July 10, 2026 - The Greenbrier Historical Society is taking a deep dive into the hidden history of western Greenbrier County.

The former King Coal Hotel property in Rainelle has been donated to suit the future home of the Greenbrier Historical Society’s Meadow River Valley Museum, and construction is set to begin soon.

It will include the MERILUCO Building, which was donated by the State Fair of West Virginia and the former Meadow River Lumber Company Sales Office, that was donated by the Jim and Shelby Bryant Family. These three aspects symbolizing western Greenbrier County’s history will all be united for the new Meadow River Valley Museum.

“We will be putting those 2 buildings together and in the future, hopefully, adding a coal car as an exhibit space that we will of course, put a roof on and they will all be combined to be the exhibit for this project,” said Vickie Neal, an AmeriCorps volunteer with the Greenbrier Historical Society.

This project will be focused on the railroad, timber, and coal industries on that end of the county, as well as the people it impacted.

“Some of the websites that talk about the coal industry says that the coal industry in western Greenbrier County is one of the most mysterious according to their history,” added Neal.  

This has been a passion project for Vicky Neal, who has worked alongside Janice Cooley, a board member with the Greenbrier Historical Society, to get this up off the ground. Neal grew up in Rupert and served as a teacher at Greenbrier West High School.

They are almost two years into work on this project.

“I am very blessed to be able to bring some of that feeling of pride, of place, back to the community, our young people, and the people that lived there,” Neal said. “I feel like it is the perfect time with the opening of the Meadow River Trail and some other things that are happening in the community that this is the time and the place to do it.”

They still need to get the permits and permissions squared away. Once that is taken care of they will be digging a foundation to place the building there. They are also wanting to work with Greenbrier West students to help out their contractor with laying some of the foundation block to truly make this a community effort.