Gauley Bridge Story Archives - West Virginia Public Broadcasting

March 5, 1880: James River and Kanawha Canal Co. Ceases Operation

On March 5, 1880, the James River and Kanawha Canal Company ceased operations.

The original company had been formed by Virginia in 1785, at the urging of George Washington, who’d traveled through the Ohio and Kanawha valleys the previous year. Washington envisioned a navigable water route, with canals, connecting Richmond and the Ohio River.

Canal work on the lower James River started in 1820. A new road—known as the James River and Kanawha Turnpike—linked the town of Covington with the falls of the Kanawha River near Gauley Bridge and then continued to the confluence of the Ohio and Big Sandy rivers at Kenova. The canal work was completed to Buchanan, Virginia—near present Roanoke—in 1851. Workers cleared channels and dredged the Kanawha, but the Civil War halted the project.

After the war, there were tentative plans to build a grand waterway from Tidewater Virginia, through West Virginia, eventually reaching the Rocky Mountains. However, by that time, roads and railroads had become the primary means of transportation. The James River and Kanawha Company continued to operate the Virginia portion of the canal until 1880.

Sept. 1, 1671: Explorers Set Out Westward from Petersburg, Va.

Explorers Thomas Batts, Thomas Wood, and Robert Fallam set out on a momentous expedition westward from Petersburg, Virginia, on September 1, 1671. At the time, white settlers knew almost nothing about the land west of the Allegheny Mountains.

The explorers’ exact route is unknown, but they likely crossed into present West Virginia in Monroe County and then followed the New River. From there, it’s difficult to match their journal up with actual places. However, they likely made their way to the Falls of the Kanawha River at what is today Gauley Bridge in Fayette County.

At one point, they described a breathtaking view that everyone who has ever set foot in the Mountain State can relate to, writing, “A pleasing tho’ dreadful sight to see, the mountains and Hills as if piled one upon another.”

The explorers ended their expedition because their Indian guides were afraid of the Indians who lived in our region. Although they failed in their ultimate goal of locating a trade route across the continent, Batts, Wood, and Fallam provided the earliest known written description of present West Virginia.

March 1, 1837: Giles Fayette & Kanawha Turnpike Company Formed

On March 1, 1837, the Virginia General Assembly formed the Giles, Fayette & Kanawha Turnpike Company to build a 15-foot-wide road from Pearisburg, Virginia, to Gauley Bridge in Fayette County.

Begun in 1838, the turnpike was completed a decade later, running from Pearisburg to Red Sulphur Springs in Monroe County, to near present-day Hinton and Beckley, through Fayetteville, crossing Cotton Hill and New River, and connecting with the James River and Kanawha Turnpike—present Route 60—near Gauley Bridge.

It was a valuable trade route and became strategically important during the Civil War. Traveled by Union and Confederate troops, the Giles, Fayette & Kanawha was a focus of Confederate efforts in September 1862, in coordination with Robert E. Lee’s invasion of Maryland. On September 10, Union troops under General Joseph Lightburn were routed in Fayetteville and driven back to Charleston.

In the late 19^th century, the Giles, Fayette & Kanawha, like many turnpikes, was bypassed by railroads. Portions of the old route were reused when roads were paved in the early 20^th century—one example being Route 16, which still runs north and south from Fayetteville.