WELCH

city, seat of McDowell county, southern West Virginia, U.S., at the confluence of Elkhorn Creek and Tug Fork. Settled in 1885, it was named for I.A. Welch, an early settler. The county seat was moved there from Perryville in 1891. There were no bridges or wagons in this extremely mountainous area until the 1880s, and the principal products at that time were furs and ginseng. The arrival of the Norfolk and Western Railway in 1891 encouraged the working of the surrounding coal seams. The city is now the service centre for the coal-mining region that includes the well-known Pocahontas field, source of "Black Diamond" coal. Panther State Forest is nearby. Inc. 1894. Pop. (1990) 3,028; (1998 est.) 2,536.