The Wyoming Hotel is a long abandoned hotel in the coalfields of West Virginia. Guests in the hotel over the years included then-Senator John F. Kennedy, United Mine Worker’s President John L. Lewis, Babe Ruth, Will Rogers, and other dignitaries.
History
The Virginian Railroad reached Wyoming County in 1906, which was soon followed by the first commercial coal mine in 1908, sparking the development of the Winding Gulf Coalfield. 11 The Winding Gulf, promoted as the “Billion Dollar Coalfield,” soon had dozens of companies vying to extract pricey low-volatile “smokeless” coal, high-quality metallurgical coal, and steam coal from the earth.
In 1918, 13 J.C. Sullivan, owner of several coal mines in Tralee, Meade Poca, and Barker’s Creek, 10 commissioned Alex Mahood to design the Wyoming Hotel which opened in 1919 in the heart of downtown Mullens. 1 Not long after it was put into operation, it was destroyed in a fire that ravaged the central business district on December 23, 1920. It was quickly rebuilt.
The first floor of the new Wyoming featured a lobby, and a combination dining room, and a ballroom that could host 250 guests, 9 while the second floor contained social rooms for the guests. 2 The upper three levels contained 68 guest rooms and one bathroom per floor. 1 The basement was used by the American Legion Post 108. 6
In 1922, Sullivan moved his Bank of Wyoming from his company store in Meade Poca to the Wyoming in 1922. 1 Despite the good fortunes of the booming coalfields, Sullivan went bankrupt in 1925 and the hotel was acquired by the Shenandoah Life Insurance Company of Roanoke, Virginia. 2 The Bank of Wyoming was acquired by the People’s Bank of Mullens in January 1926.
The hotel was lightly redecorated when the guest rooms were repainted and the beds replaced in September 1936. 3 Additionally, a large red neon sign, weighing 400 pounds, was installed over the main entrance.
In the 1940s, the Wyoming was sold to M.H. Hodel, the owner of the Beckley Newspaper Company, and later conveyed to Sam and Nelva Webster. 2
Radio station WWYO was formed in January 1949 to offer “the friendly voice of the hills.” 12 When it went on air at 7:15 AM on February 6, it was the county’s first airlane medium and was the last new station in the southern part of the state to program live country music extensively. The tower and station were located in Pineville with a supplemental office located in the Wyoming.
On the evening of September 23, 1952, John J. Woods, who billed himself the “human fly,” climbed the Wyoming under the sponsorship of the city’s police department. 5 At the top, he inverted himself and balanced his head on the ledge at the top of the 70-foot building. It was a repeat performance of an earlier act in 1946. Woods, at age 55, stated that he had scaled over 11,000 buildings. During his 38 years as the “human fly,” he had fallen just four times, once a distance of four stories. Twenty percent of the money donated by spectators was donated to the local police department’s uniform fund.
The hotel dining room was reopened by John Hall in 1956. 7 Hall enlarged the existing Coffee Shop and connected it to the shuttered dining room, which was renovated and outfitted with air conditioning and lounges for both men and women. “Ella’s Beauty Salon,” operated by Ella Neely, opened in the basement of the hotel in October 1960. 8
Declining demand for coal from the Winding Gulf Coalfield and the mechanization of coal extraction led to regional population collapses. Unable to fill rooms and compete with larger chain hotels along the West Virginia Turnpike and Interstates 64 and 77, the Wyoming Hotel was forced to close circa 1978.
A record-breaking flood in July 2001 swept up to seven feet of water through the Wyoming Hotel. 4 It spread not only mold and debris throughout the basement and the first floor, but caused the concrete floors in the rear of the building to collapse.
In March 2021, the owners of the hotel received a grant of $6,000 from the Preservation Alliance, a non-profit organization dedicated to preserving historically significant properties throughout the state. 13 The money is being used to advance efforts to rehabilitate the building for commercial and residential uses.
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Sources
- Historic Walking Tour, Mullens, WV. Mullens: Rural Appalachian Improvement League, n.d. Coal Heritage. Web. 16 Oct. 2014. Article.
- United States. Dept. of the Interior. Mullens Historic District. Comp. Howard G. Adkins and Mack H. Gillenwater. Washington: National Park Service, May 1993. 16 Oct. 2014. Article.
- “Wyoming Hotel Newly Bedighl.” Raleigh Register [Beckley], 25 Sept. 1936, p. 7.
- Calwell, Becky “Mullens.” e-WV: The West Virginia Encyclopedia. 30 May 2013.
- “‘Human Fly’ to Climb Mullens Building Tonight.” Raleigh Register [Beckley], 23 Sept. 1952, p. 5.
- “Mullens Legion Post Receives Gift from Charles Town Club.” Raleigh Register [Beckley], 21 Oct. 1945, p. 2.
- “John Hall Returns to Mullens to Re-Enter Restaurant Business.” Raleigh Register [Beckley], 2 Jul. 1956, p. 2.
- Breck, Eve. “‘Waiting for Mother’ Pleasant for Tots of Salon’s Customers.” Raleigh Register [Beckley], 20 Oct. 1960, p. 12.
- “Lodging in Railroad Towns.” Historic Inns of Southern West Virginia, by Ed Robinson, Arcadia, 2007, p. 74.
- “Mullens business district suffers three fires in early years.” Wyoming County Report, 3 Apr. 2017.
- West Virginia State Historic Preservation Office. Wyoming Hotel. Comp. Dobson, Sone & Valente, 23 Oct. 1990. Article.
- Miller, Jeff. “History of WWYO, Pineville.” History of Broadcasting in West Virginia. Article.
- Bowman, Mary Keller. “Development of Town of Mullens.” Reference Book of Wyoming County History, McClain Print Co., Parsons, WV, 1965, pp. 462.
7 Comments
Add Yours →Mr.Andrews was a photographer and had a space on the second floor I think. He took Senior cap and gown pictures.
I remember eating there as a small child and looking out those windows at the river . It had such good food. I can still see those vending machines atthe door and remember the people coming out and in
I’d love to see photos of its years of activity! Lovely old building sad it’s not being restored…
kinda in sad shape be nice if some of it could be saved
I like History I live in MUllens the home of this Structure
YES MY FATHERS RESTAURANT WAS NEXT TO THE BRIDGE.
I managed a finance company (Ashland Finance Company) in the space where the Wyoming Bank was originally located for 17 years. Carl Clifford was the hotel manager and one of my best friends. We all ate at Laura Thorn’s “Coffee Shop” almost every day. I was at a luncheon for Senator John F. Kennedy there in April 1960 when he was running for President. Lots of good memories. By the way Fred Mosrie, I can remember eating at your father, “Pop” Mosrie’s restaurant many times when I was growing up. I could go on but……………….
my father had a restaurant two blocks from the wyoming hotel in the 1940s. i was born in mullens,west virginia november 29 1942.