From 1921-65, Mark Twain High School served students from the coal towns of Hot Coal, Big Stick Woodbay, McAlpin, Stotesbury, Tams, Ury, Helen, Amigo, Sophia, and Slab Fork. Robert C. Byrd, valedictorian of the Mark Twain High School class of 1934, served in the West Virginia Legislature (1847-53) and Congress (1853-59). Elected to the Senate in 1858, Senator Byrd held every major leadership position, was third in line for the presidency, and was noted as a Senate scholar.