386 HIGHWAYS AND BYWAYS .
United States. On the fourth Monday in March, known as Mule
Trading Day, animals for sale or exchange are brought here from the
surrounding country.
BENTON, 119 m. (1,021 pop.), seat of Marshall County, is in that
part of the State known as the Purchase (see Tour 9), lands ceded to
the United States by the Chickasaw in 1818. The town was named for p
Thomas Hart Benton (1782-1858), the United States Senator from
Missouri, hero of those who wanted all lands taken from the Indians.
The first Marshall County Courthouse was built of logs in 1843 by
Francis Clayton. Two years after its construction, the building was ·
sold to Clayton for $26; the second courthouse was built in 1847. .
" ’Tater Day," celebrated for more than 50 years on the nrst Mon- ‘
day in April, like county court day in many rural sections of Kentucky,
is the annual spring holiday when the countryside gathers on the streets .
to buy and sell sweet potatoes for seed. Thetransactions have been
extended to include livestock, produce, guns, knives, or anything that
can be swapped. The day is an occasion not only for trading, but also
for meeting friends.
Old Southern Harmony Singing held here annually on the fourth
Sunday in May, was established in 1884 by ]. R. Lemon, a west Ken- j
tucky newspaperman. Beginning at 10 A.M., the singing continues for 4
nearly two hours, when an old-fashioned basket dinner is eaten on the ;
courthouse lawn. The old Southern Harmony used in the annual fes- .
tival was one of the most widely used song books written in four notes- S
ja, sol, la, mi-of the shape note variety. Tradition relates that, in .
1853, when ]. R. Lemon’s ancestors came over the mountains from ·
North Carolina to Marshall County in a covered wagon, they brought ‘
with them, among their household goods, a copy of Southern Harmony, .
known then as "Singin’ Billy Walker’s book" and dated 1835. The Z
songs in this book were collected in the rural sections of the South. ·
Between Benton and Paducah is a gently rolling farm land in which ;
tobacco, corn, wheat, and berries are grown. This section of western Q
Kentucky, with Paducah as the hub, has developed into the largest ·
strawberry-producing area of the State. Benton is one of several load- §
ing points from which refrigerator cars carry crates of Dixie Aroma ;
strawberries to midwestern, northern, and eastern markets.
At 139.5 m. is the junction with US 60 (see Tour 16) and US 62
(see Tour 14). · ·
PADUCAH, 144.5 m. (341 alt., 33,541 pop.) (see Paducah). _
Points of Interest: Paduke Statue, Tilghman Memorial, Irvin Cobb Hotel, Mc- i
Cracken County Courthouse, Noble Park, Marine Ways, Brazelton House, Illinois
Central Shops and others.
Paducah is at the junction with US 60 (see Tour 16), US 62 (see _
Tour 14), and US 45 (see Tour 9).
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