USA > Kentucky > The Commercial history of the Southern States covering the post-bellum period Kentucky > Part 8
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It lies on both sides of Green River.
The surface of the county is generally uneven, part of it hilly and broken, and most of it gently undulating. The river
and creek bottoms and valleys afford some rich and productive soil, but the ridges and tableland are usually thin and much less productive.
Its principal streams are Green and Nolin rivers, Bear and Beaver Dam creeks, besides numerous smaller streams. which afford some fine locations for grist and saw mills and factories.
The county abounds with excellent tim- ber, principally poplar, oak of all kinds. hickory, ash, walnut, sycamore, gum, and beech, which is marketed principally in the shape of saw-logs and cross-ties. which are cut and rafted down the various
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streams to Evansville and Henderson markets.
The county is also underlaid with exten- sive beds of coal and iron, which are as yet undeveloped.
The navigation of Green River is being improved by locks, and mines of coal, asphalt, etc., are being opened up. Labor on farm is mostly white, and wages 50 cents with, and 75 cents per day without board; or $12 per month with, or $18 without board. Roads are worked by calling out hands : road tax is talked of.
Brownsville, the county seat of Edmon- son County, was established in the year 1828, and was named in honor of General Jacob Brown. It is located on the banks of Green River, at the head of navigation, and is a thriving little town of about 250 inhabitants. It has an excellent court house and a good jail building: contains tliree dry goods and a grocery store, three hotels, two churches, one bank. one male and female academy. Brownsville lies in latitude 37° and 14', and longitude 9º and 15'.
Edmonson County surpasses any other county in the State in its natural curiosi- ties and strange formations. Indian Hill lies one mile from Brownsville, is circular at its base, and one mile in circumference: its altitude is eighty-four feet, and except on one side, which is easy of access on foot, perpendicular. The remains of a for-
tification are seen around the brow, and a number of mounds and burial places are scattered over this area. A fine spring of water issues from the rock near the surface.
Dismal Rock is a perpendicular rock on Dismal Creek, 163 feet high.
The Mammoth Cave is about one half mile from Green River, twelve miles from Brownsville, and about seventy-five miles from Louisville, Ky. The cave abounds in minerals, such as nitrous earth, sand fint, pebbles, red and gray ochre, cal- careous spar. chalcedony, crystallized carbonate of lime, crystals of quartz, sul- phate of lime, Epsom and Glauber salts. The cave extends some ten or twelve iniles, and to visit the portions already traversed it is said requires 150 to 200 miles' travel. It contains a succession of wonderful avenues, chambers, domes, abysses, grottoes, lakes, rivers, cataracts, and other marvels which are too well known to need more than a reference.
There are several other interesting caves in the neighborhood, the principal of which are the Colossal Cavern and Grand Avenue Cave, which rival the Mammoth Cave in the beauty and grand. eur of their chambers, and excel in the number and variety of stalagmites and stalactites.
The Chameleon Springs and the Chaly- beate Springs are popular summer resorts and watering places.
ELLIOTT COUNTY
POPULATION (CENSUS 1900), 10,387. COUNTY SEAT, SANDY HOOK.
Situated in the Tenth Congressional, Seventh Appellate, Twentieth Judicial. Thirty-second Senatorial, and One Hun- dredth Legislative Districts.
Formed by an act of the Kentucky Legislature in 1869 and 1870, situated on the headwaters of Little Sandy River. Within the county are several water- courses navigable for floating out lumber,
staves, etc. The soil is a deep loam withi clay subsoil. well adapted to and on which grow fine crops of clover, orchard grass, timothy, oats, and wheat : also excellent corn crops. Cattle are being extensively raised at a good profit. The county lias all varieties of lumber of this climate ; much valuable oak and yellow poplar is now being marketed. Bituminous and
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cannel coal : the bituminous coal is from two to four feet thick : cannel coal runs five feet thick. This deposit is in the southern part of the county. It is thought to have large deposits of asphalt, as Elliott borders on Carter, near the asphalt mines now being developed at Soldier, Ky. : good saw and fouring mills. The public roads are in fair condition. with iron bridges across the principal streams, and the roads are being materially improved. Av- erage price for farm labor is $13 per month with board, SIS without board; good common schools, with an excellent
corps of teachers, and two normal train - ing schools, where many are being prepared as teachers.
