USA > Kentucky > The Commercial history of the Southern States covering the post-bellum period Kentucky > Part 4
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The following will show the population of the State for each census:
1790, - - 73,077. 1830, - -
1860, - - 687.917. 1870, - - 1,321,OII. 1 800, - 220,595. 1840, - - 779,828. 1880, - - 1,648,690. 1810, - - 406,511 . 1850, - - 982,405. 1890, - - 1,858,635. 1820, - - 564, 317.
1, 155,687. 1900, - - 2, 147, 174.
COMMERCIAL GROWTH OF THE STATE OF KENTUCKY
ADAIR COUNTY
POPULATION (CENSUS 1900), 14, 888. COUNTY SEAT. COLUMBIA.
Situated near the middle of the south- ern part of the State, and is in the Eleventh Congressional, Third Appel- late, Twenty-ninth Judicial. Sixteenth Senatorial, and Thirty-seventh Legislative Districts.
Adair County was formed in 1801 out of a part of Green County. It was named in honor of Gen. John Adair. a distinguished soldier and statesman. The face of the country is rolling and hilly, soil fairly good, resting mainly on slate and limestone foundation. The river and creek bottoms are quite productive. The chief products are corn, wheat, oats, sorghum, grass, and tobacco. Most of the uplands are well adapted to fruit raising. Considerable attention is given to horses, mules, cattle, hogs. and sheep. The country is well supplied with water. Green River is the largest stream, runs across the northern part, Russell's Creek through the center from east to west: together with Casey Creek, Glen's Fork. Peltus Fork, Big Creek. Leatherwood Creek, and Crocus, all considerable streams, flowing through the various sec- tions of the county. furnish fine power for machinery, and water for stock and domestic purposes. The county is well supplied with timber of all kinds except walnut, poplar, and hickory.
The county is diversified with farm lands and forests. The farms are largely devoted to grasses and the raising of the crops named above. Vegetables grow in profusion and in great variety. but are confined largely to local markets: truck farming and dairying are not car- ried on. There are no railroads in the county. One line of turnpike between Campbellsville, the nearest railroad point. and Columbia, a distance of twenty miles, is maintained by tolls. There are no free pikes in the county. Public roads are maintained under the general law. The average price of farm lands, improved and unimproved, is about $4.30 per acre. prices ranging from $1.50 to $40 per acre, depending upon location and improvements. Farm laborers can be had at from fifty to seventy-five cents per day: by the month, with board and lodg. ing, at eight to nine dollars, and where the laborer furnishes his own board and lodging, thirteen dollars.
The county has no bonded indebted- ness, and the rate of taxation is fifteen cents on the hundred dollars of assessed property, and a poll tax of one dollar and fifty cents for county purposes.
Columbia, the county seat, has a popu- lation of about eight hundred, mostly whites. The colored population in the
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COMMERCIAL GROWTH
inain live outside the corporate limits. It has two public schools, open five months in the year, and two high schools, the Columbia Male and Female High School and the Columbia Christian College, open nine months in the year, where the higher branches of education are taught. There are four church organizations in the town, and each one has a handsome church building. The town is healthy, and its moral and social tone is such as is found in all educational and Christian centers.
The public schools of the county are in good condition and improving yearly. There are seventy- five school districts for the whites and fourteen for the colored, in which schools are taught. The public schools are maintained by the school fund, and in many districts private schools are taught after the close of the public school year. and in this way ex- cellent educational advantages are given in many districts eight and ten months in the year.
ALLEN COUNTY
POPULATION (CENSUS 1900), 14,657. COUNTY SEAT, SCOTTSVILLE.
Situated in the Third Congressional, Second Appellate, Eighth Judicial, Elev- enth Senatorial, and Twenty-second Legis- lative Districts.
