USA > Kentucky > The Commercial history of the Southern States covering the post-bellum period Kentucky > Part 15
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18
Booneville is the county seat of Owsley County, and is situated in the northern part of the county near the middle of the northern boundary line, on the South Fork of the Kentucky River. It was named for Daniel Boone, who at one time had a camp near where the court house now stands.
IO5
STATE OF KENTUCKY
PENDLETON COUNTY
POPULATION (CENSUS 1900), 14,947.
Situated in the Sixth Congressional. Sixth Appellate, Eighteenth Judicial, Twenty- sixth Senatorial, and Seventy-ninth Leg- islative Districts.
Pendleton County is situated in the northern part of the State, about two and one half miles of its northeastern border being on the Ohio River. It is bounded on the north by the counties of Kenton and Campbell, on the east by the Ohio River and Bracken County, on the south by Harrison County, and on the west by Grant County. It was organized as a county in 1800 and is named in honor of the Honorable Edmund Pendleton, the Virginia statesman.
The Licking River flows through the central portion of the county. The south fork of this river enters the county at its southwest corner, and flowing in a north- eastern direction joins the Licking at Falmouth, near the center of the county.
About one third of the county is bottom land along the rivers and the numerous creeks which are their tributaries. and is very rich and productive. The other por- tion is hilly, but quite productive and well adapted to grazing. Sheep and cattle rais- ing is extensively carried on. and a surplus of corn, wheat, oats, and hay are raised for shipment, but the principal product for market is tobacco. All fruits and ber- ries grow well and in large quantities. There is very little timber left in the county, most of the land having been under cultivation for years.
COUNTY SEAT, FALMOUTH.
The Kentucky Central Branch of the Louisville & Nashville Railroad runs through the central portion of the county. The Chesapeake & Ohio Railroad crosses the northeastern corner of the county. The county has over two hundred miles of turnpike roads and a very good system of dirt roads. None of the streams are now navigable.
The common schools are well conducted throughout the county; the teachers are efficient, and the houses and equipments good. Falmouth and Butler have good graded schools, and in most of the districts the schools are maintained beyond the five- months' term by local taxation.
There are three large rock quarries being operated in the county, one at Men- zies, on the Louisville & Nashville Rail- road. and two near Carntown, on the Chesapeake & Ohio Railroad. Good lime- stone building rock is near the surface and easily quarried in most parts of the county.
Falmouth is the county seat, situated on the Louisville & Nashville Railroad, forty miles from Cincinnati, at the junc- tion of and almost surrounded by Licking River and its south fork. each of which streams would afford ample water power for all kinds of manufacturing establish- ments. Falmouth has a large saw mill. a woolen factory, a cannery, two roller flour inills, a distillery, a pickle house. and quite a number of tobacco prizing and rehand- ling warehouses.
106
COMMERCIAL GROWTH
PERRY COUNTY
POPULATION (CENSUS 1900), 8,276. COUNTY SEAT, HAZARD.
Situated in the Eleventh Congressional, Seventh Appellate, Twenty-sixth Judicial, Thirty-third Senatorial, and Ninety-third Legislative Districts.
Perry County was forined in the year 1821, and both the county and county seat named in honor of Oliver Hazard Perry. the hero of Lake Erie. It is bounded on the north by Breathitt County, on the east by Knott, on the south by Harlan, on the west by Leslie.
The North Fork of the Kentucky River, its principal water-course. flows through the center of the county from south to north. It and its tributaries form a most perfect system of natural drainage and furnish an abundant supply of water for the entire county, and affords about 200 miles of navigable water.
The soil is freestone, very fertile, and produces fine crops of corn, wheat, oats, potatoes, fruits, melons, and most all kinds of grass.
There is practically an inexhaustible supply of timber. Poplar, ash, walnut,
birch, maple, chestnut, sycamore, lynn, hickory. cedar, etc., abounds in almost all parts of the county, and of the finest quality.
The county is very rich in mineral re- sources, such as coal, iron. copperas, etc. The coal veins are from three to seven feet in thickness, and are of the very finest quality of splint and cannel coal.
Hematite iron ores are found in abun- dance. Salt and gas are found in great quantities. There is a natural gas well at Hazard.
There are no educational institutions in the county other than the public schools. These schools are in very good condi- tion.
