The Hanging Rock coal trestle was built by the Norfolk and Western Railway in 1943 from a standard plan as a coal unloading facility. At the turn of the century, many industries relied on self-contained boiler plants that heated water for steam radiator systems and also supplied hot water for hygiene and cooking, making coal an essential fuel. Coal was often delivered directly to consumers by hopper carloads, but another method used transloading facilities like this one, where coal was unloaded from rail cars and then trucked to its final destination. With the rise of oil and natural gas heating systems, coal came to be used primarily for generating electric power, and most of it is now moved in unit trains headed to a single destination. Because handling costs are much higher, the era of single carload coal sales has largely passed, leaving the Hanging Rock coal trestle as an example of a rapidly disappearing part of American history.