Allen County was formed out of the southern parts of Barren and Warren counties in the year 1815, and extends to the boundary line between Kentucky and Tennessee. The surface is hilly, but the soil is productive and in the valleys is quite fertile. The county is well watered. Big Barren River. with its tribu- taries, supply it abundantly on the eastern and northern portions, while Big Train- mel and Drake's creeks supply the southi- ern and western portions, the central part being supplied by Little Trammel, Puncheon Camp, Long, Walnut, Big Difficult, Little Difficult Sulphur Fork. Middle Fork, Bay's Fork, Rough, and Snake creeks, most of which are good- sized streams. The soil is principally adapted to corn, wheat, oats, and tobacco. The forest lands are well timbered with as fine a variety as can be found anywhere, and at present the timber industry is the leading one in the county, and while there
are a number of mills operating, the supply seems inexhaustible. Very fine qualities of building stone abounds; both gas and oil have been found, but neither have been developed. There is some evidence of coal and iron. Mineral waters abound all over the country. The Chesapeake & Nashville railroad terminates at Scotts- ville, but the route has been surveyed to Glasgow, Ky. A small mileage of turn- pike exists, but the people are now or- ganizing good roads societies and every- thing points to improved roads, which will add much to the county.
The agricultural industry in the county is improving.
Farm hands are paid 75 cents per day and board; $1.00 to $1. 25 without.
The public school system is the same as the rest of the State. The school buildings on an average are very good. Scottsville is the county seat; it has a population of about 1,200. There are several small villages in the county, the inost important of which are Holland, Petroleum, Gainesville. New Roe, and Alexander.
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STATE OF KENTUCKY
ANDERSON COUNTY
POPULATION (CENSUS 1900), 10,051. (ESTIMATED 1902), 13,000. COUNTY SEAT, LAWRENCEBURG.
Is situated in the Eighth Congressional, Third Appellate, Twelfth Judicial. Twen- tieth Senatorial, and Fifty-seventh Legis- lative Districts.
Anderson County was formed in 1827 out of a portion of Frankin. Fayette. and Mercer counties. The present estimated population, almost entirely made up of the Anglo-Saxon race, is now about 13,000.
The county occupies two high and fer- tile plateaus, separated from each other by Salt River, which flows through the central part of the county. The land on top of the table-lands is gently rolling, and the slopes leading down from the np- lands to the rivers are somewhat precipi- tous. The Kentucky River, which borders the eastern portion of the county for a distance of about twenty miles. is naviga- ble throughout the year. Salt River, in the central part of the county. and Chap- lain on the southern border. are not na- vigable. but all of these streams are capable of furnishing unlimited water- power for all purposes. Beside these streams, the county is traversed in every direction by smaller ones, which afford the most ample supply of water for stock and crops under all circumstances. The scenery along the Kentucky River and its tributaries is unexcelled in its boldness and in its picturesque features. The Salt River bottoms are famous for their fertility.
The soil of the county is of a limestone formation, with a clay subsoil, and is generally fertile and productive. It is well adapted to the production of corn, wheat, and tobacco. Oats. potatoes, garden vegetables and fruits of all kinds also do well in every part of the county. The tobacco grown in this county is al-
ways of the finest quality, and ranks among the best crops to be found in the Louisville and Cincinnati markets. The large crops of timothy and clover that may be produced from a given quantity of ground. with the bluegrass which is indigenous, makes this one of the best counties in the State for stock farming. The number of cattle shipped from An- derson County to Eastern markets and to Europe is increasing rapidly every year.
The timber is principally white oak and beech, with a fair proportion of sugar maple. The hickory, walnut. and pop- lar has been nearly all cut off and disposed of in the markets. Owing to the present demand for farming lands in this county the value has increased at least twenty- five per cent within the last year.
Numerous and what are believed to be valuable deposits of lead and zinc have been found in the county, within a few miles of the county seat. One of these mines has been recently leased to East- ern capitalists, who will proceed at once to work their lease to its full extent.
There is undoubtedly natural gas in paying quantities in the county.
The people of this county are almost entirely engaged in farming. The only manufacturing enterprises in the county are the numerous and famous distilleries and the cooper shops connected with them. The MeBrayer, Searcy, and Ripy whiskies are known the world over, and are justly renowned for their excellence and purity. The Saffell distillery, which has not been in existence for so long a time as those named above, is rapidly acquiring a reputation second to none in Kentucky. The fouring mills, of which there are a number, are all doing a large business, both local and general. The
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COMMERCIAL GROWTH
Lawrenceburg Roller Mills, the Bond Mills at McBrayer, and the Franklin Mills at Orr, are well and favorably known throughout the United States.