Hazard, the county seat, is an energetic little village situated on the east bank of the North Fork of the Kentucky, thirty- five miles above Jackson, the nearest railroad station. It has a good court house, a new jail, three good hotels, a number of enterprising merchants, good shops and mills, and is growing at a rapid rate.
PIKE COUNTY
POPULATION (CENSUS 1900), 22,686. COUNTY SEAT, PIKEVILLE.
Situated in the Tenth Congressional, Seventh Appellate, Twenty-fourth Judicial, Thirty-third Senatorial, and Ninety . fifth Legislative Districts.
The county is situated in Eastern Kentucky, being the extreme eastern point of the State. It was formed in 1821, and was named after a gallant officer in the War of 1812, General Zebulon M. Pike.
The county is drained by the two great forks of the Big Sandy River, Tug Fork,
running along the eastern, and the Levisa Fork, running along the western boundary of the county, while John's Creek runs through the center of the county.
The natural drainage of this county can not be excelled, and the water supply is abundant. The soil is very fine; better bottom lands can not be found anywhere than along the numerous streams of this county, and the hills or uplands are remarkably strong and productive. All the hills are filled with the finest coal, and
107
STATE OF KENTUCKY
the supply is practically inexhaustible. Hematite iron ores are also found in great abundance, and natural gas and salt exist in the county. There is still plenty of timber in this county, though it is con- fined mostly to the several varieties of oaks; beech, pine, and poplar still exist, and some walnut can be found.
The agricultural staples are corn, wheat, hay, oats, and tobacco. A surplus of all is raised for market. Fruit grows to great perfection.
The schools of the county, outside of Pikeville, are the common schools pro- vided by the State under the common
school law, and they are in good condi- tion, well attended, under good manage- ment, and provided with good teachers.
Pikeville is the county seat of Pike County. It is situated near the center of the western border of the county, on the Levisa Fork of the Big Sandy River. It is a most enterprising and progressive village. It has a splendid court house, erected at a cost to the county of over thirty thousand dollars, and a good town clock, costing nearly a thousand dollars; a ten-thousand-dollar school building affords ample accommodations for educa- tional facilities.
POWELL COUNTY
POPULATION (CENSUS 1900), 6,443. COUNTY SEAT, STANTON.
Situated in the Tenth Congressional, Seventh Appellate, Twenty-fifth Judicial, Twenty-ninth Senatorial, and Seventy- third Legislative Districts.
Powell County was formed from parts of Montgomery, Clark, and Estill counties in I852. It is named in honor of L. W. Powell, then govenor of Kentucky.
Red River, the principal water-course, is not navigable except for the floating of timber; it flows through the county, divid- ing it into nearly equal portions north and south. There is fine water power at Clay City, where there was once a large rolling mill and nail factory, and also a large flouring mill, all run by water; the water power is not now being used. The soil in the Red River valley is a rich sandy loam, and very productive, yielding large crops of corn, oats, rye, timothy, and clover.
The principal timber is poplar, walnut, oak, hickory, beech, and pine. The wal- nut and poplar are nearly exhausted, and the oak is being cut very fast. There are no manufactories in the county except for the manufacture of lumber and staves, of which a large amount is shipped every year.
There is one roller mill in the county for the manufacture of flour. The county has about twenty-five miles of railroad, the L. & E. running the entire length, which gives good railroad facilities.
There are no turnpikes in the county, but the roads are kept in a reasonably good condition under the general road law of the State.
There is an abundance of the finest iron ore, coal, and fire-clay, but none of them is developed. The natural scenery is of the grandest in the State. The av- erage price of farm labor is about fifty cents per day, with board.
There are no graded or normal schools in the county; the public schools are well conducted and well attended.
Stanton, the county seat, located near the center of the county, has a popu- lation of about three hundred; contains three hotels, two churches, and four gen- eral stores. There are several flourish- ing villages in the county. Clay City, the most important. is larger than the county seat; Bowden, Dundee, and Rosslynn do a considerable business.
108
COMMERCIAL GROWTH
PULASKI COUNTY
POPULATION (CENSUS 1900), 31,293. COUNTY SEAT, SOMERSET.
Situated in the Eleventh Congressional, Third Appellate, Twenty-eighth Judicial, Seventeenth Senatorial, and Sixty-eighth Legislative Districts.
Pulaski County was formed from parts of Green and Lincoln counties in 1798, the first court being held at a point four miles southwest of Somerset, about July 10, 1799. It was named in honor of Count Joseph Pulaski, the great Polander.
