2 HISTORICAL AND INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT. 



TRANSPORTATION. 

 Water Ways. 



West Fork River. The West Fork River, the largest 

 watercourse in Lewis County, which flows in a northerly 

 direction across the same, meeting the Tygart Valley River at 

 Fairmont to form the Monongahela, is apparently too small 

 to be made navigable. The river is sluggish, the rate of fall 

 from Weston to slackwater at Fairmont, 66 miles, being only 

 2.1 feet per mile, but the scarcity of any considerable volume 

 of water, especially during the summers, places the stream 

 outside the navigable class. 



Little Kanawha River. The Little Kanawha River, which 

 flows across Gilmer County in a westerly direction, has long 

 been an important artery of commerce between Parkersburg 

 and the central counties of the State. A system of locks and 

 dams makes the river navigable throughout the year from 

 Parkersburg to Creston, Wirt County. From the upper lock, 

 situated 1.5 miles above Burning Springs, to the Gilmer 

 County Line at Mussel Shoals, the distance is 48 miles and 

 from Mussel Shoals to Glenville it is 14 miles, making a total 

 of 62 miles from Glenville to the upper lock. From Glenville 

 to the Coal & Coke Railway at Gilmer Station just below the 

 Braxton County Line the distance is 12 miles, making a total 

 distance between Gilmer Station and the Burning Springs lock 

 of 74 miles. In this portion of the river, there is a total fall of 

 110 feet, or 1.5 feet per mile. At the present time, the river is 

 navigable between these points only during the spring and 

 winter months when there is a considerable traffic on gasoline 

 boats. Since the counties of Gilmer and Calhoun have no rail- 

 roads passing across them, all supplies during the summer 

 and autumn must be hauled by wagon either from Creston at 

 the head of navigation on the Little Kanawha or from the Coal 

 and Coke Railway which only touches the eastern edge of 

 Gilmer, or from the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad at Weston, 

 distant 27 miles from Glenville. It is apparent, therefore, that 

 the improvement of the Little Kanawha River from Burning 

 Springs to Gilmer Station, requiring the construction of ten 



