An Ancient Road

This interesting piece of Crittenden County History was published in a little booklet that was prepared for the Frontier Festival that Crittenden held in September of 1961.  

An Ancient Road

One of the oldest roads in Western Kentucky, Flynn's Ferry Road, is probably the oldest in Crittenden County.

Geologically a natural break formed by parts of Camp Creek (entrance of this creek is located at the little river town of Weston), and Piney Creek in the eastern part of the county (near Piney Fork Church) in very early times formed a basis for a North-South trace or trail from the Tennessee country into Southern Illinois. 

The road, after being developed by the Indians and early settlers, formed an almost straight line from Weston on the Ohio River to Princeton.   

George Flynn opened a ferry at this end of this trail at the Ohio River and established a good road from there to the home of William Prince, who lived at the big spring which later became the site of Princeton.

This road was heavily traveled for many years before the formation of Crittenden County.  Goods were unloaded at Weston, then an important river port, and were transported south by wagon as far as Princeton  and to many other inland settlements.

Settlers going north to Illinois and beyond, plied this road almost constantly.

So important was this road that it gave access to and was important in the formation of Illinois, Indiana and Missouri.