KANAWHA RIVER


Map of the Kanawha River watershed, showing its main tributary, the New River.
Winfield Lock and Dam on the Kanawha River at Winfield, West Virginia, 31 miles upriver from the mouth at Point Pleasant. • Map
The confluence of the Kanawha and Ohio Rivers at Point Pleasant, West Virginia

The 'Kanawha River' (pronounced ''kuh-NAW-uh'' 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.

Contents
Tributaries
List of cities and towns along the Kanawha River
Variant names
Highways
See also
Further reading

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



★ Bancroft
★ Belle
★ Buffalo
★ Cedar Grove
★ Charleston
★ Chesapeake
★ Dunbar
★ East Bank
★ Eleanor
★ Gauley Bridge
★ Glasgow
★ Handley
★ Henderson
★ Jefferson
★ Leon
★ Marmet
★ Montgomery
★ Nitro
★ Poca
★ Point Pleasant
★ Pratt
★ St. Albans
★ Smithers
★ South Charleston
★ Winfield

Variant names


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 River
★ Great Kehhawa River
★ Great Kenhawa River
★ Great Kenhaway River
★ Great Konhaway River
★ Great Konhawayriver
★ Kanahaway River
★ Kanawa River
★ Kanawah River
★ Kanaway River
★ Kanawhy River
★ Kanhaway River
★ Kannawha River
★ Keanawha River
★ Kenhaway River
★ Keninsheka
★ Kinhaway River
★ Kunhaway River
★ Le-we-ke-o-mi
★ New River
★ Pi-que-me-ta-mi
★ Pique-me-ta-nei
★ Woods River

Kanawha Falls on the Kanawha River near Gauley Bridge.

Highways



★ Interstate 64 crosses the Kanawha four times on major bridges in the Charleston vicinity.

See also



★ List of West Virginia rivers

★ Little Kanawha River

★ USS ''Kanawha'' (AO-1) — a fleet oiler built in 1914.

★ ''Kanawha'' a steam-powered luxury yacht built in 1899 which was owned by Henry Huttleston Rogers, developer of [coal]] and railroad properties in southern West Virginia, including the $40 million dollar Virginian Railway

Further reading


Arthur Benke & Colbert Cushing, "Rivers of North America". Elsevier Academic Press, 2005 ISBN 0-12-088253-1

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