USA > Kentucky > The Commercial history of the Southern States covering the post-bellum period Kentucky > Part 9
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COMMERCIAL GROWTH
has never been exploited sufficiently to determine its commercial value. Along the cliffs of the Kentucky River a species of limestone, known as Kentucky marble, is found. It is a valuable building stone, the strata lying in even thicknesses. From this stone the present State House at Frankfort was built. The county has a number of mineral springs. mostly of sulphur impregnation.
The county has the L .. C. & L. di- vision of the Louisville & Nashville Railroad running through the southern end of the county. and the Frankfort & Cincinnati running from Frankfort to Paris, and connecting at Georgetown with the C., N. O. & T. P. for Cincinnati and
the South. These lines, with the twenty- odd miles of river transportation fur. nished by the Kentucky River, give the county excellent transportation facilities.
There are a number of large saw mills located on the Kentucky River, which are supplied with logs from the counties on the head-waters of the river, being sent down in rafts during spring and winter tides. Kentucky River Mills, located at Frankfort, and utilizing the water power furnished by Lock No. 4, is an old-es- tablished and highly prosperous factory, using annually many thousand pounds of hemp in the manufacture of the higher grades of binder and commercial twine. There are also a number of large distil- leries in the county. all of which stand at the top in reputation of their brands. Next in importance is the flour mill indus- try, mainly centered at Frankfort.
The macadamized roads of the county are free to the public and are maintained out of the general revenue.
The labor of the county is performed by both white and colored laborers, and
the price varies from Sio to $13 per month with board for labor on the farm. The wages in factories and mills varies from $1.25 per day for unskilled labor to $3 and $5 per day for skilled mechan- ics and foremen.
The educational facilities of the county are good, although consisting mainly of the public schools. The district schools are taught by progressive teachers. They are well attended and in the matter of educating the masses are doing a great work.
Frankfort city school is a superb build- ing, erected at a cost of $30,000. It is equipped with kindergarten, manual training, and art departments. The pres- ent enrollment is some 1, 300 pupils, under control of twenty-four teachers. The graduates from this school are fully pre- pared to enter the best colleges and universities. So well in fact does this school meet the educational requirements that private institutions of instruction have found it difficult to maintain them- selves.
Frankfort, the county seat and capital of the State, is situated on the Kentucky River. It is one of the oldest cities of the State, which fact, together with its picturesque location, makes it especially a point of interest. It has a population of about 10.000, is favorably located. and enjoys a considerable trade. Here are located the public offices of the State, the main State prison, the State Colored Normal School for the preparation of teachers of that race, and the Kentucky Feeble- Minded Institute for the instruction of children of imperfect development.
Bridgeport, Jetts, Elkhorn. Benson, Peak's Mill, Elmville, Swallowfield, and Flagfork are thriving villages.
59
STATE OF KENTUCKY
FULTON COUNTY
POPULATION (CENSU'S 1900), 11, 546. COUNTY SEAT, HICKMAN.
Situated in the First Congressional, First Appellate, First Judicial, First Senatorial, and First Legislative Dis- tricts.
Fulton County was cut off or taken from Hickman County in the year 1845, from the southwestern part of the county, and is situated in the extreme southwestern angle of the State, on the Mississippi River; contains about 184 square miles. It was named in honor of the celebrated in- ventor of the steamboat, Robert Fulton. The bends of the Mississippi River are so many and extensive it gives the county many miles of shore line. The county is well watered and drained by the several streams emptying into the Mississippi River from the same, principal among them being Bayou de Chien and Obion Creek. Fulton's soil is good : a large por- tion of the county is very productive, the principal products of the farm being corn, wheat, rye, oats, and tobacco. The greater portion of the county is what is known as upland and is very good, the Mississippi bottoms being especially rich and fertile. This county is a great county for strawberries, and they are grown to great perfection and in great abundance, and thousands of dollars' worth of them are shipped to the Chicago market. The timber supply of the county remains good. probably one third of the original timber of the county yet remaining. Oak, poplar, hickory, and cypress are to be found in abundance.
About forty miles of shore line along the Mississippi River is all the water trans- portation the county has, none of the streams of the county being navigable. Bayou de Chien and Little Ohio are navi- gable for rafts and small flatboats. There are no turnpikes in the county: the pub- lic roads are the common county or dirt roads. They are worked and maintained under the road laws of the State. There are about forty miles of railroad in the county, the Nashville, Chattanooga & St. Louis, Mobile & Ohio, and Illinois Cen- tral. southern division.
