xt70gb1xd713 https://exploreuk.uky.edu/dips/xt70gb1xd713/data/mets.xml Verhoeff, Mary 1911  books b92-46-26947942 English J.P. Morton, : Louisville, Ky. : Contact the Special Collections Research Center for information regarding rights and use of this collection. Roads Kentucky. Coal mines and mining Kentucky. Kentucky mountains, transportation and commerce, 1750 to 1911  : a study in the economic history of a coal field / by Mary Verhoeff. text Kentucky mountains, transportation and commerce, 1750 to 1911  : a study in the economic history of a coal field / by Mary Verhoeff. 1911 2002 true xt70gb1xd713 section xt70gb1xd713 













































































MISS MARY VERHOEFF
  Mfember oj the Filson Club.

 




FILSON CLUB PUBLICATIONS No. 26



                 THE


KENTUCKY MOUNTAINS

     Transportation and Commerce
              1750 to 1911



              A Study
   lin the Economic History of a Coal Field

                   BY
         MARY VERHOEFF
            Member of The Filson Club

               VOLUME 1



               Alluwdrareb



            LOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY
       JOHN P. MORTON  COMPANY
                 (I ncorpuamed)
           PRINTERS TO THE FILSON CLUB
                  1911

 









































     COPYRIGHT, 1911,
          BY

MARY VERHOEFF


     All Rights Rnerved

 



























IN LOVING MEMORY OF
    MY FATHER

HERMAN VERHOEFF

 This page in the original text is blank.

 

                  FOREWORD
                          he
IT affords me much pleasure to write this brief intro-
    duction to Miss Verhoeff's contribution to the records
    of the Filson Club, both for the historical and the
literary merit of her work. The publication is of special
interest to the Filson Club, in that with the exception of a
short article by Mrs. Clay on The Genealogy of the Clay
Family this is the first volume from the pen of a woman
during the twenty-seven years of the Club's existence.
   The subject is one which never, until now, has been
presented in a manner so nearly commensurate with its
merits. The region has been regarded chiefly as a great
wall excluding us from the East, about which less has been
known than any other portion of the State, and the his-
torical and other data collected by the writer will be a
revelation to many Kentuckians who have thought them-
selves well acquainted with all sections of the State and
with its resources. Within a comparatively few years-
since the founding of Middlesborough by English capi-
talists-there has been much progress in the development
of the southern portion. To-day, railroad magnates are
building a network of railroads from the Big Sandy Valley
southward, and the Louisville  Nashville is extending up
the Poor Fork of the Cumberland River and up the
Kentucky River toward Pound Gap. Here a tunnel will
                          [Iv ]

 
Foreword



soon be built through the mountain barrier, which will
connect with railroads on the east side and afford the
shortest and most direct route to the Atlantic coast.
These lines will lead to the development of one of the
most extensive coal fields in the United States, containing
almost twelve thousand square miles and rich in every
variety of coal except anthracite.
   The publication comes, therefore, at a time when this
region is entering upon a new phase of social and economic
development, and all citizens, especially State legislators
and educators, should be familiar with the facts so clearly
set forth. The first part gives a full description of this
elevated section of the State, and embodies much informa-
tion inaccessible to the casual observer or student. The
second part relates chiefly to mountain roads, with cita-
tions of the legislative enactments looking to their con-
struction, and from which the reader will learn with
surprise how little of actual construction or maintenance
has resulted therefrom. The book stands upon its own
merit, and will receive from the intelligent reader the
praise which it deserves.
                           J. STODDARD JOHNSTON,
                      Vice-President of the Filson Club.



