Carnifex Ferry

Carnifex Ferry was a small settlement near the confluence of the Meadow and Gauley Rivers. The town was initially settled by just a few members and named after a ferry operated by the Carnifex family. As travel to the gorge increased over the course of the nineteenth century, Carnifex Ferry grew in response, eventually boasting a tavern, small hotel, and store in addition to the utilitarian structures such as a mill that existed before. The area lent its name to a Civil War battlefield and current state park when retreating Confederate forces escaped from a larger Union force by crossing the ferry during the night. Though Carnifex Ferry continued to grow in the late nineteenth century, the twentieth century marked the beginning of its decline. There are now only ruins where the town once stood.

Note: Carnifex Ferry is on private property and is inaccessible to the public.

Carnifex Ferry, not to be confused with the nearby battlefield and state park named after the site, was a small settlement near the confluence of the Meadow and Gauley Rivers and on the west bank. The area was first settled by the Carnifex, Patterson, and McVey families in the middle of the nineteenth century. Though all three families primarily lived on farms outside of Carnifex Ferry, the central gathering point was a crucial social aspect of their lives. The families worked together to erect buildings for shared personal use, such as a grist mill, sugar house, and coal house. The Carnifex family operated a ferry at the small town, which was an important transportation route location in the days before the railroad. Due to the ferry’s location at the confluence of two rivers, it could easily run one of six routes depending on where riders needed to go.

Carnifex Ferry proved to be a key player in the Civil War Battle of Carnifex Ferry on September 10th, 1861. Union forces discovered a much smaller camp of Confederate soldiers in the area and opened fire, before retreating in anticipation of the coming nightfall. Realizing that they were outmatched, Confederate forces retreated to Carnifex Ferry under cover of darkness and abandoned the area by water before Union soldiers could strike again. The battle was significant as it removed Confederate presence in southern West Virginia — then western Virginia — and cleared the way for conversations about West Virginian statehood without fear of retaliation through military force. 

Carnifex Ferry continued to prosper in the last decades of the nineteenth century. As traffic began to increase in the New River area, a tavern, small hotel, and store were built in Carnifex Ferry to service travellers to the area. When construction began on the Chesapeake and Ohio railroad in 1870, many workers stayed at Carnifex Ferry’s inn. The coming of the railroad also attracted more permanent residents to the area. Foundations in the town suggest that several residential structures were built between 1870 and 1900. Little is known about the decline of the town in the early twentieth century. It is likely that the railroad rendered a ferry crossing of the river unnecessary, while the expansion of coal mining and other economic activities upriver incentivized residents to move away. Carnifex Ferry is now nothing more than a collection of stone foundations. The roads to town are overgrown, the piers for the ferry have collapsed, and the railroad is long gone. Despite not being directly related to coal mining or other economic activities in the New River Gorge, Carnifex Ferry found itself wrapped up in and ultimately at the whim of the fortunes of the gorge. 

Note: Carnifex Ferry is on private property and is inaccessible to the public.

Carnifex Ferry, American Battlefield Trust. Accessed June 11th 2021. https://www.battlefields.org/learn/civil-war/battles/carnifex-ferry.

Cook, Roy Bird. The Battle of Carnifex Ferry, West Virginia Archives & History. November 1st 1931. Accessed June 11th 2021. http://www.wvculture.org/history/civilwar/carnifex01.html.

History, Carnifex Battlefield State Park. Accessed June 11th 2021. https://wvstateparks.com/park/carnifex-ferry-battlefield-state-park/.

McGee, Ted. Carnifex Ferry State Park, National Register of Historic Places. October 25th 1973. Accessed June 11th 2021. http://www.wvculture.org/shpo/nr/pdf/nicholas/74002018.pdf.