Greyhound buses no longer stopping in Marion

 In 1952 Mrs. Lawson Faxon had been the Greyhound agent in Marion for 12 years and the company gave her a lot of personal credit for her part in the development of a great transportation system.

As a tribute to her efforts, Greyhound devoted its local and national advertising for the next three months to recognition of Mrs. Faxon and her thousands of fellow agents by describing how important their services have been to Greyhound and the communities in which they live.

In June of 2005 the Greyhound Bus Line was no longer operating a bus stop in Marion or 259 other places across the Southeast.

The company discontinued its U. S. 60 route, eliminating stops at Sturgis and Marion, and it closed the terminal in Morganfield.

Terminals in Mayfield and Hopkinsville also closed at this time, as did the bus stop in Cadiz. 

The bus line had picked up and dropped off passengers in Marion for years.

The bus came through twice a day until Tuesday when the line stopped the route.

In Search of Alvah Dewey

In 1894 A. Dewey & Co. were proprietors of the Merchant Mills at Marion.

Prominent by reason of its magnitude, as well as by its far reaching arms of trade; the business of A. Dewey & Co., extends prominently in view.  This firm owns the Merchant Mills, one of the finest milling plants of the entire state and has a daily capacity of one hundred barrels of flour, yet the demand more than equals the supply.  The business was located on East Bellville St.  near the railroad tracks.

Mr. Alvah Dewey was born in North East, Pa., June 16, 1845.

He married Miss Mary Belle Long. 

Before he came to Marion to run the flour mill here, he was chief miller at the Fredonia mill.  

From Marion he went to Kuttawa and was in the mill there for a while.

His last few years were spent in Henderson, Ky where he ran the flour mill there, and also made it his home.

Mr. Dewey was a splendid man, quiet and inoffensive.  He always attended to his own business and let other affairs along. 

Mr. Dewey died at his home in Henderson, Ky on Sept. 18, 1923.   His remains were brought back to Marion and interred at Mapleview Cemetery.

His wife Mary Belle (Long) Dewey, continued to live at their home in Henderson.  She died Feb. 17, 1940.  Her obituary says: Mrs. A. Dewey, former resident, died Saturday at her home in Henderson.  Funeral services where held Monday with interment in Mapleview cemetery.  Mrs. Dewey was well known in Marion and Crittenden County during her term of residence here, especially in church and civic work.

Mary Bell Long Dewey has no stone at Mapleview.  How sad her grave is not marked.

A Visit To Dycusburg in June 1910

As the Crittenden Press sales manager travels around the county visiting all the little communities trying to get subscriptions for the paper, he tells of his travels and experiences along the way.  Little did he know 108 years later these articles would be keeping our past history alive.

June 1910 - A Visit to Dycusburg.  

On Friday evening just in time for supper I drove into Dycusburg one of the oldest, and at one time, one of the most prosperous towns in Crittenden County. 

Having heard my good father speak of the town and the friends of his early life, who lived with him have long since passed to their reward, I felt a strong desire to visit the town, whos people and the high class of farmers surrounding it are giving such loyal support to our paper.

It is a picturesque old town, on a bend of the beautiful Cumberland and full of as big hearted loyal citizens as ever lived under the flag of the proud old Commonwealth.  

The town has a nice ity Hall and three churches and will soon vote the question of a Graded School.

The merchants of Dycusburg have stood the test of two fearfully destructive fires in the last few years; one destroying 17 business houses and the other 11 businesses, and in spite of all this the town is rapidly being rebuilt and in a few years will have the old town in new garb,  and ready for business again.

We name the following business houses receiving a nice trade;

• J. C. Bennett, dealer in staples and fancy groceries, glassware, tinware, etc.  Also he is serving delightful cold drinks.  Mr. Bennett is a clever gentleman and a safe business man.
• Dycus Bros., have a nice store and sell staple and fancy groceries, cigars tobacco and post cards.  They also dispense soft drinks and are enjoying a splendid trade.
• Yancy Bros., are proprietors of a splendid Dry Goods business and are enjoying an enviable trade, won by fair dealing.  They keep a high grade of fine goods that show a care for their trade that is appreciated.
• J. D. Jones is proprietor of a large Hardware business and is receiving a liberal patronage.
• J. D. Griffin is owner of a Dry Goods business that a first glimpse of his neat store is sufficient guarantee that he knows his business.  He is a clever polite gentle.
• W. B. Groves has a nice Dry Goods business and for the next two weeks will offer special bargains to his customers.  All kinds of Dry Goods and shoes at cost.
• The Hill House, a popular $1.00 a day house on the bank of the Cumberland, under management of genial J. I. Hill, is always ready to receive and care for the famished traveler.
• Mrs. Josie Reynold is proprietor of the popular $2.00 a day hostelry and particularly requests the patronage of the drummers.
• F. D. Ramage owns the Livery Barn and is a clever courteous gentleman.
• Cassidy & Dewey are owners of the flouring and grist mill and are popular as millers with a name for fair dealing that means much for their future.
• The Canning Factory is owned and operated by Smith and Wells who will now soon open operation for the season.
• Ed Henry is the proprietor of the blacksmith and repair shop and is counted the best horse shoer in the "pennyrile."
• E. M. Dalton is the polite and very accommodating Postmaster and owner of a grocery and confectionery.
• Clever I. F. Martin owns the ferry and for reliable and courteous treatment, has no equal on the Cumberland, for its source to its mouth.