( vi ]

 

PREFACE



T     HE history of the Southern Appalachian coal field
       is yet to be written, and data for the work are
       exceptionally lacking. For that part of the field
which lies within Eastern Kentucky there is, from an eco-
nomic standpoint, an abundance of material to be found
in the early State Journals and in the State reports of
Internal Improvement and of Geological Surveys. But
these records are scattered through many volumes and are
nowhere complete. The Library of the State at Frankfort,
of Congress in Washington, and of Colonel Reuben T.
Durrett in Louisville, afford the best opportunity for
research. The records of the United States War Depart-
ment, some of which exist only in manuscript form, are
also valuable. The material is being constantly increased
by annual State and Federal reports.
   This study, based on such primary sources, will it is
hoped throw considerable light on the economic develop-
ment of the mountain region of Kentucky, and serve as a
basis of further investigation.
   I wish to express my indebtedness to Colonel Reuben T.
Durrett, the honored and beloved President of The Filson
Club, for many courtesies extended to me; to Colonel



[ Vii ]

 

Preface



J. Stoddard Johnston, for the examination and criticism
of the manuscript, and to my sister, Carolyn Verhoeff, for
valuable assistance in the preparation of the manuscript.
I am also under obligations to Professor Franklin H.
Giddings of Columbia University, whose "Inductive
Sociology" has been most useful in the collection and
arrangement of data.
   Various librarians have made the work possible, par-
ticularly Mr. Frank Kavanaugh, State Librarian at Frank-
fort. I have received much information from Senator
J. Bosworth, from the editors of "Thousandsticks" and
of the " Harlan Enterprise," and from Miss May Stone
and Miss Katherine Pettitt.
                                   MARY VERHOEFF.

  Louisville, Kentucky.
        July 10. 1911.



[ viii ]


 

                 CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION-                                  PAGES
EXTENT AND BOUNDARIES .I-8
   Physiographic Relations.. . . . . . .        1-5
       To Appalachian Province .1-3
       To State of Kentucky . . . . . . .       3-5
   Political Boundaries. . . . . . . . .        5-8
       Counties...........                 .   6-8
           Grouped in River Basins . . .        6-7
           Dates of Formation     . .    .      6-8
 NATURAL FEATURES    .        .8-24
   Topography . . . . . . . . . . . .          8-I3
       Ridges  .    .. . . . . . .            9-I I
       Valleys . .  .  . .  . .  . .  .  . .  11-13
   Economic Geology .. . .            . .  . 13-22
       Stratigraphy and Structure  . . . . . 13-17
       Natural Resources.       .             I7-22
           Soil. .  .  . .  . .  . .  .  . .  18-I9
           Forest.    .. .  . .  . .  .    . I9, 22
           Minerals . .  . .  .  . .  . .  . 20-22
             Oil, Gas, Salt, Clays.. . . .      21
             Iron . . .  .  . .  . .  . .  . 20-21
             Coal ......                         20
   Climate  .  . .  . .  .  . .  .   . .  .   22-24
       Temperature  . . . . . . . . . . 23-24
       Rainfall. .  . .  . .  .  . .  . .  . 22-23
 POPULATION . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24-39
   Density  ...     . .........              24-26
   Demotic Composition   ..   ....    .   .  26-32
   The Mountaineer and his Economic Problems 32-39
                        I ix ]

 

Con/ents



                                               PAGES
TRANSPORTATION-HIGHWAYS                      43-I85
  CONSTRUCTION AND MAINTENANCE .....43-55
    General Law   ....       ...     ...   .  43-46
        Original Virginia Law. . . . . . . 43-44
        Kentucky Law   . . . . . . . . . 44-46
            Statute Labor Tax, 1797  . .    . 44-45
            Taxation, i894...    .. ...       45-46
    Internal Improvements . . . . . . . . 46-55
        Virginia System .46
        Kentucky System .46-55
            State Aid. . . . . . . . . . 46-53
              Commissioners  . ..     .  ..      47
              Undertakers     ....               47
              Board of Internal Improvement     47-51
              Sinking Fund   . . . . . . .       5I
              Constitutional Restrictions . . .    53
            County Aid . . . . . . . . . 53-55
              Restrictions.  ..    .   ...    53-54
  DEVELOPMENT   . . . . . . . . . . . . 566-i85
    1750-1775, Early Trails .56-96
        Buffalo and Indian Trails.            56-6I
            Cumberland Gap Routes   . . . . 6I-67
              The Warrior's Path and Tributaries 6i-67
            Big Sandy Routes   ....    .   . 67-70
              Greenbrier Trail and Tributaries  67-69
              Walker's Trail .      .69
            Pound Gap Routes .     .70-72
              Gist's Trail. . . . . . . .        70
              Kentucky River Trail               71
              McAfee Trail  . . . . . . .        71