Good farm lands can be had at reason- able prices, and labor on same, which is mostly native white and colored, can be had for Sio to $12 per month and board. The facilities for education are furnished by the common schools of the county. which are well attended and under good and careful management.
Hickman, the county seat of Fulton County, was incorporated in 1834. and called Mills Point, but was changed in 1837 to Hickman, in honor of Hon. Edwin Hickman, of Tennessee. It is located about fifty miles below the mouth of the Ohio River, on the east bank of the Mississippi, and had a population in 1890. according to the eleventh census, of 1,652, but it is estimated now to be about 2,000. Its facilities for transportation. bothi by water and by rail, are first class. It is a flourishing town, with good schools and churches.
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COMMERCIAL GROWTH
GALLATIN COUNTY
POPULATION ( CENSU'S 1900), 5, 163. COUNTY SEAT, WARSAW.
Situated in the Sixth Congressional. Fifth Appellate, Fifteenth Judicial. Twenty-third Senatorial. and Fifty-third Legislative Districts.
The county of Gallatin, named after Hon. Albert Gallatin, secretary of the United States Treasury during President Jefferson's administration, was organized in 179S from parts of Shelby and Frank- lin counties, and was the twenty-third county organized in the State. It was at one time one of the largest counties in the State, but territory has been taken from it at various times for the formation of other counties, until now it is one of the smallest. Owen County was formed from it in 1819, Trimble, in part. in 1836. Carroll took the western half in 1838, forming Carroll County, with Carrollton as the county seat, which originally was Port Williams, the county seat of Gallatin County. Warsaw. for- merly known as Fredericksburg, became the county seat of Gallatin.
Gallatin County has always been a prosperous county. always paying into the State treasury more revenue than it drew out, and being of little expense to the State, owing to the law-respecting citizenship it has within its borders. Many a circuit court passes without the return of a single indictment. The county is situated at the lower end of the " great bend" of the Ohio River. and is about midway between the two great cities of Louisville and Cincinnati. The surface of the county is generally hilly, though there is an extensive acreage of river bot- tom land, above high water mark. It is limestone soil, and is very productive. White Burley tobacco, corn, live stock, fruit, and garden farming are given
especial attention. There is a small out- cropping of coal and lead in the western part of the county, and a very superior quality of tiling clay is also found. The timber supply has been about exhausted, there being only about five per cent of the forests left. The county is well watered by creeks. Eagle Creek bounds it on the south, and the Ohio River on the north, the river boundary being twenty-one miles. The county is most desirably situated for any kind of busi- ness.
The county seat. Warsaw. has a popu- lation of over 1, 100, with several facto- ries and all the reasonable conveniences, such as first-class fire department, good sidewalks, and streets well lighted at night. The expenses are paid out of liquor licenses, from three hotel saloons, and the wharf privileges.
The county has an excellent class of citizens, and has a population of about 6,000. The land will raise any kind of crop suitable to the climate. The land ranges in value from $5 to $So. Farm labor is both white and colored: price, from $8 to $16 per month with board. and from $15 to $20 per monthi without board.
There are seventy-one miles of free turnpike. and ninety-four miles of dirt road. all kept up by a system of taxation. The tax rate is 6012 cents for all pur- poses. The county debt is only about $20,000.
The county is well supplied with good schools and churches, and the laws are faithfully executed. The people encour- age the incoming of every good citizen. and are willing to assist every industrial enterprise.
6I
STATE OF KENTUCKY
GARRARD COUNTY
POPULATION (CENSUS 1900), 12, 142. COUNTY SEAT, LANCASTER.
Situated in the Eighth Congressional, Fifth Appellate, Thirteenth Judicial, Eighteenth Senatorial, and Sixty-seventh Legislative Districts.
