In January 1902, the newly formed United States Steel Corporation chartered its subsidiary company, U. S. Coal & Coke Company, to mine coal and produce coke to supply to its steel mills.  Coke is produced by baking coal for up the forty-eight hours in "coke ovens" which is then used in the iron ore smelting process.  The U. S. Coal & Coke Company was first tasked with the construction of a mammoth coal mining complex that was to begin at Tug River, a community's name that had been derived from the stream that flowed through it, Tug River.  

U. S. Steel obtained a coal lease of 50,000 acres that began here at Tug River and extended several miles southward that contained the world-famous Pocahontas No.3 coal seam.  But before coal shipments could begin, United States Steel had to reach an agreement with the N&W Railroad for them to build its Tug Fork Branch railroad to reach the mining operations.  The U. S. Coal & Coke Company's mining complex was destined to become known as the largest in the world and the railroad needed a railcar assembly yard and steam engine service facility to accommodate a mining operation of this size.  Approximately one-half mile downstream of the Tug River community, the N&W Railroad built that facility.  That railyard was named Wilcoe Yard, in honor of William W. Coe, the chief Civil Engineer for the N&W Railroad.  By 1910, a large coal mining community had been constructed at Tug Rivier and on April 1, 1910, the post office was renamed Wilcoe.  This and much more historical information about the U. S. Coal & Coke Company in McDowell County West Virginia can be found in the book "Gary Hollow" by Alex Schust.