Category: History
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Upper Howard’s Creek
Upper Howard’s Creek takes its name from John Howard, who claimed 1,000 acres at the mouth of the creek by virtue of an improvement he made there in 1775. He established an inspection warehouse on his land and a ferry across the Kentucky River. A number of Clark County and Montgomery County roads converged at…
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Daniel Boone Heritage Trail
In 2020 the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet designated Athens-Boonesboro Road (KY 418) between Ford Road and Grimes Mill Road as a Kentucky Scenic Byway. From Grimes Mill Road to Athens has been a Scenic Byway since 1995.
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M. T. McEldowney
Morgan Thomas McEldowney (c. 1865-1934) was born on a farm near Vanceburg in Lewis County, attended the University of Kentucky, and came to Winchester as a young man. Here he had the good fortune to come under the notice of Smith Kerr, proprietor of Winchester’s most successful flour mill. He proved himself so useful that…
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John E. Fryer, M.D.: Psychiatrist and Dr. H. Anonymous
In the 22 years I’ve lived in Clark County I had not heard the name of John Fryer. I first read about the famed gay psychiatrist only a month ago in a column by Linda Blackford in the Lexington Herald-Leader. How could I have missed him? In spite of a legendary speech to the American…
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Misfortunes of Nelson Bush
Nelson Bush (c1790-1875) was a son of Clark County pioneer John Bush, a brother of Capt. Billy Bush. John died when Nelson was a small boy; many of John’s children were raised by Bush aunts and uncles. At age twenty-five Nelson married Nancy Neil, a daughter of Allen and Mary Neil. Nelson’s peaceful life was…
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When Maps Lie: The Oil Mill
The Oil Mill was located on Snow Creek Road (KY 1028) in what is now the extreme western end of Powell County. Snow Creek Road begins at the Clark County line near Log Lick Church and runs east to near Clay City. From Lulbegrud Creek it is 1.7 miles to where the Oil Mill stood,…
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Antebellum Winchester: Pre-Civil War Houses in Winchester, Kentucky
Winchester grew slowly from a near wilderness in 1793. From a population of 539 reported in the 1810 census, the town could only count 1,142 residents fifty years later, just prior to the Civil War. It is not too surprising then that very few houses survive from that era. I have attempted here to identify…
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The Shot Factory
The Shot Factory was located on a cliff high above the Kentucky River about three-tenths of a mile upstream from the mouth of Boone Creek. The factory was located on a cliff 110 yards east of a picturesque little stream called Berkley Spring Branch. This small manufactory produced buckshot for use in muskets and fowling…
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Dig... or Freeze!
Years ago John Mayo had gone through Appalachia and bought the underground mineral rights from most of the land owners. He paid from five to fifty dollars per acre for the rights. The deed allowed the land owner to live on the property and use it or sell it. The deeds, called broad form deeds,…
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Origin of Local Road Names
County road names can be obvious (Lexington Road, Mt. Sterling Road) or obscure (Nest Egg Road, Rabbittown Road). Many take the name of prominent Clark County families—Van Meter, Bybee, Fox-Quisenberry, Venable—while others are named for the creeks they follow—Pretty Run, Big Stoner, Dry Fork. Others have more interesting origins.