Garrard County was formed in 1796 out of the counties of Madison, Lincoln, and Mercer, and was named in honor of James Garrard, who was then governor of the State of Kentucky. It is centrally located, its capital, Lancaster, being within twenty miles of the geographical center of the State. Jessamine County, from which it is separated by the Kentucky River, bounds it on the north: Madison County on the east; Lincoln and Rockcastle coun- ties on the south, and Boyle and Mercer counties on the west. It is, therefore, a " bluegrass " county. Part of the county is hilly, much of it undulating-what is called rolling land. The soil is highly productive of corn and the small grains. tobacco, and hemp. The . Buckeye " section of the county is hilly, and has been cultivated in grain for near a hundred years and seems to have lost little, if any, of its original fine productive quali- ties. Perhaps the best and fattest hogs of this county, and as fine as those of any county, are driven up out of " Buck- eye" for shipment in the fall. The tim- ber, for any but fuel and fencing purposes, is about exhausted. There is much oak timber in some sections of the county suited for milling purposes. Farming is diversified only in the usual way by rota- tion of crops, and there is no dairying or truck farming, and very little fruit grow-
ing, carried on as a specialty in the county. There are 120 miles of turnpike road in the county, all of which can now be traveled free of toll, with a rate of taxation for maintenance of about 25 cents on the Sioo worth of property. The other public roads of the county be- long to the general statutory system of roads, and are well kept. The Louisville & Nashville Railroad, " Kentucky Central Division." crosses the county, covering a distance of fourteen miles.
The average price of farm lands. im- proved and unimproved, is about $15. The labor employed is native, and the average price per month is $ 13.
The county seat is Lancaster, with a population of 1.500, laid off in a perfect square, extending one half mile in each direction from the center of the public square. It is a fifth-class city, with a graded school and six churches. The business houses are nearly all new and modern in their architecture, beautiful in design, and are large and comfortable. Many of the residences are handsome, commodious, and elegant in design and finish, and few cities have more shade trees, which are properly located for shading the houses and streets in the heated term. The public schools of the county are in good condition, with wide- awake teachers, trustees, and county superintendent. The county has no bonded indebtedness, and the rate of taxation for county purposes, including the turnpike tax, will be about 50 cents on the $100.
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COMMERCIAL GROWTH
GRANT COUNTY
POPULATION (CENSUS 1900), 13, 239. COUNTY SEAT, WILLIAMSTOWN.
Situated in the Sixth Congressional, Sixth Appellate, Fifteenth Judicial, Twen- ty-sixth Senatorial, and Seventy-seventh Legislative Districts.
Grant County was created a county of the Commonwealth of Kentucky on the 12th day of February, 1820. It was created from a part of Pendleton, and contained all of the territory now em- braced within its boundaries excepting a small strip added from Campbell County in 1830 and a larger strip secured from Harrison County in 1833. and a small cut-off from Boone County in 1868. and a very considerable piece attached from Owen County in 1876. Grant County was the sixty. seventh county formed in the State. Grant County, even in the beginning, was a beautiful spot: her peo- ple, though few and poor, were honest and loyal to the flag, and suffered untold hardships and dangers that their posterity might reap the harvest of riches and good government these pioneers had sown.
The country is broken upland, with a deep, rich soil ou a foundation of yellow clay, and that in turn underlaid with an inexhaustible supply of limestone. The timber has all been cut away, and nearly all of the county is in the highest state of cultivation.
Corn, wheat, rye, oats, potatoes, and white Burley tobacco are the chief crops cultivated. The tobacco crop frequently reaches as much as 5,000,000 pounds, and the quality grown in the hills of Grant can hardly be equaled in the white Burley belt.
Grant County is pre-eminently a stock- raising county. There are thousands of acres of bluegrass scattered from one end of the county to the other, and tim- othy, clover, and all other grasses do remarkably well on its soil. The stock
raised in Grant County are fine cattle, sheep, horses, mules, and hogs.
During recent years the county has been greatly improved by better methods of farining, and the agricultural popula- tion have increased their wealth until most of the farmers of the county are well-to-do.
In every part of the county are to be found lovely homes, magnificent barns. and all of the conveniences that go to make country life the best life on earthi to live.
No county in the State has a better system of macadam turnpike roads than Grant County. The mileage is a little under 500 miles, and it all belongs to the county. The roads were made free some three years ago, and have been improved each year since, until they are now second to no roads in the State. Every neigh- borhood and nearly every home in the county is reached by a good turnpike road.
The county has thirty miles of railroad. The Cincinnati, New Orleans & Texas Pacific passes along the Dry Ridge for more than twenty miles within the limits of the county. The Louisville & Nash- ville passes through the northern part of the county for a distance of approxi- mately nine miles.
