Bramwell and the surrounding Pocahontas coalfield grew through the labor of native Appalachians, immigrants from southern and eastern Europe, and African-Americans from the agricultural South, many of whom came with little or no industrial experience. Because mines lay close enough to town, workers could live in Bramwell and walk or take the train to work, while others lived in Coopers, Simmons, and Freeman, coal towns established by 1890 that developed alongside Bramwell. In 1900, Bramwell had a population of 824, including African-American and white coal and coke workers living within the town limits, and some estimates placed the greater Bramwell area at 4000 people at the beginning of the 20th century. Early on, workers and mine operators lived in the same neighborhoods in smaller self-sufficient communities with their own churches, schools, stores, post offices, and in Simmons and Coopers, railroad stations, but as mining became more established and revenues rose, owners and operators moved to Bramwell or Bluefield. The coalfield drew a diverse population that included African-Americans, Italians, English, Hungarians, Irish, Welch, Dutch, German, Lithuanian, Russian, Scottish, and local residents. Among the early coal entrepreneurs was John Cooper, born in 1842 in South Staffordshire, England, who began mine work at age 6, came to America in 1862, worked in Pennsylvania, moved to Fayette County, West Virginia, in 1873, founded the Mill Creek Coal Coke Company with Joseph Beury in 1884, and established Coopers south of Bramwell as his home near his mining operations. He also worked with Jenkin Jones, became president of the Bank of Bramwell, and organized the Republican Party in Fayette and Mercer counties. Modern Bramwell became a composite community: the core town was incorporated in 1888, its neighboring towns of Freeman (Simmons) and Coopers were eventually absorbed, and their post offices remained until Coopers closed in 1993 and Freeman in 1997.