Mullens traces its roots to 1894, when Andrew Jackson Mullins purchased 65 acres for $345, built a cabin, and in 1896 moved his 11 remaining family members there from McDowell County. A post office was established in 1904, and the town began to flourish after the Virginian Railroad arrived in 1906. With the laying of track, Mullens grew rapidly into a railroad hub as the region’s coal mines boomed, spreading from the Guyandotte River on the south, Slab Fork Creek on the west, Third Street on the north, and the railroad on the east. Incorporated in 1912, Mullens continued to expand as coal became dominant. In 1913, the first coal mine in Wyoming County opened just south of town in Meade Poca, or South Mullens, and the Virginian opened its division terminal one mile southwest in Elmore. During this growth, the business section suffered devastating fires in 1917, 1919, and 1920 that destroyed almost every business because most buildings were made of wood. After the 1920 fire, city authorities required new buildings to be made of fire-resistant materials such as stone or brick. Rebuilt and still sustained by the coal boom, Mullens continued growing, and by the mid-1920s it had three banks, three hotels, numerous stores, paved streets, water, sewer, and electric service, and five passenger trains stopping daily, serving as the retail center for dozens of mines in the Winding Gulf Coalfield.