In the 1840s, cannel coal was mined in the Coal River area of Boone County because it could be turned into coal oil for lighting. William Madison Peyton and others formed the Coal River Navigation Company to improve river travel and hired engineer William S. Rosecrans. By 1859, they built eight locks and dams on the Coal River and one on the Little Coal River, making 35 miles navigable.

Coal shipments grew quickly, but the Civil War and a massive 1861 flood damaged the system. After the war, the state repaired it, but demand for coal oil dropped due to the rise of petroleum and kerosene. By 1882, the locks and dams were no longer used, and by 1900, they had mostly disappeared.