Pulaski is the largest county in the State, with a length of forty miles from north to south and thirty miles from east to west. Its principal streams are Cum- berland River, which flows through the county froin east to west, Rockcastle River, on the east, South Fork of the Cumberland River on the southwest, and Buck, Pitman, and Fishing creeks, which flow through the county from north to south.
Coal is mined in the southern and southeastern portions of the county. That mined in the southern is shipped by
rail, while that mined in the southeastern finds a market down the Cumberland River at points in Kentucky and Tennes- see. Gas and oil are known to exist. The timber resources are practically inex- haustible. Cumberland River is naviga- ble for six months in the year as far as Burnside. There are no turnpikes in the county, but there is a very good system of public roads, kept in good condition by local taxation.
The Cincinnati Southern Railroad cross- es the county from north to south, about forty miles.
Somerset, the county seat, centrally located on the Cincinnati Southern rail- road, is a city of the fourth class. The condition of the public schools is good, in a few instances supplemented by district or local taxation. The county has no bonded indebtedness, and the rate of tax- ation for county purposes is twenty-two and one half cents on the one hundred dollars.
ROBERTSON COUNTY
POPULATION (CENSUS 1900), 4,900. COUNTY SEAT, MT. OLIVET.
Situated in the Ninth Congressional, Sixth Appellate, Eighteenth Judicial, Thir- teenth Senatorial, and Eighteenth Legisla- tive Districts.
Robertson County is one of the smallest counties in the State; was formed in 1867 from portions of Mason, Fleming, Nicho- las, Harrison, and Bracken- counties, and was named in honor of Chief Justice Rob- ertson, of the Court of Appeals. It is in the northeastern part of the State. The surface of the county is generally rolling, yet none of the land is too steep for culti- vation; along the larger streams are bot-
tom lands of unsurpassed fertility. The soil of the entire county is of a limestone formation with a clay subsoil, enabling it to retain moisture, and where it has not been abused is productive. The principal crops raised in the county are wheat, to- bacco, corn. oats, and hay. While the yield of wheat and tobacco per acre is not as large as in some other counties, yet their quality is far above the average in the State.
Apples, peaches, pears, plums, cherries, all do well, and the damson is scarcely ex- celled anywhere.
109
STATE OF KENTUCKY
Land is worth from $8 to $50 per acre. There are but few foreigners in the county. Farm labor is performed by native white and colored hands, whose services can be obtained for from ten to fifteen dollars per month, with board.
There are no large tracts of timber in the county, and the supply may be said to be limited to the necessities and demands of the county for fuel and repairs to build- ing and fencing.
Main Licking, on the southern border of the county, the North Fork, on the west and north, and Johnson Creek, running di- agonally across the southern part of the county, are its principal streams. These, with their numerous smaller tributary streams, afford abundant water for power and domestic purposes. During high
waters small steamboats have ascended main Licking from its mouth at Covington and Newport to the Lower Blue Lick Springs, a distance of seventy miles. There are no railroads in the county. There are more than eighty miles of free turnpike traversing different parts of the county, and all leading to the county seat. Good schools and churches are located in all sections of the county. There are no saloons in the county.
Mt. Olivet, the county seat, is situated in the northern part of the county, and has a population of about Soo. It has a good brick court house, a good jail, five churches, a good roller flouring inill, lumber and coal yard, six tobacco ware- houses, two public schools, one academy. twelve stores.
ROCKCASTLE COUNTY
POPULATION (CENSUS 1900), 12,416. COUNTY SEAT, MT. VERNON.
Situated in the Eight Congressional, Fifth Appellate, Twenty-eighth Judicial, Seventeenth Senatorial, and Seventieth Legislative Districts.
The county is situated near the central portion of the State. Rockcastle River flows along its eastern boundary, and Dick's River flows through the western and north- ern portion of the county, by which, with its tributaries, the county is abundantly watered and well drained. The soil of the county is very strong, and quite pro- ductive; its surface is varied in the north- east, and the southeast portion of the county is rough, very broken and hilly. The land is level and undulating and very rich in the western section of the county.
There are several very fine coal mines in active operation in the eastern part of the county. The timber supply of the county is fairly good, there being consid- erable oak, hickory, gum, ash, sugar-tree, walnut, and poplar.
There are no turnpikes in Rockcastle
County; the public, or county roads are the ordinary dirt roads of the county, and are kept in very good condition under a special road law for the county.