[ x ]

 

Contents



DEVELOPMENT-Continued.
                                              PAGES
  1775-1792, Virginia Roads. . . . . . . 74-96
         Cumberland Gap Routes             78-89
           The Wilderness Road              78-89
               Boone's Trace .   ....      78-8i
               Logan's Trace. . . . . . 8i-82
         Big Sandy Routes . . . . . . . go-96
               The New Road to Virginia  . go-95
  I792-i850, Kentucky State Roads  . . . . 98-i8/5
         Cumberland Gap Routes   . . .   103-133
               The Wilderness Road  . .   103-I27
               Tributaries. . . . . .     127-I33
                   To Salt-works . . .    127-132
                   To Coal Mines . . .    I32-I33
          Big Sandy Routes . . . . . .     I33-148
               The Owingsville and Big
                     Sandy Road  . . .    133-147
                   Tributaries ...    .   I47-148
          Pound Gap Routes .1..   .    .  148-170
               Mt. Sterling to Pound Gap
                 Road . . . . . . . 148-i60
                   Tributaries . . . .    i60-i6i
               Irvine to Pound Gap Road i6i-i66
                   Tributaries . . . .   i66-i67
         State Aid to Central Kentucky and
            Mountain Roads, compared      i67-I70
  I850-1911, County Roads . . . . . .     I73-i85
         Road Mileage .  .. .  . .  .    .    I76
         Federal Object-Lesson Roads . .  178-179
         Inadequacy of Road Law  . . .   179-i85



[ Xi ]

 

Contents



TABLES-                 APPENDIX
                                                       PAGES
  Counties of Eastern Coal Field:
    I. Population, Nativity, and Illiteracy-
         1900 .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .    I89
    2. Areas, Population (White and Negro)-
           1900, i86o   .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .    I90
    3. Population-i910, i860     .  .  .  .  .  .       I91
    4. Manufactures-I900      .  .   .  .  .  .  .      192
    5. Road Mileage and Expenditures-i9o4               I93
A MOUNTAIN SERMON.               .  .  .    . . 194-197
   Showing survivals of old English words and phrases.
A MOUNTAIN BALLAD, BARBARA ALLEN          .  .  .  .    i98
   With parallel verses from Child's English and Scottish Ballads.
PENSION  Roi,.rs  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .   199-208
   Indicating former residence of early settlers in Eastern Kentucky.



L xii I


 

      MAPS AND ILLUSTRATIONS
                                          OPPOSITE PAGE
The Appalachian Coal Field  ... .   . .    .  2
Knob-like Hills capping Ridges. . . . . .       I0
Terraces or Benches. . . . . . . . . . .        12
Physiography of a Creek Valley, showing the
   decrease of Bottom Land toward headwater     I4
Geological Map of Kentucky  .i.8..  . .    .    i8
Conglomerate Cliffs  ... .  . .  .  . .    .    20
County Court Day ... .    . .  . .  . .    .    26
A County Seat   ...  . . .  .  . .  . .    .    26
Map showing Passes of Pine and Cumberland
   Mountains ....    . .  . .  . .  . .   .     58
Section of the Pownall-Evans Map, showing
   the "Warrior's Path," I755-1775.. . . .      62
Imlay's Map of Kentucky, showing Counties in
   1793 and the Virginia Roads... .   .    .    74
The Kanawha Gorge   .9.0..  .  . . .  .   .     go
Transmontane Roads in I856, as given on Col-
   ton's Map of Kentucky and Tennessee . . .    98
A Mountain Road Wagon    . . . . . . . .       I74
A Forest Trail..  . .  . .  . .  . .  . .  .   178
A County Road  . . . . . . . . . . . .         i82
Ferry at Crossing of Cumberland River just
   below Pineville (Cumberland Ford) . . . .   184



[ xiii ]

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           THE

KENTUCKY MOUNTAINS

   TRANSPORTATION AND COMMERCE
          1750 TO 1911


          VOLUME I

 This page in the original text is blank.