The shipping facilities are as good as those of any other city of the same size to be found in the State or in the entire South. The Southern Railway has its main line running entirely through the county from west to east. and a branch line tapping the Cincinnati Southern at Burgin, in Mercer County. It also con- nects at Lexington with roads running east and north as well as south: at Louisville with the many lines running west. northwest, and south. Louisville is sixty-five miles west and Lexington twenty-five miles east from Lawrenceburg. The Kentucky River is only four miles from Lawrenceburg and is a valuable competitor to the railroads in the mat- ter of freight rates.
Anderson County has about 100 miles of free turnpike road, which is kept in the best of repair by the county. The county expended $40.000 within the last eight years for the construction of turnpikes, and yet the entire debts of the county will not exceed $10.000.
Labor. both white and colored. is plenti- ful and can be had at reasonable rates.
Unskilled labor here may be hired at from $1.00 to $1.50 per day. Mechanics and skilled laborers receive from $1.75 to $2.50 per day. Farm labor may be had for about $18.00 to $20.00 per month without board, and at from SIo.oo to $12.00 per month with board.
The school facilities of the county will compare favorably with those of any other county of the same population and wealth to be found in the State. The white schools furnish employment for about fifty teachers, the majority of whom are women. The schools of Lawrenceburg give employment to six regular teachers. and have a special teacher of drawing and also of physical culture.
Lawrenceburg, the county seat, a city of the fifth class, with a population of over 2.000, is finely located on a plateau be- tween Kentucky and Salt rivers, on a line of the Southern Railway. It has five white and three colored churches, is well supplied with stores in all lines of trade, a cooperage factory, a large roller mill, two hotels, three banks (with a united capital of $195.000), and one newspaper. It has a large and commodious court house and some of the handsomest resi- dences and business houses in the State.
BALLARD COUNTY
POPULATION (CENSU'S 1900), 10, 761. COUNTY SEAT, WICKLIFFE.
Situated in the First Congressional, First Appellate. First Judicial, Second Senatorial, and Second Legislative Dis- tricts.
At the sitting of the legislature in the winter of 1841-2. the county of Ballard was brought into existence by a curtail- ment of both MeCracken and Hickman counties. Blandville was at that time made the county seat.
The soil of Ballard County is mostly of a black loan with yellow clay subsoil.
except the valleys, which are a black sandy loam with generally blue-clay foundation, and very productive. The minerals that exist in the hills of the county are unde- veloped, and to what extent they exist is not known. The timber resources of the county have been greatly abused, but good timber land can be purchased at this time for from seven to twelve dollars per acre. Diversified farming is carried on to a considerable extent, but fruit grow. ing, which could be made profitable,
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STATE OF KENTUCKY
receives but little attention. About thirty miles of the boundary of the county is on the Mississippi and Ohio rivers, and this, with twenty miles on Mayfield Creek. con- stitutes all the navigable waters touching the county. The county has no turnpike or metal roads, but has as good graded dirt roads, maintained by a system of taxation. as there are to be found in the State. The Illinois Central and Mobile & Ohio are the railroads that touch Ballard County, and jointly contain twenty miles of road: this, in connection with the river frontage. renders transportation easy of access and freights reasonably low. Farm land will average in price about $15 per acre. and good white labor can be had at Sis per montlı. There is a good opening for the establishment of a wagon. plow, and in-
plement factory, as well as flour mills and canning factory. A creamery would also do well.
Wickliffe is now the county seat of Ballard County, and is located on the Mississippi River six miles below Cairo, Illinois. It has a chair and furniture factory, two potteries. one wagon and buggy factory, and a large flouring mill. Blandville Baptist College, located at Blandville, is the only institution of learning within the county except the common schools, which are in a flourish- ing condition, the State fund being supplemented by local taxation. There is no bonded indebtedness of the county. and the. tax rate for county purposes is seventeen cents on the $100 of taxable property.
BARREN COUNTY
POPULATION (CENSUS 1900), 23, 197. COUNTY SEAT, GLASGOW.
Situated in the Third Congressional, Third Appellate, Tenth Judicial, and Nine- teentli Senatorial Districts.
Barren was taken from a portion of Green and Warren counties in 1798. It was the thirty-seventh county formed in the State. The county seat, Glasgow. is a beautiful town laid off in a square, with broad streets and a handsome new court house in the center. It contains two very commodious, modernly arranged school- houses-Liberty Female College and the public school building. Excellent schools are now being taught in both of these buildings. The county is laid off in school districts, and in every neighborhood fine schools are being taught.
