4IO HIGHWAYS AND BYWAYS A
i luxuriant vines and presented "so wonderful a scene" that it attracted early trav-
elers. Today it is a cornheld, noted for its fertility. ;
At 172.4 m. is the junction with State 141, an improved road. i
1
Right on State 141 to Sr. VH*l'CENT’S ACADEMY (R), 0.6 m., surrounded by 1
century-old trees. This Roman Catholic institution was established in 1820. First I
known as Little Nazareth for the mother-house of the Sisters of Charity of Naza- i `
reth (see Tour 6), it was established as a girls’ boarding school by three nuns who  
journeyed 150 miles on horseback with all their belongings sewed in a tow-cloth
apron. The bricks in the old building were burned by the nuns in their own kiln .
and then were trundled by them in wheelbarrows to the brickmason who did the {
construction work. The academy consists of a coeducational graded school and a ·
high school for girls. Q
MORGANFIELD, 178.1 m. (439 alt., 2,551 pop.), built on rolling
uplands, is the seat of Union County, whose farmers early pioneered in q _
replacing "scrub" beef stock with purebred sires and in growing the `
soil—enriching Korean lespedeza. Seed from this clover was shipped to l
many parts of the country. A 26—acre combined city park, playground, A
and athletic field is on the eastern edge of the town. Morganiield and .
the surrounding region were the scene of several skirmishes during the ·
War between the States.
STURGIS, 189.1 m. (375 alt., 2,154 pop.), is the home of the West
Kentucky Coal Corporation and center of the bituminous·c0al industry
of Union County.
MARION, 208 m. (1,892 pop.), seat of Crittenden County, was in-
corporated in 1844 and named for Gen. Francis Marion, Revolutionary V
War hero. The town is the principal Kentucky shipping point for
fiuor spar. A company, headed by Andrew ]ackson and organized to _ 
mine galena for the silver it contained, in 1815 sank the first shaft in A
this region. When ]ackson found that the galena here has a low silver »
content, he disposed of the thousands of acres of land to which he had
acquired title. Because its value was unknown, the fluor spar was not
utilized until the time of the War between the States. The industry S
was at its peak during the World War, when mines were operated at full _
capacity. About 75 percent of the production is used in the manufac— _
ture of steel products and many large steel corporations have secured »
holdings in this held. Fluor spar is also employed in the manufacture ?
of artificial marble for soda-water fountains and the enamel used on
bath tubs, imitation cut glass, and other glass products. _
F luor spar is mined by sinking shafts down the perpendicular vein; ,
some mines reach a depth of 600 feet but the veins of fluor spar are W
believed to extend a much greater distance. A pneumatic drill breaks a
up. the mineral which is dynamited and brought to the surface on steam i
hoists. Mining shafts are common throughout the region; many f
farmers have erected them in their own yards. Some of the crystals are . 
exquisite shades of purple, saffron-yellow, delicate pink, blue, grew, ‘ 
and violet. (