The Knoxville Branch of the L. & N. Railroad runs through the county from west to east, and through the central por- tion of the county. The Kentucky Cen- tral runs through the northeastern part of the county, connecting with the L. & N. at Livingston, near the Rockcastle River.
The staple products of the farms are corn, wheat, rye, oats, potatoes, and tur- nips. The grasses mostly cultivated are timothy, bluegrass, red top, orchard grass and clover.
The county has a good court house and other county buildings; good churches are scattered over the county, and the peo- ple are quiet, law-abiding. God-fearing people. The common schools of the county are well attended and have very good teachers; the districts have fairly good school houses in them, and we are
IIO
COMMERCIAL GROWTH
improving all along the line, in the matter of schools, each year.
Mt. Vernon is the county seat of Rock- castle County, and is situated in the cen- ter of the county on the Knoxville Branch of the L. & N. Railroad. It is a nice
little village with a population of five or six hundred, enterprising merchants, and a good hotel, churches, and school houses. There is a handsome college building here now, and a good school is well conducted in it.
ROWAN COUNTY
POPULATION (CENSUS 1900), 8, 277. COUNTY SEAT, MOREHEAD.
Situated in the Ninth Congressional, Sixth Appellate, Twenty-first Judicial, Thirty. fifth Senatorial. and Ninety-fourth Legislative Districts.
The county was formed in IS56, out of parts of Fleming and Morgan counties, and named in honor of Judge John Rowan, the distinguished jurist. The Licking River and Triplett Creek, with their tri- butaries, drain the whole of the county. The Licking forms the southern and west- ers boundaries for a distance of about one hundred miles. The Licking is navigable for small boats during the spring season while the water is high.
Tle soil of Rowan is generally fertile, producing fine crops of corn, oats, and al- ways extensive crops of watermelons of the very finest quality. Grasses are raised in abundance: such as timothy, clover, herd grass, and millet are the prin- cipal grasses. Where tobacco has been raised the soil produces a very fine and abundant quality.
In the county are located two very large and extensive inills for sawing and dress- ing stone. There are a number of stone quarries containing from six to eight strata of stone ranging from three inches to three feet thick. These quarries dress and ship stone to all parts of the United States. The stone produced from the quarries of this county is the very finest for build-
ing and bridge purposes, owing to its durability.
The forests of the county abound with extensive timber of the oak, poplar, pine. walnut, ash, and many other species of timber valuable for building purposes. The lumber trade is one of the most ex- tensive industries of the county, lumber being shipped in both rough and dressed forms.
The county has a good system of public dirt roads, kept up by the county and the citizens living along said roads. There is no taxation for roads in the county.
There are eighteen miles of railroad in the county, running from east to west; also about six miles of narrow gauge road built in the county. known as the Triplet & Big Sandy Railroad.
Morehead is the county seat of Rowan. and is situated midway between Lexington and Huntington, on the C. & O. Railroad. It has about 1, 200 inhabitants, and con- tains a number of large dry goods and other stores. There is also a college known as "The Morehead Normal. " Morehead has three churches, viz., Bap- tist, M. E. South, and a union church house.
The county has no indebtedness, either bonded or otherwise. Her rate of taxa- tion for county purposes is fifty cents per hundred.
..
IJI
STATE OF KENTUCKY-
RUSSELL COUNTY
POPULATION (CENSUS 1900), 9,695. COUNTY SEAT, JAMESTOWN.
Situated in the Eleventh Congressional, Third Appellate, Twenty-ninth Judicial, Sixteenth Senatorial, and Forty-third Leg- islative Districts.
Russell County was formed from the county of Adair in 1825. It lies in the southern portion of the State. The Cum. berland River flows through the southern part of the county for a distance of fifty miles or more. This stream is ordinarily navigable for steamboats four or five months of each year.
The soil along the Cumberland River, especially the first bottoms, is very pro- ductive; so also is that of the lower courses of its tributaries, producing good crops of peas, corn, sweet potatoes, and millet.
One of the most important industries
in the county is the raising of fowls, espe- cially chickens.
There is a great deal of black oak in the county. Considerable quantities of chestnut are still to be found on the up- lands; cedar, too, on the river and creek hills.
Perhaps the most remarkable natural curiosity in Russell County is what is known as the Rock House. On the Cum- berland River, about a mile below the village of Creelsboro, there is an opening clear through the cliff, forming an immense chamber.
Jamestown, the county seat, and Russell Springs are the two largest towns.
