Marion and Crittenden County in 1977

While rummaging around in my collection of everything you can imagine about Crittenden County, I came across a wonderful and colorful large brochure that was created by the Crittenden County Chamber of Commerce, in 1977. It was produced by the Regional Services Office of Murray State University. What a wonderful way to share and preserve the history of our county and town. It's a shame one of these couldn't have been printed every year, or at least every five years. I hope you enjoy recalling some of the information I have abstracted from the brochure.

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The County

Kentucky's ninety-first count, Crittenden, was formed from Livingston County in 1842.

Located in the Pennyrile Region of western Kentucky, Crittenden County is names in honor of John J. Crittenden, a former Kentucky governor, U. S. senator, and U. S. attorney general.

 

The county covers a land area of 365 square miles and has a population of approximately 9,0000. The tradewater River flows along the northeastern border, while the northwestern boundary is formed by the Ohio River.

 

Crittenden County's transportation link across the Ohio is completed by a ferry which connects Kentucky 91 and Illinois 1 at Cave-in-Rock, Illinois, a historical town which once harbored outlaws and river pirates. The cove hideout now is marked by a state park.

 

The twenty-four hour, year-round ferry across the Ohio is operated by the tugs Candy H and Becky D, both out of the Port of Louisville. The 3,000-foot trip across the Ohio takes seven minutes to complete.

 

Ohio River traffic is served by the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers' Dam 50 operation, which is located twelve miles from Marion, the county seat. Opened in 1927, the one-lock day handles eighteen to twenty tows daily. Three to four million tons of cargo pass through the locks each month.

 

In addition to the lock, the dam complex includes seven houses, a powerhouse, water system, and a park area with picnic tables. Dam 50 will be closed in 1980 with the completion of a two-lock operation downstream at Smithland. Under a present proposal, the Dam 50 complex will be transferred to Crittenden County for development as a recreational facility.

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Marion

The major community, within Crittenden County, Marion, has a population of approximately 3,000. The city was named an All-Kentucky City in 1969, 1970, and 1971. Marion, a city which reflects traditional southern hospitality, is one of the thirteen original members of the hall of fame of the Kentucky Chambers of Commerce.

 

The city government of Marion is composed of a mayor (four-year-term) and six councilmen (two-year-terms). City service departments include the Marion Police, the Marion Volunteer Fire Department, and the Marion Water and Sewer Department.

 

Utility companies which serve the city and parts of the county are the West Kentucky Gas Company and Kentucky Utilities Company. Crittenden County also is serve by the Henderson-Union Rural Electric Cooperative.

 

U. S. 60 and U. S. 641, Kentucky 91, and Kentucky 120 are the highways through Marion. Communication service operations within the county include South Central Bell Telephone, the U. S. Postal Service, the weekly Crittenden Press, and WMJL-AM.

 

The Marion Airport board is in the process of developing a 2,800-foot turf runway on a site located 1 12/ miles west of Marion with city, county and state funds. Future plans call for the construction of a 5,00-foot pvaed runway.

 

Lodging facilities for travelers to the county include: the Tudor Inn of Marion, the Gilmore Inn and Motel in downtown Marion, and the Tourtotel Motel, U. S. 60 Marion. In addition, Maple Sink, a small fishing resort within the county, has sites available for camping.

 

Restaurants within Marion are the Marion Cafe, the Coffee Shop, the Ranch House, the Marion Country Club, the 88 Dip, Damron's Pit Barbecue, Marion Pit Barbecue and Cruce's Coachman.

 

Points of Interest include: Crittenden County Museum, opened in 1967 by the Historical Society, James Terry's cut glass shop, featuring a beautiful cut glass collection in his shop on the court square, Wheeler's antiques, also located in Marion, Ben E. Clement's Fluorspar collection location in his home, just outside of Marion, and the Crittenden County Public Library.

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The Schools

The Crittenden County School District operates seven schools. Total school enrollment in 1977 equaled 1,721 students; five elementary school with a total enrollment of 833; the middle school, 301; and the high school, 587. Two of the elementary schools are located within Marion; Fohs Hall for grades one through three and Marion Elementary School for grades four through six. The other three schools in the county, for grades one through six, are Tolu, Frances and Mattoon.

 

Construction of the new Crittenden Count High School in Marion was completed in 1975. The old high school was converted to the middle school for grades seven and eight.

