The Battle of Buffington Island was fought not on the island in the Ohio River but in the surrounding area, where Confederate and Union troops clashed on farmland that has changed little since the battle. In the 19th century, the Ohio River included fords, including one just upstream of Buffington Island, where it could be crossed on foot or horseback, but heavy rains shortly before Morgan's arrival raised the river, making it harder for the raiders to cross and easier for Union gunboats to navigate. The river is now much higher and wider than it was on the day of the battle because dams built in the 20th century maintained depth for shipping and aided flood control, and a road that once ran alongside the river carried Morgan north as he tried to escape the battle. Beginning in the 1960s, Shelly Materials began quietly acquiring parts of the battlefield for quarrying, and when the company sought a permit for a loading facility in the mid-1990s, local residents, preservationists, and organizations opposed it. The Buffington Island Battlefield Preservation Foundation was established, and efforts continue to list the entire battlefield on the National Register of Historic Places, although about a third of the battlefield is expected to be lost to quarrying.