Sandy Hook is the county seat. beauti- fully located, well watered, and healthful. In the southeastern part of this county are dikes. and diamonds are supposed to be deposited. Many geologists have vis- ited these dikes, where some mining has been done. Some silver mines with a sinall per cent of silver have been found. There is a bright future for Elliott County when the fine deposits of black and yellow oil on the Middle Fork are developed.
ESTILL COUNTY
POPULATION (CENSUS 1900), 11,669. COUNTY SEAT, IRVINE.
Situated in the Tenth Congressional, Seventhi Judicial, Twenty-ninth Senatorial and Seventy-third Legislative Districts.
Estill County, named in honor of Cap- tain James Estill, a noted Indian fighter, was established by an act of the Legisla- ture of 1807, and was organized in the year following. It is composed of por- tions of Madison and Clark counties. The Kentucky River washes the shores of the county for approximately fifty miles, and receives within its course numerous tribu- taries of greater or less extent, of which Station Camp, Miller's Creek, Buck and Doe, Drowning and Cow creeks are the most important. The banks of the Ken- tucky and its affluents are thickly wooded with choice timber of both hard and soft varieties, and the river and creeks are util- ized during the rainy season of the year for floating millions of feet of choice tim- ber to the mills. Mill sites of the finest character, with water power in abundance. dot the river banks on both sides for the entire water front of the county. The soil along the river and creek bottoms is of remarkable fertility and admirably adapted to the cultivation of the coarser cereals. Indian corn is raised on these
bottoms with great success, the annual inundations furnishing sufficient silt to enrich and rejuvenate the soil for endless successive crops.
No county in the State is richer in its mineral deposits than Estill, although they lie as yet in an almost totally undeveloped state. Immense fields of bituminous coal: miles of iron ore of unsurpassed quality. which lie unused for lack of transporta- tion facilities; zinc in paying quantities: petroleum that shows on the surface its great extent, in one instance bubbling from the ground in a continuous flow. so that it can be seen in considerable quan- tity for a mile on the surface of the stream on which it is located: building stone, scarcely inferior to granite. in inex- haustible deposits; hundred acres of work- able clays, containing kaolin, aluminum. and all the best material for pottery: all these are the known ininerals of Estill County: known without any effort made to discover. much less to develop them. There are many mineral springs in the county, all of the varieties of sulplınr. alum, and chalybeate being represented. in several instances as many as five springs in close contignity, having no two
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waters alike. The Estill Springs, situated on the outskirts of the county seat. have been a popular watering place for nearly three quarters of a century, and are well patronized during the summer season. Irvine has two mammoth saw mills that run as long as the river will furnish them timber: besides, scattered through the county, there are scores or more of mills of less capacity for sawing lumber. There are also four stave factories. and one for the manufacture of excelsior. The Louis- ville & Atlantic, running from Versailles to Irvine. a distance of sixty-one miles, is at present the only railroad tapping Estill County.
Irvine, the county seat, is located in the Kentucky River valley, beantified and adorned by the loveliest of nature's scenery, and is healthful, the air being pure and salubrious and the waters noted for their health-restoring properties. It has a population of nearly a thousand, and its people are polite, courteous, and to a large extent cultured and refined. It is quite a lumber emporium, quite an amount of capital being invested in that business. Its position on the border between the bluegrass and the mountains, the purity of its air and water, and many other things, make it one of the best locations for schools of high order in the State.
FAYETTE COUNTY
POPULATION (CENSUS 1900). 42,071. COUNTY SEAT, LEXINGTON.
Situated in the Seventh Congressional. Fifth Appelate. Twenty-second Judicial, Twenty-seventh Senatorial. and Sixty-first and Sixty-second Legislative Districts.
Fayette is the central county of the celebrated bluegrass region of Central Kentucky. As originally constituted by the Legislature of Virginia, it was one of the three counties-Fayette. Lincoln, and Jefferson-composing the district of Ken- theky, and was named after the distin- quished General Lafayette. It then in- cinded . all that part of the county of Kentucky which lies north of the line, beginning at the mouth of the Kentucky River, and up the same and its middle fork to the head, thence south to the Washington line": thus including about one third of the present State. By the cutting off of many other counties it has been reduced to its present area.
