Glen Ferris is a census-designated place (CDP) on the western bank of the Kanawha River in Fayette County, West Virginia, United States.

In 1839, the home was purchased by Aaron Stockton who acquired a license from Fayette County to "open a common room", at which point, the building began to serve as an inn.

The new proprietors added a glass walled Dining Room that overlooks the Kanawha Falls and continue to operate the Glen Ferris Inn as a hotel.

After the Civil War, the area began to grow as coal production escalated in the state of West Virginia and abundant water made the generation of power inexpensive.

In 1917, Union Carbide purchased a small hydro electric plant in Glen Ferris, the brick remains of which can still be seen on the edge of the Kanawha River and which is being presently renovated.

In order to generate power for the larger plant by diverting water from the New River, the company had a three-mile-long tunnel built through the mountain at Hawks Nest.

The disaster became the focus of congressional hearings in Washington, D.C., in the mid-thirties, and acute silicosis was identified as an occupational illness for the first time.

Union Carbide built a majority of the homes in Glen Ferris, as well as in other towns in the Upper Kanawha Valley and leased them to workers and their families.