William Nelson Page

William Nelson Page became one of the leading managers and developers of West Virginia's coalfields in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, spending much of his time in Ansted. While president of the Gauley Mountain Coal Company, he and his family lived in a spacious Victorian mansion that still stands nearby. He was involved in several business ventures around the region, including coal and iron, served as Mayor of Ansted for ten years, was a Brigadier Inspector General in the West Virginia National Guard, and was the first president of the Ansted National Bank. The Fayette County town of Page is named after him. He is especially known for his railroad work: in 1896 he started the Loup Creek and Deepwater Railway for logging operations, the Deepwater Railway was incorporated in 1898 with Page as president, and at the same time he was named president of the Tidewater Railroad. In 1907 the two merged to form the Virginian Railway, which soon gained the title of the "richest little railroad in the world." Page was its first president. When construction began on the line from Fayette County to the Virginia coast, there was not a single coal mine along it, but by 1933 the coal boom had brought a total of 91 coal mines along the Virginian.

Ansted, West Virginia · United States