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Industry

Eleven manufacturing firms operate plants within Marion and Crittenden County. The companies ad their products are:

* Circle-O Farm Center, liquid fertilizer;

* Conyer Hardwood Lumber Company, lumber;

* Crittenden Press, newspaper, letterpress and offset printing;

* Frontier Spar, a subsidiary of Marathon Oil, miner and miller of fluorspar;

* Kentucky Stone Company, agricultural lime;

* Marion Machine Works, machine shop;

* Moore Business Forms, Incorporated, a major county firm, this Canadian-based company employs approximately 250 and produces specialized business forms.

* Ohio River Concrete Corporation, ready-mix-concrete;

* Potter and Brumfield, a division of American Machine Foundries of White Plains, New York, this major county firm employs approximately 600 workers and produces electromagnetic relays;

* Turner and Conyer Lumber Company, Incorporated, lumber, clay pipe spacers, pallets, and boxes;

* Kentucky Stump Company, home furniture made from tree trunks.

 

Rail shipping service to Marion is offered by Illinois Central Gulf Railroad, headquartered in Chicago.

 

A northbound and a southbound train pass through the county each day. The railroad maintains switching facilities, team track for eight cars, and siding space for fifteen cars.

 

Agricultural production plays an important role in the economy of Crittenden County. The major crops of the county are corn, soybeans and wheat. Livestock includes cattle and hogs.

 

The residents of Crittenden County entrust their financial matters to the Farmers Bank and Trust Company, the People Bank Bank and the Hopkins County First Federal Savings and Loan Association, all in Marion.

 

Business and civic organizations within the county include the Crittenden County Chamber of Commerce, the Rotary Club, and the Lions Club. Additional organizations include: Masonic Lodge, American Legion, Woodmen of the World, Oddfellows, Eagles, Federation of Women's Club, Eastern Star, American Legion Auxiliary, Boy Scouts, Girls Scouts, Little League baseball, Peewee League, Pony League, Little League football, Town and Country Riding Club, Gun Club and the Crittenden County Historical Society.

 

Recreation

Recreational facilities within Marion include two parks, two playgrounds, two tennis courts, two baseball diamonds, two football fields, and a horse riding ring.

 

Facilities of the Marion Country club are a nine-hole golf course, swimming pool and a clubhouse with dining room. The country club, which opened in 1961, is located on approximately eighty acres of land.

 

Present plans call for the development of 100 acres of land at the Ohio River Dam 50 site with the opening of a new dam downstream at Smithland in 1980. A new five-mile access road to the proposed county recreational facility already has been completed.

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This is an informative overview of our life in the county in 1977. A lot of changes, not all good, have taken place in the past 47 years.  It's hard to digest all the business that we have lost through the years. (Posted Dec. 2024)

Moore & Paris Lumber Co - 1904

 

January 1, 1904 - Moore & Paris Lumber Company building. 

 

It was owned by R. L. Moore and O. H. Paris, with James T. Hickman as district manager. 

 Robert L. Moore, the President was a well-known business man in the vicinity.

Obadiah H. Paris, the secretary-treasurer and manager, had 15 years experience in the business.

 Just a few months after this picture and advertisement was made, in May 1904, Mr. J. N. Boston purchased the Moore & Paris Lumber Co., and  incorporated the inventory into his Boston Lumber & Planing Mills, located on East Depot Street.   This would make him in control of the lumber market in Marion. 

The location of the Moore & Paris building later would be the home of the Ford dealership in Marion, then Tucker Furniture Store and Funeral Home, and today the home of Gilbert's Funeral Home.  

This building was one of the few in Marion that never was damaged in Marion's past fires.  The buildings next to it all the way to Main Street were damaged badly in the 1912 fire on that street.

John Bell and Bell Mines

Who was John Bell creator of our Bell Mines and Community

 

In 1836 John Bell, a politician from Nashville, Tennessee, came to Crittenden County in hopes of establishing a new coal mining industry. He purchased thirty-one acres of land from John Lamb and John Rourk. The land being located in northern Crittenden County, next to the Tradewater River. This was the beginning of the coal mining town that would be named Bells Mines, after the man that started the mines.

 

John Bell was rarely present at his Kentucky mine projects, he relied on paid managers. After five or six years of work on the Kentucky mine project, John Bell left and returned to national political arena and the U. S. Senate as a Senator from the state of Tennessee. In 1847, Bell put his coal holdings in trust and his agents continued to run the Bell mines. 

 

 W. C. Carvell, who had as interest in the mines and who was manager for Bell while he was away, eventually purchased Bell's interest in the mines.

 Although John Bell died in 1867 in Tennessee, Carvell kept the mine going for several years, but John Bell's legacy of the beginning of Bells Mines continued to be carried on today.

 

Bell, John Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.