The surface of the county is a rolling upland, with the general level of the highest portions about 1,000 feet above -ea level. The country becomes more broken towards the Kentucky River. which forms the southern boundary for
about fifteen miles, and falls off very abruptly from the brink of the river hills to the 600 contour line. All the county drains into the Kentucky River, the southeastern portion by streams that have their courses entirely within or along the borders of the county, the rest of the county by streams that flow outside the limits before emptying. The former are streams of comparatively rapid fall, and might furnish some water power if only they were streams of greater volume. Streams of this class are Boone's, Elk Lick, and Raven. The streams of the other class are North Elkhorn. Town Branch of South Elkhorn. South Elk- horn, West Hickman, and East Hickman. These are streams of more uniform flow, and though the fall per mile is not great furnish some power for flour and grist mills. None of these streams are navigable. Numerous caves and sinks abound in the county. One of the best known is Russell Cave. about seven miles from town on the Russell Cave pike. A copious spring- literally an underground stream --- issues from one side of the main entrance.
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The greater part of the land of the county is arable, and pasture land is of the finest quality. The soil is of two princi- pal kinds : That with red subsoil, derived from the Trenton limestone, and that with yellow subsoil, derived from the limestone of the Lower Hudson. These soils are very similar physically, both being rather clayey in texture, though not containing a large proportion of true clay, but being composed largely of very fine sand. They are remarkably rich in phosphates and contain a large reserve of insoluble potash silicates, so that they are capable of retaining their fertility for a long time under proper till- age, and when depleted may be restored again by clover or grass. This soil of the second class (yellow subsoil) is peculiarly well suited to the white Burley tobacco and to hemp, but the growing of tobacco has nearly superseded that of hemp in late years. It is also productive of corn, and is fairly good wheat soil.
"Taking the county as a whole, there is still considerable marketable timber remaining in woodland pastures, but it is wisely being preserved for other purposes, and it is to be hoped that Fayette County may never be more completely deprived of her native trees and shrubs than she is at the present time. Certainly their worth in money is trifling when compared with their æsthetic value as a feature of the bluegrass landscape, and their useful- ness as a partial check on the sudden and extreme drouths with which of late this region has been too frequently visited."
As the raising of fine stock. especially horses, is one of the most important in- terests of the county, a large part of the best land is retained in permanent blue- grass pastures. Much of this land. however, has recently been devoted to the production of tobacco, which is gen- erally raised by white labor .. on shares." Aside from this, most of the farming is done by colored laborers, and the average price for good labor is about $14 per month, with board.
Railroads. There are in Fayette County about sixty-seven miles of rail- road, having mileage as follows: Louis- ville & Nashville, nine and one half miles: Louisville Southern, eight and one half miles; Cincinnati Southern, fourteen miles; Kentucky Central, nine miles: Lex- ington & Eastern, twelve miles: Chesa- peake & Ohio, eleven miles; Lexington Belt Line. three miles. All railroads center in Lexington.
Turnpikes. There are from 350 to 400 miles of turnpike in the county, about 200 miles being Telford and the remaining macadam road.
Lexington, the county seat, is a city of the second class, with a population of about 35,000, and is one of the oldest settlements in the State, the site having been visited by a party of hunters in June, 1775, and was named in honor of the battle of Lexington (Mass. ). news of which had just been received by them. A permanent settlement was effected in 1779, and it was incorporated as a town in 1782 and as a city in 1832. The city has had an interesting history, and has long been famous as the home of many men who have occupied high places in the councils of the State and the nation.
Its position at the intersection of sev- eral railroad lines extending in all direc- tions, together with its extensive system of turnpikes radiating into every part of the surrounding country, gives it the most commanding commercial position in the eastern half of Kentucky, and has re- sulted in the development of many impor- tant business enterprises and in the building up of one of the handsomest cities of the State.
The principal streets are paved with brick, and internal travel is further facili- tated by a very complete electric street railway system, which reaches every quarter of the city. The Street Railway Company also operates the electric light system of the city and an extensive plant for the manufacture of ice.
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The water supply of the city comes from fake Ellerslie, an artificial reservoir cover. Ing 126 acres, three miles east of the city.
