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Kanawha River
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The Kanawha River (pronounced ka-NAW-ah or kuh-NAW and earlier, kuh-NOIE) is a tributary of the Ohio River, approximately 97 mi (156 km) long, in the U.S. state of West Virginia. The largest inland waterway in West Virginia, it has formed a significant industrial region of the state since the middle of the 19th century.
It is formed at the town of Gauley Bridge in northwestern Fayette County, approximately 35 mi (56 km) SE of Charleston, by the confluence of the New and Gauley rivers.
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Encyclopedia
The Kanawha River (pronounced ka-NAW-ah or kuh-NAW and earlier, kuh-NOIE) is a tributary of the Ohio River, approximately 97 mi (156 km) long, in the U.S. state of West Virginia. The largest inland waterway in West Virginia, it has formed a significant industrial region of the state since the middle of the 19th century.
It is formed at the town of Gauley Bridge in northwestern Fayette County, approximately 35 mi (56 km) SE of Charleston, by the confluence of the New and Gauley rivers. It flows generally northwest, in a winding course on the unglaciated Allegheny Plateau, through Fayette, Kanawha, Putnam and Mason Counties, past the cities of Charleston and St. Albans and numerous smaller communities. It joins the Ohio at Point Pleasant.
The river valley contains significant deposits of coal and natural gas. In colonial times, the wildly fluctuating level of the river prevented its use for transportation. The removal of boulders and snags on the lower river in the 1840s allowed navigation, extended after the construction of locks and dams starting in 1875. The river is now navigable to Deepwater, an unincorporated community about 20 miles upriver from Charleston. A thriving chemical industry along its banks provides a significant part of the economy of West Virginia.
Tributaries
In addition to the New and Gauley Rivers, the Kanawha is joined at Charleston by the Elk River, at St. Albans by the Coal River, and at Poca by the Pocatalico River.
List of cities and towns along the Kanawha River
Variant names
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According to the Geographic Names Information System, the Kanawha River has also been known as:
- Big Connawas River
- Big Connawas River
- Big Kanawha River
- Canawha
- Canhawa River
- Chinidashhichetha
- Chinodahichetha River
- Chinodashichetha
- Chinondaista
- Great Canawha River
- Great Kanawha River
- Great Kanhawa River
| Great Kanhaway RiverGreat Kehhawa RiverGreat Kenhawa RiverGreat Kenhaway RiverGreat Konhaway RiverGreat KonhawayriverKanahaway RiverKanawa RiverKanawah RiverKanaway RiverKanawhy RiverKanhaway River | Kannawha RiverKeanawha RiverKenhaway RiverKeninshekaKinhaway RiverKunhaway RiverLe-we-ke-o-miNew RiverPi-que-me-ta-miPique-me-ta-neiWoods River |
"Ka(ih)nawha" derives from the region's Iroquois dialects meaning "water way" or "Canoe Way" implying the metaphor, "transport way", in the local language. The Glottal consonant of the "ih" (stream or river, local Iroquois) dropped out as few settlers and homesteaders were fluent with any of the dialects of Iroquois.
Highways
- Interstate 64 crosses the Kanawha four times on major bridges in the Charleston vicinity.
See also
Further reading
- Arthur Benke & Colbert Cushing, "Rivers of North America". Elsevier Academic Press, 2005 ISBN 0-12-088253-1
- Rhodes, Captain Rick, "The Ohio River in American History and Voyaging on Today's River" has a chapter on the Kanawha River. Heron Island Guides, 2007, ISBN 978-0-9665866-33
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