Long a dream of early Virginians such as George Washington, who was a surveyor early in his career, the canal was never completed as envisioned, as the American Civil War (1861-1865) interrupted construction above Lynchburg and by then, railroads were becoming more numerous and popular.

The new Richmond and Allegheny Railroad offered a water-level route from the Appalachian Mountains just east of West Virginia near Jackson's River Station (now Clifton Forge) through the Blue Ridge Mountains at Balcony Falls to Richmond.

In 1888 the railroad was leased, and later purchased, by Collis P. Huntington's Chesapeake and Ohio Railway (C&O), which named the local station "Maidens".

In 1969, the C&O station at Maidens was badly damaged and the highway bridge across the river destroyed by the flooding in the aftermath of Hurricane Camille.

The Mount Bernard Complex and Tanglewood are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.