Little Kanawha River
From West Virginia (WV) Cyclopedia
The Little Kanawha River of northern and central West Virginia drains about 2,160 square miles and is roughly circular, though elongated slighty in the east near its sources. The Pittsburgh Coal formation occurs in the upper part of the basin and extends as far downstream as Glenville, WV. West Virginia's early oil industry developed in the lower drainage of the river.
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Little Kanawha River
The Little Kanawha River rises in the southern part of Upshur County and flows west by northwest, nearly at right angles to adjacent minor folds of the Appalachian Mountains, across Lewis, Braxton, Gilmer, and Calhoun counties to Elizabeth, in Wirt County, at which point it turn nearly north, flowing across Wood County into the Ohio River at Parkersburg, WV.
Maps
Topo Map (http://www.topozone.com/map.asp?lat=39.2653&lon=-81.5692) (Mouth)
Tributaries
The principal tributaries of the Little Kanawha are Leading Creek, Cedar Creek, West Fork River, Hughes River, and North Fork. The valleys of the Little Kanawha's tributaries have steep sides and slopes and, in consequence, the rainfall reaches the streams quickly.
First Steamboats
The first steamboat on the Little Kanawha River, that reached the town of Elizabeth, was the Sciota Belle in the year 1842. This boat was built at Parkersburg and only made one voyage on the Little Kanawha when it was taken to the Muskingum River for the trade for which it had been built. The second steamer to reach Elizabeth was the Lodi in 1847.
Early Improvements
The Little Kanawha drains the interior of the State, and from an early date attracted attention because of its commerical importance, but it some time before action was taken to secure the improvement of that stream.
On March 11, 1834, the Virginia General Assembly passed an act requiring the owners of dams to also construct locks on the Little Kanawha River from its confluence with the Ohio River to Bulltown. On March 9, 1847 the Virginia General Assembly passed an act authorizing the improvement of navigation on the Little Kanawha River with incorporation of the Little Kanawha Navigation Company to improve the river from its mouth in Parkersburg to Bulltown, in Braxton County.
It was not until the development of the oil industry on Burning Springs, Wirt County in the 1860s that great progress was actually made in improving navigation on the river. On Feb. 4, 1863, the General Assembly of the Reorganized Government passed an act incorporating the Little Kanawha Navigation Company. Thus began the work which resulted in the completion of a number of locks and dams on the river.
Variant Names
Fishing Creek, Little Canawha River, Little Canhawa River, Little Conaway River, Little Cunnaway River, Little Kanahaway River, Little Kanahwa River, Little Kanahway River, Little Kanawah River, Little Kanhaway River, Little Kanhawey River, Little Kawahwa River, Little Kenawah, Little Kenhawa, Little Kenhaway, Little Kennaway River, Nau-mis-sip-pia, Newmissipi, O-mom-go-how-ce-pe, O-nim-go-how
The Little Kanawha was also known as "Old Greasy" in the mid-1800s when early developers of salt works routinely diverted oil into the river. According to folklorist James Gay Jones, of Glenville State College, natives also knew the stream as the "River of Evil Spirits" as a result of the frequency with which canoeists drowned in the river's whirlpools.
