History of Irvine and Estill County. Kentucky



C'amop Creek. Buck Creek. Cow     Creek, Hardwicks
Creek. Drowning Creek, Clear Creek and other miner
tributaries.
  The Kentucky River is being locked and dammed
and it is expected that al dam will he located at or near
Irvine uuring this year. Of course that will enable
steamboats to run all the year round and will be of great
advantage to shippers of any kind of freight.
  An Indian camp was discovered on the waters of
what is known as Station Camp Creek. from which the
name was given to the stream. It was at this camp that
the powder used by the Indians in this vicinity was
manu factured.
  The climate of Estill County is unexcelled anywhere
in the world for health. Situated high and possessing
no swamp lands, it is without those properties that
breed disease. As an instance of the health of this
county., we will say that in Irvine, the county seat, dur-
ing the past year there has been but one death, and that
was where a man dropped suddenly dead. That is a fact
strictly confined to the town limits, but, of course, in the
suburbs there have been other deaths.
  The southern part of Estill is rough and the land
comparatively poor, but the river and creek bottoms are
as rich as any land in the Blue Grass region.
  ('orn is the principal product raised upon the farms,
although there is cultivated a large supply of oats, grass,
uhrat and tobacco. In 1904 there was raised in this
counts- 265,411 bushels of corn.
  There are quite a number of good cattle and hogs and
horses raised here. In 1870 there were raised 3,920
head of cattle: in 1904. there were raised 6,682 head;
in 1870, hogs, 5,225: in 1904, 9,056; in 1870, horses,
1.214 head: in 1904, 2.123 head.
  ('oal and iron ore have been found in paying quanti-
ties and of excellent quality. lead ore has been discov-
treda. but so far not in sufficient quantities to pay for
working it.
   In relation to the iron found in this county, we will
quote a short extract: "The Red River Iron District
is mainly confined to Estill County. The iron ores of
the region l)roduce iron of unsurpassed excellence. The
first iron works in the county were located on Red
River, in the northeast corner, about 1810, and em-
braced a blast furnace, knobling fire and forge. About
1830 the Estill steam furnace was built, ten miles south-
east, on the mountain which divides the waters of the
Rled River from those of the Kentucky, and the smelt-
ing discontinued at the furnace on Red River; at the
same time the works at the "forge" were greatly im-
proved for the manufacture of bar irons, blooms, nails
and castings. The Red River Iron Works soon became
celebrated for the good quality of the metal produced.
About 1840 a new rolling mill supplanted the old forge,
and coal from near the Three Forks of the Kentucky
River was employed as fuel; this coal was flat boated
from Beattville down the river fifty miles, wagoned



pine miles upe Red River to the iron works; it was not
found suited to make good iron, and its use was aban-
doned. About 1860 the manufacture of iron at the
mill was discontinued. In 1865, 'The Red River Iron
Manufacturing Company' was chartered and organized
with a cash capital of 1,00.0000, which sum was actu-
ally expended in the purchase of all the estate belonging
to The Re1 River Iron Works, and in the improvement
of that property. The works at the old forge on Red
River were not revived, but the mills there were rebuilt
and imiproved. Estill Furnace was put in blast in May,
1866, many buildings erected, turnpike roads built and
the iron wagone]l eight miles to Red River, and shipped
l)v flat boats. In 1868, the company began and in less
than two vycars completed two of the largest charcoal
fernaces in the world, with inclined planes, tramways,
wac-adamized roads, mills and shops, and homes for
over one hundred families, employing 1,01)0 men for
more than a year. A town was chartered at the new
furnace called Fitchburg, after the two brothers, Frank
Fitch, the general superintendent, and Fred Fitch, the
secretary and treasurer. In 1869, the iron from Estill
Furnac was diverted from the Red River route, and
wagoned three miles to Fitchburg; thence with the
prodli:et of the two great furnaces, which went into blast
March 4, 1870), taken by a new tramway six miles to
Scott's Landing, on   the  Kentucky River, near the
mouth of Millers Creek. In 1871, nearly 10,000 tons
of pig iron were turned out, valued at 600,000."
  Now, such being the fact, that these mountains are
still here; that iron ore is just as plentiful as in the
dilays of Fitchburg; that the iron produced from this
ore is acknowledged to be the finest in the world; that
we now have railroad facilities for transportation that
were not in existence at that day; that the Kentucky
River is going to be locked and dammed in the space
of perhaps a year; whv is it not a field for investment
Why would it not be a souree of immense revenue
One reason that Fitchburg collapsed was because of the
expense and danger of transportation. Many a sand
bar on the Kentucky River has been the deposit of
boats of pig metal.
  We predict that in a very short period these fields will
again be opened and worked.
  As to coal in Estill County, while it is true that there
are not at present many mines operated, yet, there can
be no doubt that the coal mines of Estill County will
prove to be very valuable. The development along that
line has been retarded on account of the lack of trans-
portation. Now things will be different.
  The real interest of Estill County, however, outside
of her farming interests is her timber products. There
are vast forests, which have never yet been touched.
One who is not informed upon that subject naturally
concludes that on account of the many thousand logs
that have been cut in this county in the last twenty-five
years, there must of necessity be a shortage in the pro-



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