The busmess interests of the city are extensive and varied. As a horse market it has long been famous, and the various racing meetings throughout the season at the Fair Grounds bring together a large ummmber of horse breeders and owners from all parts of the country.
Tobacco, hemp, and canning factories and flooring mills convert the raw materials from the surrounding farms into finished products. A large brewery has recently been added to the city's business in- terests, and a tobacco warehouse is in process of construction by the Continental Tobacco Company. Many large whole- sale and retail commercial honses serve as distributing agents for all kinds of food products and manufacturers.
The public buildings of Lexington are large and imposing. The court house was erected at a cost of $200,000.
The government building, in which are located the post-office and the offices of the Seventh Internal Revenue District, is a splendid granite structure. erected in IS89, and is well adapted to its purposes.
The Eastern Kentucky Asylum for the Insane is located upon the northern edge of the city.
Two splendid general hospitals afford a refuge for those striken down by disease of accident: St. Joseph's, conducted by the Roman Catholics, and the Good Sa- maritan. managed jointly by the Prot- estant churches of the city.
In its educational institutions Lexington stands pre-eminent. It has for many years been the Mecca of Chautauquans of Ken- tucky, and the annual gatherings of the arembly are largely and enthusiastically attended at Woodland Park, in the east- rin part of the city. The assembly has a large auditorium and numerous subordinate buildings beautifully situated in a noble grove of Kentucky's finest forest trees.
Kentucky University and the Agricul- tural and Mechanical, or State College, as it is called, are both large and flourishing institutions and provide instruction for both men and women. The former is conducted under the auspices of the Christian Church, and in its Bible Col- lege especially, where students meet from all parts of the world. is an impor- tant auxiliary of that denomination. Its College of Liberal Arts offers courses in the usual branches of collegiate instruc- tion.
The State College is a non-sectarian institution, supported jointly by the State and the Federal governments. While giving instructions in the usual classical studies it is also especially prepared to give thorough courses in scientific, agri- cultural. and engineering lines. its labora- tories and shops being amply equipped with the best modern apparatus for this work. Associated with the college, the Kentucky Agricultural Experiment Station is constantly engaged in experimental work with farm and garden crops in the interest of farmers.
Besides these two institutions. there are three others for the education of young ladies: Sayre Institute, Hamilton College, and St. Catherine's Academy, con- ducted under the several auspices of the Presbyterian. Christian, and Roman Cath- olic churches. The American Missionary Association also maintains a large normal school for colored pupils. In addition to all these, there are several large conuner- cial colleges. private schools, and the necessary quota of public schools for the needs of the community.
The principal villages outside of Lex- ington are East Hickman, Athens, Cen- terville, Walnut Hill, Fort Spring. Chilesburg, Donerail, South Elkhorn, and Sandersville. The State Houses of Reform are located at Greendale, a station on the Cincinnati Southern Railroad. a few miles north of Lexington.
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FLEMING COUNTY
POPULATION (CENSUS 1900), 17,074.
Situated in the Ninth Congressional. Sixth Appellate, Nineteenth Judicial. Thirty-fifth Senatorial, and Eighty-eighth Legislative Districts.
Fleming County was formed in 1798 out of a portion of Mason, and was the twenty-sixth county in the State: was named in honor of Colonel John M. Flem- ing, who was head of the numerous family of Flemings. It is situated in the north- eastern part of the State. seventeen miles from the Ohio River. Licking River tra- verses the southwestern border, and is fed by Fox. Fleming, and Johnson creeks, which in early days were noted for the numerous water mills that . . cracked the corn." The eastern portion of the county is mountain- ous and heavily timbered, poplar. pine, oak, and chestnut prevailing. Iron ore, oil. and building stone are found in the county in abundance. The soil is deep and rich. producing corn, wheat, and tobacco equal to any in the State, and surpassed by none. Fine turnpikes are scattered all over the county, and are sustained by taxation.
COUNTY SEAT, FLEMINGSBURG.
Farm hands receive from SS to $20 per month, and day laborers from ȘI to $3 per day.