 

THE



   KENTUCKY MOUNTAINS

          TRANSPORTATION AND COMMERCE
                       1750 TO 1911

 INTRODUCTION-EXTENT, BOUNDARIES, AND GEOGRAPHICAL
             RELATIONS OF THE COAL FIELD

      THE Appalachian Province, of which Eastern Ken-
        tucky forms a part, is a dome-shaped elevation
        which extends in a northeast-southwest direction
from Central New York to Southern Alabama. It is limited
on the east by the Atlantic coastal plain, on the south by the
Gulf coastal plain, and on the west by the Mississippi low-
lands. Throughout its length, the province is made up of
three physiographic divisions: i, the Eastern comprising

(a) the Appalachian Mountains, a system, of many ridges
separated by plateau-like valleys; (b) the Pledrncnt P1lirv,
an elevated belt along the eastern baseof themoufitain chaini
2, the Central, a lowland belt, known as the "GreatValley,"
lying between the mountains and a western plateau, and
consisting of a series of deep lengthwise valleysb which are

parallel with themselves and with the borders of the belt,
   'Known locally as the South Mountain of Pennsylvania, the Blue Ridge
and Catoctin Mountain of Maryland and Virginia, the Great Smoky Mountains
of Tennessee and North Carolina, and the Cohutta Mountains of Georgia. (U. S.
Geological Survey, Geologic Atlas, Morristown Folio, Folio 27, 1896.)
   bThe Coosa Valley of Georgia and Alabama, the Great Valley of East Ten-
nessee and Virginia, the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, the Cumberland Valley
of Maryland and Pennsylvania, and the Lebanon Valley of Northeastern Penn-
sylvania. (Ibid.)
                            [1I]



Appalachian
Province.










Ids thynicgraphic
DiviFions.

 

The Kentucky Mountains



and which are separated by narrow ridges: 3, the Western,
embracing (a) a plateau belt, known in Kentucky and Ten-
nessee as the Cumberland Plateau, with an eastern escarp-
ment facing the Appalachian Valley and for the most part
regular, and a western escarpment deeply dissected and
sinuous; (b) the interior lowlands, which include the lower
rolling country of Kentucky, Ohio, and Tennessee.
   The Appalachian Mountains are, for the most part,
composed of igneous and metamorphic rock belonging to
the Archaan age and to an age unknown, but the divisions
to the west are made up of sedimentary deposits more
recent in origin, some of which contain coal seams. Dis-
section both to the east and the west, however, has worn
away the coal-bearing rocks, so that the plateau belt, from
northern Pennsylvania southward, rises as a coal field'
above non-coal.bearing lowlands.       With   a total area of
approxitmately 70,800 square miles, this field, 850 miles in
length, is included within the limits of nine different States:
Kentucky, Tennessee, Georgia, Alabama, Virginia, West
Virginia, Ohio, Maryland, and Pennsylvania.' It is one
   'The coal fields of the United States are classified as anthracite and bitu-
minous, for convenience in description and because of certain differences in
the physical and chemical qualities of the coal. The anthracite deposits are
confined almost exclusively to some 484 square miles of ridge land in Eastern
Pennsylvania. The bituminous deposits are widely distributed, from the Atlan-
tic to the Pacific, in a number of well-defined basins which contain various grades
of coal from semi-anthracite to lignite, representing the stages in the formation
of the mineral. Of these basins the Appalachian field ranks first not only in the
character and quantity of its coal but in the magnitude of its production.
   (See map showing the coal fields of the United States, issued by the U. S.
Geological Survey, with an explanation of the map byMarius R. Campbell. 1908.)



[ 2]



Appalachian
Mountains;
their composition.









The plateas halt
the "Appaly ban
Goal Field."


 
r



                            84'-                                             -7e

                                                                                         44


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                           A Ab-








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                                                              Ly-         t"m
 B


















                                                                                         3











                       A
                                                                                          3ZI















                  E                                    0            10.          coo Miles


                  ----------



THE, APPALACHIAN COAL FIELD.



