Sipsey was founded in 1912 by Milton H. and Rose Fies and the Maryland Coal and Coke Co., later named the DeBardeleben Coal Co. Built as a showplace mining village in the South, it included a large commissary, school building, church, and 200 houses made from logs sawed on the property. The first load of coal was shipped on August 13, 1913. When the mine opened, wages for a ten-hour day were $1.50 for outside labor, $2.75 for track men, $3 for electricians, $3 for machine men, $2.75 for motormen, and $2.50 for trip riders. In 1915, a new two-story school was built with three classrooms on the first floor and the Masonic Lodge on the top floor, and it became the first school in the county to use a nine-month term. Soon afterward, another school for African Americans was built, the largest of its kind in the county, and it later became a recreational center. The church built at that time was a Union Church shared by Baptists and Methodists on alternate Sundays, and it still stands and remains in use. The first clinic was built in 1913, and the Company Dairy was founded in 1917. The town also had a pool hall, picture show, concessions, and amusement features. Prices when the town was built included $6 rent, white meat at five cents per pound, lard at five cents per pound, and flour at 75 cents for 24 pounds. Sipsey is a Choctaw name meaning poplar, chosen because numerous poplar trees grew there when the town was founded.