Kenvir was founded by the Black Mountain Coal Company in 1919 on Yocum Creek, a tributary of the Clover Fork. It was named for its closeness to the Kentucky-Virginia border.[6][5] In January 1921, the Dizney post office was moved to serve the area, and was renamed to Kenvir, with Roscoe Weaver as its postmaster. The Kenvir post office continues to serve the area with the ZIP Code 40847. At its peak, Kenvir had a population of 5,000, two schools, a hospital, five churches, and a movie theater.[5][7][8]