The common schools of this county are in a fairly good condition.
SCOTT COUNTY
POPULATION (CENSUS 1900), 18,076. COUNTY SEAT, GEORGETOWN.
Scott County is situated in the Seventh Congressional, Fifth Appellate, Four- teenth Judicial, Twenty-second Senatorial, and Fifty-eighth Legislative Districts.
The county is situated in middle north- ern Kentucky, and was organized in 1792.
Scott County has over two hundred miles of turnpikes. These pikes traverse every part of the county. The roads other than turnpikes are the common dirt roads of . the county, which are worked and kept up under the supervision of road surveyors appointed by the county court, under the general road laws of the State. There are nearly fifty miles of railroad com- pleted and in operation in this county. The Cincinnati Southern, L. & N., Louis- ville Southern, and the Kentucky Midland all own and operate some road in this county.
The staples of the Scott County farm
are corn, wheat, hay, hemp, oats, and tobacco: a large surplus of all are raised for market.
The common schools of the county are in a flourishing condition, and are largely attended and under superior management. and provided with good and competent teachers. Each school district has a good school house and is provided with all the modern appliances for teaching.
Georgetown is the county seat of Scott County. It is situated in the southern part of the county on the bank of North Elkhorn. It is also on the Cincinnati Southern and the Kentucky Midland rail- roads. It is a flourishing city, a seat of learning, with many good schools and handsome churches. It has electric light and gas plants, water-works and telephone exchange, and all the modern conven. iences of a city.
I12
COMMERCIAL GROWTH
SHELBY COUNTY
POPULATION (CENSUS 1900), 18,340.
Situated in the Eiglithi Congressional, Third Appellate, Twelfth Judicial, Four- teenth Senatorial, and Fifty-fifth Legis- lative Districts.
Shelby County was named in honor of the first governor of Kentucky, General Isaac Shelby. It is one of the largest and best counties in the State. All of the county is good bluegrass land, and is adapted to raising hemp; two thirds of the county is adapted to raising Burley tobacco.
It was one of the first counties to adopt generally the share system. Under this liberal system great prosperity has come to the laboring classes.
The dairy interest is a very important one in Shelby County. In the western part of the county along the railroad line there are a large number of successful dairies. Shelby County is noted for the interest manifested by her people in higher education. The schools and churches are located in all parts of the county. There is a very fine college for
COUNTY SEAT, SHELBYVILLE.
girls located in Shelbyville, which is extensively patronized by the people of the county.
The transportation facilities the county are first class. The Louisville & Nashville, Southern, and Chesapeake & Ohio railroads all run trains through the county. There is also a branchi railroad from Shelbyville to Bloomfield.
Shelbyville, the county seat, is a thriv- ing city of nearly 5,000 inhabitants. It is supplied with all the modern conven- iences in the way of lighting plants, water-works, telephone exchange, etc.
Its school facilities, as well as the school facilities of the entire county, are first class. Shelbyville is situated in one of the best agricultural sections of the State, and is enjoying a steady growth in population and business prosperity.
Simpsonville, on the Louisville & Nash- ville Railroad, is a prosperous little city of some 600 inhabitants. Christiansburg, Bagdad, Waddy, and Finchville are pros- perous towns.
SIMPSON COUNTY
POPULATION (CENSUS 1900), 11, 624. COUNTY SEAT, FRANKLIN.
Situated in the Third Congressional, Second Appellate, Seventh Judicial, Ninth Senatorial, and Twenty-first Legis- lative Districts.
The county was formed in 1817 out of the counties of Allen on the east, Logan on the west, Warren on the north, its southern boundary the Tennessee line. Later a strip of three miles was added to it, taken from Logan County.
Its topography is generally level or slightly undulating, and drained by the
tributaries of Big Barren River. This
land is, indeed, valuable for the produc- tion of grass; by the use of fertilizing ele- ments it yields an abundant crop of wheat. Corn, oats, wheat, hay, and tobacco are the staples.
The principal stream of water is Drake's Creek, the western fork of Barren River. This stream runs nearly through the center of the county, north and south, parallel with the Louisville & Nashville Railroad and turnpike.
113
STATE OF KENTUCKY
A variety of timber is found here. Oak and hickory are the principal growths.
Many welis and a few springs of mineral water, of sulphur and iron (chalybeate water), are distributed over the county, notably a well in the county seat, Frank- lin. This water is used largely for medici- nal purposes.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.