Bell entered the U.S. House of Representatives in 1827 and served there as a Democrat until 1841. He broke with Pres. Andrew Jackson in 1834 and supported Hugh Lawson White for president in 1836.

 

After White’s defeat Bell became a Whig and, in March 1841, as a reward for party services, was made secretary of war in Pres. William Henry Harrison’s Cabinet. A few months later, after the death of President Harrison, he resigned in opposition to Pres. John Tyler’s break with the Whigs.

 

After six years’ retirement from political life, Bell was elected as a U.S. senator for Tennessee in 1847, serving in the Senate until 1859. Although a large slaveholder, Bell opposed efforts to expand slavery to the U.S. territories. He vigorously opposed Pres. James Knox Polk’s Mexican War policy and voted against the Compromise of 1850, the Kansas–Nebraska bill (1854), and the attempt to admit Kansas as a slave state. 

 

Bell’s temperate support of slavery combined with his vigorous defense of the Union brought him the presidential nomination on the Constitutional Union ticket in 1860, but he carried only Virginia, Kentucky, and Tennessee. He initially opposed secession; however, following Pres. Abraham Lincoln’s call for troops, he openly advocated resistance and henceforth classed himself a rebel. Bell spent the war years in retirement in Georgia and Alabama returning to Tennessee in 1865. 

 

 This marker is located in Sturgis, KY, Union County, close to the town's 4-way stop.  I always wondered why it was placed here instead of at the Bells Mines Road on SR 365.  Perhaps it is safer located there.

Firing of the Last Shot in WWI (Part II)

 

On May 19, 2020 I did a post on Herbert F. Phillips and his part in the "Firing of the Last Shot in WWI."  Since that post I have acquired some more interesting information on this story about a Crittenden County boy.

Although Herbert F. Phillips moved away from Crittenden County, he is still considered a Crittenden Countian as he was born and lived his early days here.

This is from the  Journal and Courier of Lafayette, Indiana, May 30, 1960.

Last Shot Fired After War Ended

Officially, World War I ended with an armistice at 11 a.m. on Nov. 11, 1918, but the last artillery round of that war - fired by a West Lafayette man who died last week - reportedly was fired five minutes later.

Herbert F. Phillips, an Army veteran of 34 years and two World Wars, was buried with military honors last Wednesday in Tippecanoe Memory Gardens.  

From personal correspondence of Phillips, most of it in the early 1930's when an effort was made to locate the gun and display it at West Point, along with the one which had fired the first charge of World War I, the following story of the events of that historic hour developed:

Phillips, then a first lieutenant, was executive officer of Battery E of the 11th Field artillery.  His battery was in position on a small ridge, near Evansville, France, and had been firing steady all day the armistice was signed.  The battery's target was a German "77" battery.

When orders came to cease fire at 11 a.m., Lt. Phillips planned to fire at 10:59 a.m. one last round at the enemy battery which had "given us quite a bit of trouble all morning."  according to Phillips' papers.

As it turned out, the last round actually went off at 11:05 a.m.,"either by accident or by design," according to a letter by Phillips to Maj. Raymond Marsh, of the Office of Chief of Ordnance, dated May 1, 1934.  He added he did not remember why the shot was fired after 11 a.m.

Phillips in his letters, said that a historic picture of "Calamity Jane," the artillery piece that fired the last shot, and of him and a corporal, was taken "several days later."  Other sources fix the date at Nov. 16.  The picture now is displayed in the Library of Congress.

Lafayette Leader Newspaper, Lafeyette, Ind. May 26, 1960

Herbert Francis Phillips, 70, West Lafayette, Indiana, who fired the last artillery charge in World War I, died at 4:05 PM Monday, May 23, 1960, in St. Elizabeth Hospital where he had been a patient two hours.  He had been in failing health the past year.  Born in Marion, KY, he was a veteran of both World Wars with 34 years of service with the armed forces.

During World War I he served overseas in the field artillery with the rank of Captain; from 1920-35 he did ROTC work at Purdue University, retiring in 1935.  He was called to active service with the Air Corps during World War II from 1942-46. The picture of the last artillery piece fired in World War I, and Mr. Phillips; picture hang in the Library of Congress in Washington, DC.  The artillery piece is called the 'Calamity Jane'.

Mr. Phillips had lived in this community for 28 years and was a member of Central Presbyterian Church and Eagles Lodge 347.  In 1924 he married Betty Davis.  Surviving are his widow; a daughter, Betty (Mrs. Robert) Weddle; a son, Robert, both of Lafayette; two brothers, Fulton of Henrietta, TX, and Isom of Villa Ridge, IL; and two sisters, Mrs. Maude Lewis of Marion, KY and Mrs. Walter Benedict of Winston-Salem, NC.

