TIP #253 - ANOTHER LOOK AT BELL, BOONE, BOURBON, BOYD, AND BOYLE COUNTIES This is a continuation of brief county overviews, past and present by former Governor Louie Nunn. BELL CO: Great names, great history. They are a part of Kentucky and very much a part of Bell County. Dr. Thomas Walker crossed Cumberland Gap in 1750 as possibly the first Kentucky explorer (aside from the Indians). In 1769, Daniel Boone ventured through the gap, and soon thee began the march of the pioneers into the Kentucky wilderness. On their way to settle a new land, some of them stopped right here in Bell County, just beyond the mountain doorway to Kentucky. In the Civil War, Bell County's 'doorway' was critical to the operations of the opposing armies. Union soldiers occupied Cumberland Gap until September of 1862, when the Confederates gained and dominated the site with 'Long Toms', the largest guns manufactured. The history and the natural wonders of the land are both preserved in the 20,184-acre Cumberland Gap National Historical Park, in the southeastern corner of Bell County. Pineville, the county seat, has one of Kentucky's most beautiful annual events - the Mountain Laurel Festival, held each spring in Pineville and in Pine Mountain State Park. Kentuckians take great pride in the nationally famous outdoor drama here, with actors masked and robed in fantastically colored costumes inspired by the mosiacs of Europe's great cathedrals, this choral drama is a stunning experience. The largest city in Bell County is Middlesboro, settled in 1888 by English capitalists who were attracted by the coal, iron, and timber lands of this area. Middlesboro was named after Middlesboro in England, of course, and it has the oldest golf course in continuous operation in one place in America. And, of course, Pine Mountain State Park deserves a chapter to itself. It's a complete vacation resort, and it attracts out-of-state visitors from both north and south who come to enjoy the beauty of Bell County, in the foothills of the Cumberlands. BOONE CO: You'll have no doubt about the origin of Boone County's name. But long before the days of Daniel Boone, the first white woman in Kentucky had already made up a paragraph in the exciting pages of this area's history. In 1756, in the wilderness county which would become a part of Boone County, Mary Inglis went through the frightening experience of escaping from Indians who had spared her the horror of a scalping and taken her to Big Bone Lick. Today, hikers follow her same route on the Mary Inglis Trail. Justice is now dispensed from the Boone County Courthouse in Burlington, the Boone County seat. But the courthouse stands in historic contrast to the hangman's tree near Burlington. This mellowed, stout old walnut tree is a reminder of the time when settlers of the wilderness executed the laws - - and the lawbreakers - - with swift dispatch. The pioneer left much more than tragic memories, though. They also left reminders of their rugged and individual characters in their early homes. Among the county's most famous is Gaines House, built in 1791 as a coach house and tavern, and still standing. One of Kentucky's first authors (who was also among the new nation's earliest pharmaceutical chemists) is buried in Petersburg on the banks of the Ohio. Jorn Uri Lloyd's most popular story, Stringtown on the Pike, actually describes life in the community of Florence, here in Boone county. If you were an archaeologist or geologist you'd find particular excitement in the ancient objects found at Boone County's most special old attraction, Big Bone Lick. Fossils of animals of over 450 million years ago have been found here. This is land over which great herds of mammoths and mastodons once roamed. Centuries later, pioneers reported using ribs of mastadons for tentpoles and vertebrae for seats. President Thomas Jefferson sent to Big Bone Lick for three boxes of fossils, one of which he sent to the National Institute of France. A 164-acre state park now protects these 'diggings' and while you won't see any archaelogical work going on you will find one of Kentucky's attractive, smaller parks, here in the middle of Boone County. BOURBON CO: Bourbon County, formed in 1786 under the Virginia Legislature (where we were still a part of Virginia) has a romantic story linked to its name. A prince of the Bourbon family of France gave financial aid to the American colonies in their struggle for independence, and the county was named in honor of his family. The county seat, Paris, was first settled in 1776 and established in 1789 as Hopewell by the Virginia Legislature. Later, for a short time, it was called Bourbonton. It received the name of Paris in 1790. One of the earliest distilleries in Kentucky was built at Paris, the distinctive liquor produced from Kentucky limestone water and corn mash was called 'bourbon' from the name of the county. The Can Ridge Meetinghouse, 8 miles east of Paris, was one of the first churches of the Disciples of Christ. It was built in 1791. A native-limestone building encases the old church today. Duncan Tavern, on Paris's public square, was built in 1788 by Major Joseph Duncan and hosted such famous pioneers as Daniel Boone and Simon Kenton. The tavern served