U. S. Geological Survey.

 This page in the original text is blank.

 

Transjor/alion and Commerce



hundred and eighty miles wide in the northern extremity,
tapers gradually toward the southwest to fifty miles on the
Kentucky-Tennessee border to less than twenty miles in
Tennessee, and then expands to about eighty miles at the
southern extremity.'
   Kentucky has an area of 40,400 square miles. The
territory west of the Tennessee River, or about six and a
half per cent, is a portion of the Mississippi lowlands.
This tract, known as the "Jackson Purchase," is every-
where less than five hundred feet above sea level.' The
remainder of the State is within the Appalachian Province,
which is described as follows by the United States Geologi-
cal Survey: "From its extreme altitude on the southeastern
margin the surface descends to less than five hundred feet
on the western border. . . . This descent is not regular,
but is accomplished by a number of steps or escarpments,
which mark the present extent of particularly hard beds
and also the stages in the erosion of the surface to its present
position. The highest and most pronounced escarpment
is along the western margin of the Appalachian coal field,
separating in Kentucky the great interior plain from the
higher and more hilly region of the coal field."3
   The steps or platforms have been grouped' as:
   (i) The interior lowlands, consisting of (a) alluvial
tracts. The streams from mouth to headcvaters are bor-
dered by level land known as "bottoms," varying in width
from a few yards to miles.  It is on these flood plains,
   'See map.                [ 3 ]



Area of Kentucky.




Except for the
"Jackson
Purchasee within
the Appalachian
Province.











Surface made up
of Platforms.








Interior Lowlands;
Alluvial Tracts.

 

The Kentucky Mountains



The Bluegrass
Region.












The Central Plateau.
















The Western Coal
Field.



below which, in certain localities, the streams have cut
deep channels, that some of the most important cities are
situated, as for example Louisville on the Ohio River and
Frankfort on the Kentucky River. (b) The Bluegrass
region. This division, with an area of about 8,i86' square
miles and a general altitude of from eight hundred to one
thousand feet above sea level, forms the north-central
section of the State, which, with a surface gently rolling
and a soil exceedingly fertile, has long been noted for its
agricultural wealth and general prosperity. That portion
of about i,062 square miles in the vicinity of Lexington,
where the soil, derived from phosphatic limestone, is espe-
cially productive, is the typical Bluegrass country.  (c) The
Central plateau. Surrounding the Bluegrass section is a
plateau the margin of which is marked by a series of conical
hills. These isolated outliers, with an area of about 5,609
square miles, have in general thin and unproductive soils
suited only to fruit culture. The plateau proper, covering
8,882 square miles, presents a steep escarpment, known as
"Muldraugh's Hill," toward the Bluegrass region. The
surface for the most part is rolling, but is often broken and
covered with sinks caused by underground channels which,
carrying off the drainage, lessen the agricultural value.
Since, however, it is capped with a limestone soil, this sec-
tion ranks second in fertility.  (d) The Western coal field.
To the north and west of the plateau and terminating along
   'The figures, except for the coal fields, are rough computations from the
geological maps published by the State Geological Survey in 1891 and 1907.
                           [ 4 1

 

Transfor/ation and Comnmerce



the Ohio River is a coal-bearing region with an area' of
about 5,800' square miles and an average elevation of
from eight hundred to four hundred feet. This is the
southern extension of the Indiana-Illinois coal field.
    (2) The Cumberland Plateau.        This is the Eastern coal      The Cumberland
                                               b                   coal Field, or
field, with an  area' of about I I,I8o   square miles.     Rising    'Mountains."