An Army escort from Fort Harrison attended the funeral service, which was held at Soller-Baker funeral home, May 25, with Dr. J. Dayton McCormick officiating.  Internment at Tippecanoe Memory Gardens,; the firing squad fired three volleys at the grave site in honor of the distinguished soldier.

   Herbert Phillips, solider standing next to the wheel of Calamity Jane.

If Herbert's niece, Marguerite Lewis Campbell, hadn't share this with me back in 2012, I would never have know about this piece of history.  I'll always be grateful to her.

One of Crittenden County's Barite Mills

 

Mico Mining & Milling Announces Operation

A group of St. Louis investors headed by Mr. Albert Balenson have started a new mining and milling operation just south of the state highway 91, one and one-half miles from Cave-In-Rock ferry landing.

To date they have completed an 8000 feet 6 inch water supply line from the Ohio River, a 16,000 gallon storage reservoir, and a barite concentration mill, consisting of a washing plant and a jig mill to process alluvial barite deposits located near the mill site. 

According to Mr. Ralph Pringle, the local superintendent, they are employing ten men at the present time and will probably double this number in the future.

The mill has been in operation for about two weeks and has reached an output of about 100 tons per day of high grade barite ore.

The company is incorporated as the Mico Mining and Milling Company and expects to make its first shipment of 1000 tons by river within the next week.

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A part of our forgotten past is a barite mill that was located a short distance off Hwy. 91 North at the end of Easley Rd.

From the April 24, 1958 Crittenden Press. 

A top view of the Mico Mining & Milling Co. barite mill just off Ky. 91 near Cave-In-Rock Ferry.  Taken from the ramp leading to the washing mill, the picture shows the conveyor belt at left which carries washed ore into the jig mill.  The conveyor on the other side of the building to the right carries processed barite, 95 percent pure, to the pile, where trucks pick it up for transportation to river barge loading facilities on the Ohio river.

A bulldozer at work in the alluvial barite deposit on the V. E. Cook property near the mill.   

Barite, or barium sulfate is sometimes called heavy spar, has a specific gravity of about 4.5 is used in drilling oil wells and for other industrial uses.

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I have no knowledge of how long this operation was in use, but it must have not been very long.

Hurricane Island Farmers - June 1973

 

 The large island, known as Hurricane Island, located in the Ohio River a short distance from the Tolu shore line has fascinated me for many years.  An interesting article from the Crittenden Press of June 14, 1973, by John Lucas tells some later day history of the island.  I believe the island is still used for farming.

Farming is by its nature hard work and one of the world's biggest gambles, no matter where one tries it.  But three Crittenden County farmers like to take those conditions and make things even a little more difficult.

They farm an island - the five mile long, approximately 1,000 acre Hurricane Island is the in the middle of the Ohio river below Tolu.

The three farmers are Douglas "Gene" Brazell, James Champion and Donald Champion.   While Brazell's upland ground is adjacent to the island, the Champion brothers must bring equipment from their farms which are several miles from Hurricane, this is an added problem for them.

The other islands in the county - McKinley and Cave-In-Rock - are farmable, but Hurricane is the largest operation.

Brazell farms about 200 acres on the island and the Champions 550.  They grow corn, soybeans and grain sorghum.

Timing is of the utmost importance in farming the island.  A week in the spring can mean the difference between gain or loss in the fall, according to Brazell.

Everything must be ferried to the island, and both Brazell and the Champions have their own barge and ferry tug.

Here Gene  Brazell, and his 11-year-old son, David, move equipment off Hurricane Island, part of which they crop.  

Loyd Brazell, Gene's father, keeps a watchful eye from the pilot house of their ferry, he was once a riverboat pilot.

 Brazell says he usually tries to put a tractor and fuel supply on the island in the spring before the water goes completely off the island and while he can still land at the top of the bank.

The island normally stands about 20 feet above the level of the river, and once the water goes down, it is nearly impossible to get a tractor up the steep landing cut until it is cleared of sediment.  This is the purpose of the tractor placed on the island early - to help clear the landing and assist getting the first of the other equipment ashore.

In the almost 25 years that Brazell has been farming the island, he says that he can recall only one year that water did not completely cover it during the winter.  By the time the river reaches a stage of 34-38 feet, it usually covers a large portion of the island.  

It is covering the island during the winter and spring rises that the Ohio acts as the farmer's friend.  The deposits that the river leaves are so rich that nitrogen is really the only fertilizer requirement, although starter fertilizer is usually used.  

