The highway crosses Kings Creek, where in 1794 Peter Tarr built the first iron furnace west of the Alleghenies. Cannonballs cast here were fired from the guns of Commodore Perry's fleet in the Battle of Lake Erie, 1813. Campbell Tarr, a grandson, served as treasurer of the Restored Government of Virginia and was treasurer (1863-7) of the new State of West Virginia. -West Virginia: A Guide to the Mountain State, 1941, pg. 483.
The Peter Tarr iron furnace was reconstructed in 1968. A couple historical markers have also been placed at the site. The site was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1976.