In Mercer County (Southern Region), the cities economy is fired by the nearby coal fields. Bramwell was once considered the richest town in the country, having 14 millionaires.
The symbol of its wealth, the Bramwell Bank, gained fame when it floated the largest Liberty Bond during World War I, resulting in the commonly used 1920s phrase `solid as the Bank of Bramwell`.
The Depression brought an end to prosperity and closed the bank, but many of the structures representative of West Virginia's gilded age have been preserved in the town's historic district.
