 In 1881, fifteen years of rapid development began under the leadership of Collis P. Huntington, whose new Peninsula Extension of the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway from Richmond opened up means of transportation along the Peninsula and provided a new pathway for the railroad to bring West Virginia bituminous coal to port for coastal shipping and worldwide export.With the new railroad came a terminal and coal piers where the colliers were loaded.Within a few years, Huntington and his associates also built a large shipyard.