hunt, divided the land into lots, and sold them to coal barons and entrepreneurs who built stores, banks, churches, schools, and homes near downtown and along the hilltops. The new city became a service center for the railroad and coal industries and the county seat of McDowell County, and the City of Welch was named in his honor.