North, northeast, and northwest of Glasgow the land is very fertile: the sur- face is smooth enough to admit of casy cultivation and rolling enough to drain well. The southern portion of the county is not so well favored in fertility of the soil and a smooth, even surface as the
northern, as it is more broken or uneven. Yet in timber, fine running water, and in oil productions, it greatly excels the north- ern portion. Some of the finest oil wells in the State are found in this section of Barren County. The natural products of the county are oil, gas, pure water, and a reasonable amount of timber-consisting of oak. poplar, beecli, hickory, gum. and cherry. Agricultural products : Tobacco, corn, wheat, oats, hay, and sorghum (in commercial value these rank in order named). In grasses, clover. orchard grass, timothy, red top. and bluegrass are the chief sorts grown. In fruits, apples. peaches, pears, plums, cherries, grapes, strawberries, and gooseberries. all are grown with more or less success.
Dirt roads form the principal thorough- fares. However, there are two pikes (known as the upper and lower L. & N. pikes) that extend through the county. One of these, for its entire length in the county. has been macadamized, and the
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COMMERCIAL GROWTH
other partially so. These, as well as all the dirt roads, are kept up by the county and all are entirely free from toll. The L. & N. railroad runs through the county about ten and one half miles, the Glasgow Branch railroad beginning at Glasgow Junction, a station on the L. & N., termi- nating at Glasgow, a distance of ten and
one half miles. The Mammoth Cave rail- road runs five miles in Barren County. making in all twenty-six miles of railroad in the county. There are no navigable streams in Barren County, but many of them will furnish an abundance of water power to propel any kind of machinery.
BATH COUNTY
POPULATION (CENSUS 1900), 14,734.
Bath County is in the Ninth Congres- sional, Seventh Appellate. Twenty-first Judicial, Thirty- fifth Senatorial, and Nine- ty-fourth Legislative Districts.
Bath County was organized in 1811. out of parts of Bourbon and Montgomery. It is situated in the northeastern part of the State. The northern and western portions of the county are undulating and belong to the famous . bluegrass belt." This portion of the county is devoted to raising short-horn cattle. corn, wheat. and tobacco, and contains some of the finest farming land in the State. The southern and eastern portions of the county are somewhat broken and hilly, though all the cereals grow well. In the extreme eastern portion of the county there is to be found some of the finest timber in the State, such as oak, poplar, and walnut. The Licking River runs along the eastern and northern boundary of the county and would be navigable as far as West Liberty, in Morgan County, if locked and dammed. The Licking is a splendid outlet for the shipments of timber, a large amount of which is floated down the river to market by means of .. rafts." Timber lands in this county, of which there is a great abundance, sell for from Sio to $30 per acre. One of the finest iron ore deposits in the United States is found in the eastern portion of the county. about five miles east of Owingsville, the county seat. These inines are at present being operated by
COUNTY SEAT, OWINGSVILLE.
the Rose Run Iron Co. There are many other ore deposits in the county that re- main undeveloped. Eight miles southeast from the county seat is situated the famous Olympian Springs.
White, black, and salt sulphur, chaly- beate, Epsom. alum, and soda are the waters to be found all within a radius of one half mile. These springs, for the past two years, have been frequented by a large number of guests. On Slate Creek. a tributary of Licking River, two miles south of Owingsville, stands the stack of the first iron furnace built west of the Alleghany Mountains. This furnace was built by Jacob Myers, Christopher Greenup, and others in the year 1790. The stack is in a fairly good state of preservation. It was at this furnace that the cannon balls were made that General Jackson used at the battle of New Orleans.
This county has but one railroad, the C. & ()., which runs through the southern and eastern portions of the county. There is also a narrow gauge road running from Salt Lick, on the C. & O., to the timber and coal lands on the Upper Licking River: this is valuable as a feeder to the C. & (). This county has about 156 miles of turn- pike, which is now kept up by means of taxation. There are no toll gates on any of the pikes. The dirt roads are good for the most part. and indeed all the roads are gradually improving. The average price for farm labor in this county is
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STATE OF KENTUCKY
from $12 to $15 per month, including board.
