196 UNION COUNTY PAST AND PRESENT
. For years, no drunken man was seen upon the streets of Cullen,
¤ and profanity and obscenity were unknown.
Grcmgertown
This town is a mile north of Sturgis on Highway 85 and has a
` population of 340.
It took its name from Andrew Grainger who came from Eng-
land to Louisville when a small boy. He was a grown man when
he arrived in Union County in 1844. On Tradewater River he
built a home and a Shed for a grist and sawmill which he and a
brother, William, operated until it was destroyed by an explosion.
Andrew Grainger’s son, Thomas, also established a home here
in 1880, after his return from a long residence in the West for
his health.
In 1886, the Cumberland Coal Company (not to be confused
with the Cumberland Iron and Land Company), opened a mine
near by-—No. 1, or the old Wardlow Mine—and built a tram road
for the transport of coal to river barges at Caseyville. Men who
A worked in the mines built homes along this road and as most of
the families were named Grainger the new settlement became
known as Graingertown, the spelling becoming simplified with
the passing of the years.
Today the town contains a few stores, approximately one hun-
dred homes, and a Baptist church. The West Kentucky Coal
Company owns Mine No. 8, at which most of the men work.
Students are provided free transportation to the school at
Sturgis.
Grove Center
Like many another little town, Grove Center on the Illinois
Central and Highway 130, sprang to life with the coming of the
railroad, flourished until the road ceased to be a vital factor in
prosperity, then declined with such grace that today an unusual
spirit of friendliness prevails here——in contrast to earlier dis-
sensions among its citizens.
With the advent of the railroad in 1886, there was much agita-
tion in favor of calling the station "Hooper," since practically
all the land it passed through in that vicinity was owned by ·
Isaac Hooper’s widow, Mrs. Nancy Stone Hooper; and other
Hoopers were numerous, wealthy, and influential. However, the
opposition was too strong and the place was named Grove Cen-
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