The ability to get the crop off the island is also a limited factor when it comes to cropping Hurricane.  It isn't feasible to take each wagon or truck load of grain to storage bins immediately after it is harvested as one would do on upland ground.  Brazell says, too, that neither is it possible to store grain on the island the year round.  

The introduction of the sheller combine changed all that.  Today he said that he simply harvests all day, filling all his trucks and wagons and then moves them across the mainland at the end of the day.

In farming the island today, the practice is to alternate between the upland ground and the island, working them as the ground drys.

It hasn't always been such Brazell recalls when it was the practice to move over to the island in the spring, taking family chickens and cows, and stay until the crop was planted.  The target date, he said then was to have the crop planted and be moved back across by July 4.  This was continued until as late as 1938.   

At that time all the farming was done with a team or by hand.  Fifty acres were about all that a man and a team of mules coup crop during a growing season. And with the first tractors, 100 acres were enough for one man.

(I don't know who owns the Hurricane Island today and if it is still farmed or not.  With that rich soil, I'd say it is still farmed today.)

1918 Influenze Epidemic in Crittenden County

Recalling the 1918 Influenza Epidemic In Crittenden County

The history breaking event was getting worse in the late summer of 1918, hitting military installations first with epidemic influenza. As soldiers traveled home, they unknowingly carried the flu across the U. S. 

 

 In September in Louisville, nearby Camp Zachary Taylor (WW I's largest army training camp, with its 45,000 men, reported over 2,000 cases. There were several of Crittenden County Soldiers that died with the disease.

 

Most agree the disease affected over half the world's population as the most devastating epidemic in world history. Consider the thought that more died in 1918 of what was called the "Spanish Flu" than in four years of the Bubonic Plague (1347-1351). 

 

Kentuckians became aware of the deadly flu toward the end of September 1918 when troops from Texas debarked from an L&N train to check out Bowling Green. The soldiers unintentionally infected townspeople before returning to their coach.

 

This flu spared no one it could struck the weakest of the young to the stronger and most vigorous of the population. In October 1918 Kentucky Board of Health closed all Kentucky schools, saloons, and soda fountain stores. Mines closed due to the virus spreading in close quarters. Those not ill were kept busy digging graves until late at night. Deaths often occurred within hours or a few days. Undertakers ran out of boxes, even quickly constructed ones of rough lumber. Those in rural areas sometimes buried their children under a tree of in a field after constructing their own boxes. 

 

In January 1919, 2,143 had died. By April, death dropped to 509. Many deaths were not reported as flu, but as pneumonia which resulted from the flu or to other similar symptoms. 

 

If you are a genealogist, you probably have found that multiply family members died in 1918 and early 1919. Many children's deaths would only be days apart. As you walk through the cemeteries you'll notice the dates 1918 and 1920 appear on many older stones.  These two children's stones, sisters, are in the Crayne Cemetery.

 

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We are very limited on the history of events that affected Crittenden County during this devasting time period. The local paper at the time was The Crittenden Record Press and there are no issues available and none mirco-filmed from September 1918 (when the Flu epidemic was at it's worse) through (Crittenden Press) August 1919. The events and obituaries for that devastating time in our history are lost. 

 

From the State Board of Health Report for Crittenden County for the year 1918. The following information was found. This information would be from death certificates that the Drs. filled out and reported. There were probably several deaths that were not accounted for due to improper reporting of the information. 

 

Estimated population was 13,296. Total deaths - 171; Infants under 1 year - 27; Children age 1-4 years, 15; Aged 65 and over - 43; 5- 56 years old - 86. 

 

Preventable Diseases: Tuberculosis/Consumption - 14; Other tuberculosis - 3; Typhoid - 1; Diphtheria/Croup -1; Scarlet Fever - 1; Measles - 1; Whooping Cough -5; Pneumonia/bronchial - 18;

(sometime Pneumonia was named as death cause but was flu related) Influneza - 39; Meningitis - 3; Diarrhea disease- 6;

Other: Cancer - 7, Stillborns - 14; Other deaths due to old age, accidents and  murders - 58.

 

As far as I can find out, none of the Doctors that signed the death certificates caught the flu or died from it. It must have been a trying time. Some of the Drs. in the Marion area were, Dr. Frazer, County Heath Supervisor, Dr. J. R. Perry, Dr. C. G. Moreland, Dr. John L. Reynolds, Shady Grove had Dr. Jeff McConnell, Dycusburg, Dr. J. M. Graves, Tolu area Dr. Wm C. Davis.