Flemingsburg, the county seat, one of the prettiest towns in the State, has a population of 1.700, a substantial and commodious court house. one of the finest public school buildings in the State. elec- tric lights, telephone exchange. the best fire department in the State outside of Louisville. two newspapers. six churches, two banks. three hotels. one restaurant, one large flouring mill. three tobacco barns. four livery stables, four drug stores. five dry goods. one clothing, seven grocery, two hardware. two jewelry, two furniture. two millinery, and one agricultural supply stores; three blacksmith. two saddlery, and two carriage shops: two undertakers, two dentists, seven physicians. thirteen lawyers, and three secret societies. Flein- ingsburg is surrounded by a rich and un- dulating country, with extensive farms, fat mules, fine horses, cattle, hogs, and sheep.
FLOYD COUNTY
POPULATION (CENSUS 1900), 15. 552. COUNTY SEAT, PRESTONBURG.
Situated in the Tenth Congressional, Seventh Appellate. Twenty-fourth Judi- cial, Thirty-third Senatorial. and Ninety- seventh Legislative Districts.
Floyd County is situated in the extreme portion of Eastern Kentucky. It was made a county in 1799. and its territory was taken from the counties of Mason. Fleming, and Montgomery. It was named in honor of Colonel John Floyd, a very prominent mau in Kentucky in the early days of the State.
It has since contributed much of its territory to form other counties, sixteen counties having been formed. in whole or in part. from the original territory of Floyd. The surface of the county is very mountainous: it is well watered and drained by the Big Sandy and its tributaries. which Row through the central portion of the county.
In the valleys of the Big Sandy the soil is fertile, and the principal crop of the county, which is corn. is grown to
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great perfection; wheat, oats, and flax are also cultivated to some extent.
The mountains and hills of the whole aminty are underlaid with coal, the supply being practically inexhaustible, but want of proper facilities for transporting to market has hindered the development of same very materially. Much of the valu- able timber of the county has been cut and rafted out of the county on the Big Sandy, yet there still remains much valu- able timber, oak, poplar, hickory, beech. ash, and walnut. Large tracts of good timber can be bought at reasonable prices per acre. Diversified farming is not carried on, this, like most of the mountain counties, confining its principal industries to the minerals and timber of the county. The Big Sandy River is navigable in the winter and spring seasons for small steamers, and in summer for push boats. There are no turnpikes in the county. The public roads of the county are com- mon dirt roads, which are maintained and
kept up under the road laws of the State. There are no railroads in the county, though the Kentucky Midland has been projected to run through the northern part of the county, entering it at Need- more, on the western boundary, running to Prestonburg, the county seat. and thence in a southeasternly direction into Pike.
The labor mostly employed in the county is furnished by native whites. For farm labor, hands can be had at Sio to $15 per month and board.
The school facilities of this county are furnished by the common schools, which in a general way may be said to be in good condition: they are well attended. and under good management.
Prestonburg, the county seat of Floyd County, is situated in the northern part of the county, on the Big Sandy River. It is a nice little village. has a church and school house, besides a few stores and shops.
FRANKLIN COUNTY
POPULATION (CENSUS 1900), 20,852. COUNTY SEAT, FRANKFORT.
Situated in the Seventh Congressional, Fifth Appellate, Fourteenth Judicial. Twentieth Senatorial, and Fifty-sixth Legislative Districts.
Franklin County, situated in the north- ern part of the State, was organized as a county in 1794, and is. therefore, one of the oldest counties in the State in date of organization.
The topography of the county is gently rolling, with the exception of that portion bordering on the banks of the Kentucky River and some of its tributaries, where the precipitous bluffs. characteristic of that stream, rise to a height of 100 feet, and constitute some of the finest scenery in the State. It is credited with com- paring favorably with the Palisades of the Hudson.
The soil is a clay loam, very produc- tive, and adapted to the growth of heavy cereals and tobacco, and in the northern portion especially adapted to growing peaches and apples, to which consider- able attention is paid.
The timber resources of the county are limited, being only sufficient for local nse. The Kentucky River flows through the center of the county from north to south. By a system of locks and dams, under the control of the general govern- ment, it is navigable at all seasons, and furnishes the county cheap and reliable transportation for its products. The other streams of the county are Big and Little Benson, and Elkhorn, all tributa- ries of the Kentucky River. Some lead ore is known to exist in the county, but
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