Red House Shoals, settled circa 1795, was the oldest community on the Kanawha River between Charleston and Point Pleasant. In 1819, the steamboat “Robert Thompson” failed to navigate the shoals here on a trip to Charleston, leading to an 1820 act of the Virginia Assembly providing for the first improvements on the river. By 1823, cargo boats could travel to Charleston safely, and by 1830, tow boats with barges were making the trip. During the Civil War, armies vied for control of the Kanawha River, and local action included a skirmish here, battles at Scary Creek and Cross Lanes in 1861, a battle at Winfield in 1864, and fighting twice at Hurricane in 1863 and again in 1864. Union General E. P. Scammon, his boat, and several men were captured at this place on 2 February 1864 in a surprise raid by the Confederates.