Beginning in March of 1930, its contractor Rinehart & Dennis began construction of the 3-mile (4.8 km) tunnel carrying the river under Gauley Mountain.

Facing widespread unemployment during the Great Depression, about three thousand men, three-quarters of whom were Black, came to West Virginia to dig the tunnel.

They worked ten to fifteen hour shifts, using drills and dynamite to mine the sandstone, which was composed primarily of cemented quartz (silica) sand.

[4] Many of the workers at the site were African-Americans from the southern United States who returned home or left the region after becoming sick, making it difficult to calculate an accurate total.

[5][failed verification] A memorial to the Hawks Nest workers and a grave site is located at 98 Hilltop Drive in Mount Lookout, near Summersville Lake and U.S. Route 19 (38°14′04.24″N 80°51′09.22″W / 38.2345111°N 80.8525611°W / 38.2345111; -80.8525611).

The location of the site was rediscovered with help of West Virginia State University professor Richard Hartman, after local couple George and Charlotte Yeager spearheaded effort to build the memorial in 2009.

Tragedy brought recognition of acute silicosis as occupational lung disease and compensation legislation to protect workers.