Grant County has no navigable streams. Its creeks are Big Eagle, Grassy Run, Clark's Creek, Arnold Creek, Ten Mile Creek, Fork Lick, Grassy Creek, and Crooked Creek.
The schools are improving from year to year, and are now second to those in no county in the State. At Williams- town, Dry Ridge, Corinth, and Critten- den there are free graded schools, and in every neighborhood of the county a good public school, presided over by a compe- tent teacher.
63
STATE OF KENTUCKY
Williamstown is the county seat of the county. It was founded prior to 1820, and is a beautiful little city situated in the center of the county, on the Cincin- nati, New Orleans & Texas Pacific Railroad. Within the county there are more than
sixty church organizations, with that many places of public worship. The Baptist is the leading denomination, with the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, Christian, Presbyterian, North and South, and Roman Catholic next in order.
GRAVES COUNTY
POPULATION (CENSUS 1900), 33, 204. COUNTY SEAT, MAYFIELD.
Situated in the First Congressional, First Appellate. First Judicial, First Sena- torial, and First Legislative Districts.
Graves County, organized A. D. 1824, is the central county in what is known as Jackson's Purchase, which lies between the Tennessee and Ohio rivers on the east and north, and the Mississippi River on the west, and borders on the Tennessee State line on the south. It is thirty miles from north to south, and eighteen miles from east to west, and is the only county in the State with four regular, straight lines.
There are several pits of potters' brick and tile clay in the county, which are being worked with profit. Vast quanti- ties of this clay has been shipped to the East for the manufacture of ironstone china. fancy tiling, etc. A plant at May- field is manufacturing a very superior and handsome brick from clay found two and a half miles east of that city.
The West Fork of Clark's River and Panther Creek are live streams, and are fed by springs. These streams, wells, and cisterns, and artificial ponds, furnish the water supply of the county. There is also on these streams some fine timber, which is being rapidly used up by saw milis and other like industries.
Agriculture is the chief occupation of the people. tobacco the principal crop, 15.000,000 to 25.000,000 pounds being raised annually. Wheat produces from ten to thirty bushels per acre, corn twenty-
five to fifty bushels per acre, and oats grow fairly well. Clover. timothy, red top. and orchard grass are all success- fully grown, and with the stock pea crop fuinish the hay of the county. Blue- grass is grown for ornamental purposes. and in time doubtless will be largely raised for grazing.
Sorghum, melons, potatoes, turnips, and all kinds of vegetables. peaches. apples, pears, plums, berries of all kinds. do well and are grown for market pur- poses to some extent. Sheep do well here, barring the destructive .. cur."
There are several manufacturing enter- prises in the commity, mostly at Mayfield : the Mayfield Woolen Mills. Merit Pants Company, May Pants Company. Beau- mont Soap Factory, two planing mills. ice factory, water-works, electric lights, iron foundry, several tobacco rehandling houses and warehouses.
West Kentuky College, located at May- field, affords excellent facilities for men and women seeking a business education. There are 105 white school districts in the county and nineteen colored. Farm- ington, Sedalia, and Wingo have good graded schools.
The county has a population of 33,000, and Mayfield, inside corporate limits, of 4,200, with very large suburban popula- tion, making at least 6,000.
The county is out of debt : the tax rate is 38 cents for all purposes, and $1.50 per capita.
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COMMERCIAL GROWTH
GRAYSON COUNTY
POPULATION (CENSUS 1900), 19, 878. COUNTY SEAT, LEITCHFIELD.
Situated in the Fourth Congressional, Second Appellate, Ninth Judicial, Twelfth Senatorial, and Twenty-seventh Legislative Districts.
Grayson County was formed from a part of Ohio and Hardin counties in the year ISIo, and was named in honor of Colonel William Grayson, of Virginia.
Rough River, Nolynn River, and Bear Creek are the principal water-courses. None of these streams is navigable ex- cept for rafts at high tide.
The soil is generally light, and with the aid of commercial fertilizers, which are used extensively, produces good crops of tobacco, corn, wheat, oats, hay, and the various vegetables usually grown in this climate. Fruits grow well in the county, and considerable attention is being given to that industry at present. Farm labor- ers are paid from $10 to $15 per month. including board.
The Illinois Central Railroad runs through the center of the county from northwest to southeast.
Leitchfield, the county seat and prin- cipal town, has a population of about 1,200, is a thriving and prosperous busi- ness community, with good public build- ings, excellent schools, telephone ex- change, numerous churches. bank, ice plant, and a number of the best mer- cantile establishments found in this section of the State.
