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European-Americans first settled in present-day Lincoln County in 1799, when the McComas family arrived near present-day West Hamlin. The Hatfields followed around 1800, settling above them on the river. Other early settlers included William W. Brumfield, John Tackett, and David Stephenson. Over the next few decades, the area grew slowly, with much activity near "the Falls of Guyan" close to West Hamlin. Hamlin, originally called Hamline, was established in 1853 and named after a local Methodist church. Another town, Griffithsville, was founded in 1854.
In the late 1840s, locks and dams were built on the Guyandotte River to transport coal and timber. Steamboats traveled the river in the 1850s, but a flood in 1861 destroyed the locks and dams, and they were never rebuilt.