as a stagecoach stop and over-night hostel. Its exterior is an example of the use of limestone quarried by primitive methods. It has been restored as a historical museum and is open to the public. The three-story building exhibits a valuable collection of antique furniture, and its library contains some original manuscripts of John Fox, Jr. Fox was the renowned Kentucky author of 'the Little Shepherd of Kingdom Come', the first United States book to sell a million copies. Fox was born and is buried in Bourbon County. Another building adjoins Duncan Tavern - the Ann Duncan house, home of the innkeeper's widow. This house, too, is restored in antique furnishings and is open to visitors. BOYD CO: In the northeastern part of the state, where the Big Sandy River empties into the Ohio and the mountains stand in misty splendor, Boyd County has its boundaries. The county became our 107th Kentucky county in 1860, formed out of land from Greenup, Carter, and Lawrence Counties. The people of the new section chose to name their county after Linn Boyd, a prominent resident of the state. Edna Ferber described with great exactness what is called a 'riverfront street' in her classic novel 'Showboat.' The Boyd County seat has a Riverfront Street of its own along the Ohio River. Catlettsburg's front street was called the 'Bloody Front' in the days when Kentucky was a part of the real west. It had 21 saloons and enjoyed the bustling trade the river brought. Those saloons welcomed regularly scheduled stops of the 'Cotton Blossom Floating Theatre.' Between the Civil War and World War I, Catlettsburg ranked as an important round-timber market. The huge log rafts, the bearded rough timbermen, and the river tradesmen must have been a colorful representation of the 'wild west.' Ashland, 5 ½ miles below Catlettsburg on the Ohio, is one of the most active manufacturing cities in the state. Its industries include steel, oil refining, and coal and coke processing. One of the coal company's giant 'Bellefonte' furnaces is believed to be the biggest blast furnace in the world. The city is one of the largest freight shipping points on the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway and still has a massive amount of barge traffic on the river. Even if it were not known for anything else, Ashland would be nationally known as the home of Jean Thomas, 'The Traipsin' Woman', who founded the American Folk Song Festival 38 years ago and still is its guiding force. Her annual festival celebrates the songs and stories of the eastern mountain folk, and it has become so popular that, where for many years she held it at her home in Ashland, she has recently taken it over to Carter Caves State park, where the crowds can be better accommodated. Miss Thomas has given every eastern Kentuckian a new pride in the rich mountain culture that forms the basis of her festival. BOYLE CO: First, that's a pertinent word for Boyle County. The wealth of history here is exemplified in the county seat, Danville, termed by its citizens as the 'cradle of democracy.' One of James Harrod's settlers, James Crow, bought the land that is now Danville in 1775. The city was established in 1781, and in 1783 it became the home of the first college west of the Allegheny Mountains. (Transylvania was founded in Danville, then moved to Lexington in 1789). Danville had the first U. S. Post Office in the west in 1792, the first law school in 1799, and a school for the deaf in 1823. Danville was also host to a series of constitutional conventions between 1784 and 1792 which led to Kentucky's statehood in 1792. In 1809, Dr. Ephriam McDowell performed the first successful abdominal surgery in America. Today the McDowell home and its apothecary shop are public museums near Constitution Square State Shrine. The oldest stone house west of the Alleghenies, the Crowe House or Old Crow Inn, is till preserved in Boyle County, and the first state theatre in America to base its repertory on a yearly series of brand-new plays is the Pioneer Playhouse, the State Theatre of Kentucky. A village-of-the-arts is another of the playhouse's projects. Boyle County officially gained its name in March of 1842 when it was formed from parts of Lincoln and Mercer Counties. The name Boyle was given in honor of a highly-respected Kentuckian, John Boyle - who was chief justice of the Kentucky Court of Appeals for 17 years. Boyle County was the scene of the bitterest battle fought in Kentucky during the Civil War. Some seven to eight thousand Union and Confederate men died near the village of Perryville on October 8, 1862. In Perryville Battlefield State Shrine, both a Confederate and a Union monument stand in their memory, and a museum contains a colorful diorama depicting the battle. To be continued. (c) Copyright 21 July 1999, Sandra K. Gorin, All Rights Reserved. sgorin@glasgow-ky.com Colonel Sandi Gorin 205 Clements,Glasgow, KY 42141 (270) 651-9114 or E-fax (707)222-1210 Gorin Genealogical Publishing: http://members.delphi.com/gorin1/index.html TIPS: http://cgi.rootsweb.com/~genbbs/genbbs.cgi/USA/Ky/Tips KYBIOS: http://cgi.rootsweb.com/~genbbs/genbbs.cgi/USA/Ky/Bios ARCHIVES: http://searches.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/listsearch.pl