[2] Located in a valley along the Guyandotte River within a mountainous region of southern West Virginia, the town was nearly destroyed by flash flooding in July 2001.

While the town has attempted to redevelop with the aid of state and federal recovery money, many local businesses and residents have left the area permanently.

Mullens was incorporated as a town on September 17, 1912, and operated under a charter issued by the Circuit Court of Wyoming County.

[5] An Act of the West Virginia Legislature granting a charter to the City of Mullens was passed February 22, 1929.

In the early 20th century, coal-mining manager and developer William Nelson Page of Ansted helped open the Winding Gulf Coalfield with plans for the Deepwater Railway, a new short-line railroad.

When Page ran into competitive collusion by the bigger railroads which would have wrecked his project, backed by his silent partner, wealthy industrialist Henry Huttleston Rogers, the plan was expanded in a secretive and massive way to build a line all the way east to the port of Hampton Roads.

Completed in 1909, the Virginian Railway (VGN) established engine terminal and yard facilities near Mullens which employed hundreds of workers during the first half of the 20th century.

[7] A Beckley to Mullens section of State Route 121, the Coalfields Expressway, was opened on October 1, 2020 and dedicated in a ceremony by the Governor.

[10] The climate in this area has mild differences between highs and lows, and there is adequate rainfall year-round.