Dear Subscribers to the Greenup County, Kentucky Mailing List, The shoe factory at Lynn, Greenup County, Kentucky was described by David Spencer in a newspaper article that was published in the Greenup News in 1984. I copied the article while at the Greenup County Public Library. Mr. Spencer wrote a series of articles entitled, "Another Time and Place". Tygart Valley, Part Five was entitled "The Shoe Factory". Mr. Spencer wrote that at the mouth of Brushy Creek on Tygart Creek was a shoe factory in the middle 1800s. This must have been the factory of John Pratt, although Mr. Spencer did not mention John Pratt. "One might wonder, why a shoe factory there?" The shoe factory was very profitable because of the great number of furnace employees in the area. In 1866, albeit about seventeen years after the closing of the Lynn shoe factory, Buffalo Furnace employees alone (about eighty men) would spend about ten thousand dollars a year on boots, shoes and drygoods for themselves and their families. This was just one furnace community. One can imagine how many boots and shoes were needed for the entire Tygart Valley. "There were at one time three furnaces in operation, not to mention saw mills, grist mills, miners, farmers and others who needed footwear. We can also see why there were several tanning factories in operation in Greenup County. "Like many other businesses of that day, water was the source of power used to drive machinery. There was always a small dam erected across the waterway. Most of these dams were made of wood four or five feet high. A trough or raceway was built along the river bank below the dam. A gate was placed at the head of the raceway to control the water flow. A large water wheel, some ten to twelve feet across, was placed at the foot of the race. The more water that was passed down the race, the faster the wheel would turn and more power would be developed. Most of these wheels were called undershot wheels because the water passed under the wheels instead of over them. "I am not sure how modern the machinery was at the factory. But I would think that most of the leather cutting was done by hand. And no doubt the soles were nailed on by hand using a shoe last and brads. The stitching machines were very crude in those days, and during breakdowns or low water much of the stitching was done by hand using sewing awls. "There were many shoe cobblers in those days and most were kept busy at shoe factories or running their own cobbler shop." To my understanding, the shoe factory at Liberty/Lynn began operations about 1844 or so, but was closed not long after, in 1849 or at least by 1850, due to the untimely death of John Pratt in 1849. During the time it was open, the shoe factory made the village of Liberty (Lynn) a bustling place. Sincerely, Randal W. Cooper