Kanawha County, West Virginia: History
The word Kanawha (pronounced "Ka-NAH-wah"), Ka(h)nawha, derives from the region's Iroquoian dialects, meaning "water way" or "Canoe Way", implying the metaphor "transport way". Kanawha County was named in honor of the Kanawha River that runs through the county. The spelling varied at the time from Conoys to Conois to Kanawha. The phrase has been a matter of register. A two-story jail was the first county structure to be built, with the first floor dug into the bank of the Kanawha River.
The county began taking shape on November 14, 1788, under the authorization of the Virginia General Assembly, and was founded on October 5, 1789. The county was named for the Kanawha River. During the American Civil War, a number of state infantry and cavalry regiments were organized in the county for both Confederate Army and Union Army service.
In 1863, West Virginia's counties were divided into civil townships, with the intention of encouraging local government. This proved impractical in the heavily rural state, and in 1872 the townships were converted into magisterial districts. Kanawha County was divided into ten districts: Big Sandy, Cabin Creek, Charleston, Elk, Jefferson, Loudon, Malden, Poca, Union, and Washington. In the 1970s, the historic districts were consolidated into five new magisterial districts: District 1, District 2, District 3, District 4, and District 5. A District 6 was created in the 1980s, but in the 1990s the county was redistricted again, reducing the number of magisterial districts to four: District 1, District 2, District 3, and District 4.
Kanawha County was the site of a bloody miners' strike in 1912, and a school textbook controversy in 1974, that resulted in bombings, and received national attention.