In January 1918, during the first World War, 100,000 acres of northern Hardin County, KY and a portion of Bullitt County were leased by the U.S. Government for use as an artillery range and the building of an artillery center. Named Camp Knox in honor of Major General Henry Knox, who served in the Revolutionary War under General George Washington, the development of the army base necessitated relocation of many families from the area, including the entire community of Stithton, KY. Stithton was located thirty-one miles south of Louisville, on the Illinois Central Railroad, a mile west of the Louisville and Nashville Turnpike (called the Louisville Pike in the early 1900's). In it were two general stores, two dry goods stores, a hardware store, two banks, two delicatessens, a grain elevator and flour mill, a drug store, three churches, a dentist's office, three doctors, a two-room school, a barber shop, two blacksmith's shops, a cabinet shop, a railroad station and a post office. The little village of Tip Top was three miles to the north; and Red Hill, now gone as well, was three miles south. On Thursday and Friday, September 14 and 15, at 10:30 EDT (9:30 CDT), KET (Kentucky Educational Television) will televise a program titled, "A Land Called Fort Knox." This is a half-hour, close-captioned program which gives "a look at the small towns and communities that were displaced by the creation of the army base at Fort Knox," and was produced by Cory Lash Productions in conjunction with KET. Some of the resident family names of Stithton, the largest town to disappear, and its outlying farms, were: Stith, Hynes, Campbell, Roberts, Hoover, Carrico, Crutcher, Hopkins, Cowley, Dink, Daley, Ruff, Jaggers, Shipp, Bowles, Colvin, Wilson, Joyce, Hicherson, Hunter, Allen, Bradley, Reesor, Gray, Plyman, Miller, Aubrey, Scheible, Casteel, Vertrees, Wise, Wiseman, Palmer, Todd, Tarpley, Hill, Mossberger, Grubbs, Hager, Brown, Buckman, Lane, Brady, Huff, Fisher, Ray, Corbett, Triplett, Edmondson, Hart, Yates, King, Jones, Patterson, Rahm, Davis, Brooks, Smith, Peck, Randal, Brian, Salsman, Howlett, Buckler, Medcalf (Metcalf?), Elias, Osborne, Beard, Lane, Daugherty, Peak, Harrington, Coffman, Harris, Strange, Whitworth, Hagans, Crawford, Brammer, King, Milligan, Hawkins, McNulty, McNutt, Barker, Pate, Lee, and Williams. ----------------------- Sources: "Two Centuries in Elizabethtown and Hardin County, Kentucky, 1776-1976," by Daniel Elmo McClure, Jr., copyright 1975 by the Hardin County Historical Society; KET "Visions" program guide, September 2000. Linda Koenig Louisville, Kentucky (g-g-g-granddaughter of Silas PENNINGTON, 1802-1859, farmer and 20-year resident of the Sonora-Upton area, Hardin County, KY)

Hello All..... Would someone in the KET TV channel area be a beautiful soul and tape the program for me? Or tell me how to get a tape from PBS? I will be more than happy to reimburse costs and fees. I am a Stith descendant and am very interested in the Ft. Knox area. Thank you for any help you may give. Sara > In January 1918, during the first World War, 100,000 acres of northern Hardin > County, KY and a portion of Bullitt County were leased by the U.S. Government > for use as an artillery range and the building of an artillery center. Named > Camp Knox in honor of Major General Henry Knox, who served in the > Revolutionary War under General George Washington, the development of the > army base necessitated relocation of many families from the area, including > the entire community of Stithton, KY. <snipped>