above the central lowlands, it is known locally as " the
mountains." The field comprises all of the State east of
an irregular line from a point opposite Portsmouth on
the Ohio river to the Wayne-Clinton county line on the
Tennessee border, intersecting the meridian 830 on the
north and 850 on the south. The meridian 820 touches

the eastern margin of the field. The parallels 360 30' and
390 6' are approximate boundaries.7
   The political boundaries of the field coincide with those        Pol'itica
of the State.c On the north, the bed of the Ohio River at
low water, from the mouth of the Big Sandy, separates
   OSix thousand four hundred square miles, according to the U. S. Geological
Survey, Mineral Resources, 1907, p. 133; 4,500 square miles, according to
State Inspector of Mines. (See Annual Report, 1901-1902, p. 305.)
   bTen thousand two hundred and seventy square miles, according to Min-
eral Resources, 1907, p. 133.
   e The eastern line until 1799, when it was established as the State boundary,
was vaguely defined. The northern boundary was established by an act of Vir-
ginia in 1784 ceding the Northwest Territory to the General Government. The
southern line was run by Walker and Henderson in 1780, who were directed by
Virginia and North Carolina to follow the parallel 360 30'. The line, because
of error in measurements, runs north of the required boundary, about seven miles
at Cumberland Gap and twelve miles at the Tennessee River. The Walker
line was ratified by act of the Kentucky Legislature approved February 11, 1820.
There was for many years an interstate dispute concerning the boundary, and up
to the present time land between the two lines is subject to entry in the land
office at Frankfort, although under the jurisdiction of Tennessee. (Kentucky
Bureau of Agriculture, 14th Biennial Report, pp. 2-3.)

                               [ 5 ]

 

                                7hle Kentucky AMouutains

                Ohio. On the south a portion of the "Walker line" (a
                straight line from Cumberland Gap to the Tennessee River)
                separates Tennessee.     On the east (I) the crest of the
                watershed from Cumberland Gap to Russell Fork of the
                Big Sandy, lying between Powell River (a tributary of the
                Tennessee) and the Poor Fork of the Cumberland, and
                between Pound Fork and Elkhorn Creek of the Big Sandy,
                separates Virginia; (2) a straight line from Russell Fork,
                north 450 east to Tug Fork of the Big Sandy, separates
                West Virginia; (3) Tug Fork and the Big Sandy (middle
                of stream) to the Ohio, a distance of one hundred and
                twenty miles, also separates West Virginia.'
Counties grouped    The thirty-four counties which are wholly or partially
by River Basins:
date of their           t                                  f          squar
formation.      within  these boundaries   vary in size    from  760 square
                miles (Pike) to 175 square miles (Boyd). These are,
                groupedb according to river basins and given with date" of
                formation, as follows: the Little Sandy basin-Greenup 1803,
                Carter 1838, Elliott i869; the Big Sandy basin-Floyd 1799,
                Pike 182 1, Lawrence 182 I, Johnson 1843, Boyd I 860, Martin
                1870; the Kentucky basin-Clay i8o6, Estill 1808, Perry
                I 821, Breathitt I 839, Owsley 1843, Letcher 1842, Powell 1852,
                Wolfe I860, Lee 1870, Leslie I878, Knott 1884; the Cumber-
                land basin-Pulaski 1798, Knox 1799, Wayne i8oo, Rock-
                   " In counties along the western margin the plateau is represented by limited
                areas in the form of spurs and knobs. In places these outliers are detached from
                the plateau and stand as islands above surrounding lowlands. Such counties
                contain little coal, and the greater portion of their surface belongs to the central
                lowlands. This is especially true of Wayne, Clinton, and Rowan counties; Madi-
                son Coqiity also contains a few detached outliers.
                   b This grouping is only approximately correct.
                                            [ 6 ]

 


Transfiortation and Commerce



castle i8io, Whitley i8i8, Harlan i8i9, Laurel 1825, Clinton

i835, Jackson    i858, Bell i867; the Licking basin-Morgan

i822, Rowan i856, Magoffin i86o, Menefee i869.

    The county unit was formerly much larger than at

present.    Included at different times, within the limits of            Counties Dissociated
                                                                         from Central
Orange    (1734), Augusta       (1738),   and   Bottecourt     (1769)    Kentucky.

counties, all of Kentucky, from I772 until the close of I776,

was a portion of Fincastle County, Virginia. December 3I,

I776, Kentucky County was formed, and as population in-

creased this was gradually subdivided into nine counties.

