 In Alleghany County, the Virginia Central Railroad had extended its track from Staunton to the Jackson River in 1857.After the Civil War, the railroad expanded west to connect with the Covington and Ohio Railroad and in 1868 the two lines merged to form the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway (C&O).The railroad established a depot and named it Clifton Forge, the only town in the United States to bear its name.