Good schools and churches are found in all parts of the county.
Grayson Springs, located four miles from Leitchfield, one of the oldest and inost celebrated resorts in the south, owned and operated by Mercke Brothers. has, within the past year, been remodeled and equipped in thoroughly modern and elegant style, making it second to none in the country.
GREEN COUNTY
POPULATION (CENSUS 1900), 12, 255. COUNTY SEAT, GREENSBURG.
Situated in the Fourth Congressional, Third Appellate. Eleventh Judicial, Thir- teenth Senatorial, and Thirty- eighth Legislative Districts.
Green County, located in the south- central part of the State. was formed in 1792. The surface of the county is un- dulating, in some portions extremely rough and hilly. The valley and creek bottom lands are quite fertile, and produce good crops of tobacco, corn, wheat, oats, rye, sugar cane, and the various grasses and vegetables usually grown in this climate.
Green River, Little Barren River, Caney Fork, Big Russell's Creek, Little Russell's Creek, Greasy Creek, Tram- mond Creek. and Pittman Creek are the principal water-courses.
Good churches and schools are located in all parts of the county.
Considerable timber of all classes usu- ally grown in this climate, except walnut, is found in the county.
The Cumberland & Ohio Railroad. a branch of the Louisville & Nashville sys- tem, has its terminus at Greensburg.
Greensburg, the county seat, is a pros- perous town, with an excellent public school system, good streets, five churches. and a number of wide-awake. progres- sive business houses in all branches of trade.
Horkinsville, Gresham, Thurlow, Eve. Pierce, Osceola, and Summersville are among the most important of the business places.
65
STATE OF KENTUCKY
GREENUP COUNTY
POPULATION (CENSUS 1900), 15,432.
Situated in the Ninth Congressional, Sixth Appellate, Nineteenth Judicial, Thirty-second Senatorial, and Ninety- ninth Legislative Districts.
Greenup County is situated in the ex- treme northern part of the State. It was made a county in the year 1803 and named in honor of Governor Christopher Greenup. It is well watered and drained by Tygart's Creek. Little Sandy River, and their tributaries, which empty into the Ohio River. The soil of Greenup County, particularly the river bottoms, is fertile and strong, producing in great abundance. The staples of the Greenup County farm are corn. wheat. oats, hay, and tobacco. The hill or uplands pro- duce thie finest pastures, and the hillsides also grow the most magnificent tobacco. Stock raising is largely engaged in, and sheep raising is particularly an important industry with the farmers of this county. The labor of the county is very generally performed by the native whites, who can
be employed for Sio to $15 per month and board.
Good schools and churches are located in all parts of the county.
There are about fifty-three miles of completed and operated railroads in the county : the Chesapeake & Ohio and the Eastern Kentucky railroads. The river border gives unexcelled facilities for transportation, both for travel and for shipping surplus products to market.
About one eighth of the county is in timber, principally white oak, pine, and beech.
Greenup is the county seat of Greenup County, situated in the northeastern part of the county, on the Ohio River and the Chesapeake & Ohio Railroad. It is a nice. flourishing town, with a population, according to the census of iSgo, of 660, but now estimated to be about 1,000. It has a good trade, enterprising merchants, good hotels, good citizens, churches, and school houses.
HANCOCK COUNTY
POPULATION (CENSUS 1900), 8.914.
Situated in the Second Congressional, Second Appellate, Sixth Judicial. Tenth Senatorial, and Twenty-ninth Legislative Districts.
Hancock County was organized in 1829, and named in honor of John Hancock. It is in the northwestern part of the State, on the Ohio River, and has an area of about 200 square miles.
There are no navigable streams within the county, the Ohio River, on its north- ern boundary, furnishing the only water transportation. The county is drained by Indian and Sandy creeks and their tribu-
COUNTY SEAT, HAWESVILLE.
taries in the eastern portion. and Black- ford Creek and its tributaries in the southern and western sections.
The Louisville, Henderson & St. Louis Railroad runs through the county with its northern boundary, and nearly parallel with the Ohio River.
The bottom lands adjacent to the Ohio River are very rich and productive. These bottoms and creek bottoms com- prise about one third of the area of the county. and make most desirable farms. These bottoms are of fine, rich, sandy soil; the hills or rolling lands are com-
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