The school facilities in this county are good. Bath Seminary, situated in Owings- ville, offers splendid inducements to those wishing to avail themselves of a higher education, while at Sharpsburg, that town has a normal school that any place might be justly proud of. The public schools in the county, taken as a whole, are as good as the best. Owingsville, the county seat, is one of the prettiest and most cul- tured and wealthy towns of its size in the State. It has a population of about 1.500, and is blessed with all modern ini- provements. It has two strong banks, two newspapers. four churches all in good buildings, electric lights, telephone ex- change, and will soon be connected with the outside world by telephone. She has a citizenship equal to the very best. The town has long needed a flouring mill. and an industry of this character would doubt- less bring large returns. The town is
situated on a high hill and has natural drainage and splendid water.
Sharpsburg, situated in the northwest- ern part of the county, is a town of im- portance. Bethel, five miles east of Sharpsburg, is an important village and is a large shipping point for cattle, hogs, and tobacco. Wyoming, Odessa, Rey- noldsville, Forge Hill. Olympia, and Yale are all thriving villages. Salt Lick, on the C. & O. railroad, in the eastern portion of the county, is the largest shipping point in the county. More than 500 men are now employed in the forest south of Salt Lick, making staves and getting out timber for shipment East. The timber lying adjacent to this place is of the best quality and the quantity is almost inex- haustible.
The land in the eastern portion of the county can be purchased for fron Sio to $20 per acre, and this land is peculiarly adapted to fruit culture, timothy grass. and the cereals.
BELL COUNTY
POPULATION (CENSUS 1900), 15.701. COUNTY SEAT, PINEVILLE.
Situated in the Eleventh Congressional, Seventh Senatorial. Seventh Appellate. and Twenty-sixth Judicial Districts.
Bell County was formed from parts of Harlem, Knox, and Whitley counties in the year 1867, and was named in honor of the Hon. Joshua F. Bell. who was a member of the legislature from that dis- trict at the time of the organization of the county.
It is the impression of many people living in western, central, and northern Kentucky, and people living in other States, that when one enters Bell County he or she is in great danger of being killed by a " mountaineer " without any provo- cation whatever. This impression is false. When one comes to Bell County they find the best people on earth; not many are
what may be termed rich. but they are the most charitable people in the world. If afflictions or adverse fortune renders one a subject for assistance, no appeal is nec- essary other than the mere fact that they are a fit subject. It is fact that Bell County, np to a few years ago, has had a bloody record, but at a recent term of the Bell Circuit Court Judge Hall cleared the docket of murder cases, and to-day. with as inany miners as there are in the county. and while the character of labor all over the country is in the greatest turmoil, will be found a most hospitable and peaceful people. If those who think them barba- rous and uncivilized would go into their midst they would find school houses and churches up every creek and hollow in the county, and we will show them a happy.
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COMMERCIAL GROWTH
church-going people who used to take a delight in shedding the blood of their fel- low men, but have changed with the times to righteous, law-abiding citizens.
Cumberland River and its tributaries furnish an abundant supply of water for all purposes for the entire county. Clear Creek empties into the river near Pineville. on the south side of Pine Mountain, and Straight Creek on the north side, affording magnificent water power and drainage. Yellow Creek, running directly through the city of Middlesboro, affords sufficient drainage for a city of 100,000 people. The mild climate, uniform temperature. and splendid water and drainage combine to make this county an extraordinarily healthy one.
Pure rhombohedral iron ore abounds in most every section of the county. The north side of Pine Mountain shows three hundred feet of the best subcarboniferous limestone. while the northern side of same mountain is a solid mass of the finest build- ing blue-gray sandstone in the country: it is easily worked, uniform and durable. The best of domestic and coking coal in the market is mined and made at Pineville, Middlesboro, and Chenoa.
More than one half million acres of the finest timber in the world is accessible to the people of Pineville and Middlesboro through the different streams and railroads converging at these points: poplar. wahint, ash, oaks of all kinds, lynn. chestnut, and chestnut oak, the latter furnishing the finest tanbark in the world.
New coal mines are being opened up continuously. Coal lands are being sought after and are being bought extensively.
The public roads are not good in this county, and are kept up by the road militia, which would indicate that the old .. warn- ing out system " is getting to be a failure.
The Cumberland Valley branch of the Louisville & Nashville Railroad has within this county 20. 23 miles of railroad. The Cumberland River & Tennessee Railroad 12.50 miles. The West Virginia, Pine-
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