As a result, when Kentucky became a State in 1792 this

mountain section was the outlying eastern extremity of four
    aEach Virginia county was a civil and military corporation entitled to a
separate court, to justices of the peace, surveyors, a sheriff, constable, coroner,
and militia officers. (Marshall, History of Kentucky, pp. 47-48.)
    "Each county raised a certain number of troops, and because it was not
convenient for the men to go many miles from home in assembling for purposes
of drill, the county was subdivided into military districts, each with its company,
according to rules laid down by the governor. The military command in each
county was vested in the county lieutenant, an officer answering in many respects
to the lord lieutenant of the English shire at that period. Usually he was a
member of the governor's council, and as such exercised sundry judicial functions.
He bore the honorary title of colonel, and was to some extent regarded as the
governor's deputy; but in later times his duties were confined entirely to military
matters." (Fiske, Civil Government in the United States, p. 64.)
    Originally "the county court usually met as often as once a month in some
convenient spot answering to the shire town of England or New England. More
often than not the place originally consisted of the court house and very little
else, and was named accordingly from the name of the county." (Ibid, p. 62.)
    This county system was continued in Kentucky, and the small "shire" towns
that have grown up retained for many years the county name (see pp. 128, 162)
prefixed to "Court House." In the case of Harlan the name has continued to
the present time, the latter phrase being omitted.
    "Court day," which was formerly a holiday in Kentucky as in Virginia,
when the residents of the county met upon the court-house green to trade, discuss
public affairs, etc., has as society has grown more complicated lost its importance,
except in the mountains, where it still retains muc' of its original significance,
especially in the fall, when the roads are in the best condition.

                                  [7 ]

 

The Kentucky Mountains



               counties"-Lincoln, formed in I780, Bourbon and Madison,
               formed in 1785, and Mason, formed in 1788; their seats
               of government being situated in the Bluegrass country.'
               By i800 the district was included within Fleming, Pulaski,
               Floyd, and Knox counties. After that year the subdivision
               went on rapidly: Mitchell's map of Kentucky for I834
               shows some nineteen counties. Between I850 and 1870
               there was a gradual dissociation of the region from the
               central section of the State. Since 1870 the counties of
               this district, with the exception of a few along the western
               border, have been included within its own limits.

                                      TOPOGRAPHY
Region the
Drainage Basin    The Cumberland Plateau has been dissected into a
of Five Rivers.
               series of narrow winding valleys, separated by steep water-
               sheds, which form five distinct drainage basins with a
               general southeast to northwest trend. Here it is that the
               head-streams of the rivers-the Licking, the Big and the
               Little Sandy, the Cumberland and the Kentucky-take
Rivers rise near
Pound Gap,     their rise. Originating in the southeast, in the vicinity of
finally reaching
the Ohio.      Pound Gap, as mere rivulets, these rivers as they flow west-

               ward are swelled in volume until, becoming master streams
               along the margin of the plateau, they finally reach the Ohio.
               In the north several small creeks, such as Hood and Ty-
               garts, are directly tributary to the Ohio, but with the
               exception of these, all of the streams are a part of one of
               the main basins. The region is thus covered by a complex
                                          [ 8 ]

 


Transtorlafion and Commerce



network of repeatedly branching forks and creeks, heading
against one another in cols and windI-gaps along the crests
of the ridges.'2
   To the southeast there is a linear arrangement of the
ridges. The Cumberland Mountain, a narrow straight
divide between the Cumberland and Tennessee rivers,
entering from Tennessee extends in a northeasterly direc-
tion thirty-five miles to the neighborhood of Cranks Gap,
where it leaves Kentucky and continues as Stone Mountain
to Guest River in Virginia. The general elevation varies
from 2,500 feet (Pinnacle) to 3,45I feet (White Rock).
The gentlest slope is on the northwestern or Kentucky
side, where the ridge rises from 1,000 to 1,400 feet above
the local drainage. On the northeastern or Virginia side
is a steep escarpment with, overhanging cliffs, rising 900 to
2,000 feet above the adjacent valley of Powell's River.
The crest of the mountain throughout its extent is markedly
level, except where it is depressed by a number of wind-
gaps-for example, Britton, Brierfield, Chadwell, Gibson,
and Cumberland. None of these are more th