Crittenden County In "Kentucky's Industrial Review". October 1949

The 'Kentucky Industrial Directory, 1949" had this to report about Crittenden County.  ( I don't believe they had a true count of our manufacturing businesses, but this is what the world saw)

The detailed listing for each community required a great deal of hard work in  collecting the data and checking it for accuracy. 

Following are the Directory's listing for communities in Crittenden County.

Marion.  Population 3,000.  COUNTY SEAT of Crittenden County on U. S. 60 and Ky. 91 and 120.

Business Organizations: Junior Chamber of Commerce, Kiwanis Club, Rotary Club

Transportation:  Railroad - I. C., Bus and Truck.

Utilities:  Electric - Inter-connected, Kentucky Utilities Co.,  Water - Filtered surface, municipally owned.

Banks:  Farmers Bank and Trust Co., The Peoples Bank.

Newspaper:  The Crittenden Press (Weekly).

Airport:  Jaycee Airport  (Sid Johnson's location)

Manufacturers: L. Conyer, Washing and blending fluorspar, Munt and Orr Sawmill, Winn and Tobin Milling Co.

MEXICO:  Population 300.  Located in Crittenden County on Ky. 295, 7 miles southwest of Marion, the county seat.

Transportation:  Railroad-I.C., and Truck.

Utilities: Electric - Kentucky Utilities Co.,

Manufactures:  Mott Concrete Prod. Co.

Fluorspar Companies:

• C and L Fluorspar Co., Inc., Employed - 12, Marion
• L. Conyer, Employed - 6, Marion
• Crider Bros. Fluorspar Co. - Employed 43, Mexico
• Davenport Mines, Inc. - Employed 20, Marion
• Delhi Fluorspar Corp. - Employed 32, Marion
• Frazer Mining Co. - Employed 20., Mexico
• Inland Steel Co. - Employed 98,  Marion
• Kentucky Fluorspar Co. - Employed 21, Marion
• Mahoning Mining - Marion
• U. S. Coal and Coke - Mexico

1946 Fire Destroys Old Tobacco Factory and Damages Elkins and Shebly Homes

Article from Crittenden Press, July 1946.

Fire originating in the E. Elm St. factory building of R. E. Rogers early Friday morning completely destroyed the structure, destroyed laundry equipment of P. M. Perryman and also clothes at the laundry for work; destroyed several motors belonging to Sullivan Core Drilling Co., a number of fittings and many hundreds of feet of pipe of the same company, and seriously damaged the homes of O. M. Shelby and Mr. R. E. Elkins.

                (The Old Tobacco Factory in it's earlier days, in later years it was used for a laundry and storage)

The blaze was discovered by Grave Evelyn Shelby, daughter of O. M. Shelby, who was sleeping in a room next to the laundry portion of the factory.  She was awakened by a series of blasts or explosions.  She called to her father, who rushed from his home to the factory, a distance of a few feet, and he was likewise confronted with explosions as the made an attempt to enter the building.

In addition to loss of the building, Rogers sustained loss of machinery and thousands of feet of walnut lumber.  It is reported his loss exceeded $12,000.00 and was only partially covered by insurance.

Shelby placed his residential damage at $1,500.00 with sufficient insurance to cover, but pointed to the fact that furniture and other household equipment removed from the threatened house sustained damage from both removal and exposure.

The east side of the house had all window casings and some portions of the eaves burned.  The house is of concrete and stucco construction with fire-proof roof which is all that saved complete destruction.

Fire chief Henry Sisco said that when he arrived at the building the blaze was in the laundry portion and apparently was small.  Only two firemen, John Franklin Elkins and John T. Vaughn reported and the pair were unable to properly handle the hose.  The men entered the building with a full 1ine` of hose, but the blaze became uncontrollable within a few seconds.

After sparks set fire to the Elkins and Shelby property, the entire section of the city was threatened and a call sent to Sturgis for assistance.  The Sturgis truck arrive after danger had been abated.

Hard to believe but the Shelby house is still standing today and is still being lived in.  I do not know about the Elkins residence.

The  Shelby house as it stands today on the corner of E. Elm Street.

First U.S. Presbyterian Church

First U. S. Presbyterian Church built on the southwest corner of what are now East Belleville and South College Streets in 1881-82.

This picture was made shortly after the building's completion.

Note the kerosene street lamp and the stone  horse-mounting block for the ladies who rode side-saddle.

This building was erected by the U. S. or Southern dissidents of the Marion Presbyterian Church when that congregation remained loyal to the regular National Church Organization.

A transfer of Presbytery membership to Louisville led to the division of that Church.

The inside of this building shown is still very much as it was when it was built in 1881.  The one-of a kind stained glass windows are still vividly beautiful with all the colored glass clear and bright. 

The old gas chandeliers lights, sometime through the years, was converted over to electricity, but the original fixtures are still in use.

Today this historic old building is the home of the Crittenden County Historical Museum, and is watched over and cared for by the Crittenden County Historical Society.

Early Newspapers Experience Rapid Growth

In February 1878, the Marion Reporter was founded by J. J. Nall, R. H. Adams and James M. Clement.

It was run under this management until October, 1878, when it was turned over to C. F. Champion and R. C. Walker to see if they could increase advertisement subscriptions the lifeblood of an infant newspaper.

But unable to put the Reporter on a profitable basis by the end of the year, the paper was returned to its owners.  Murrell Adams issued number 1 in January, 1879.

R. C. Walker founded the Crittenden Press May 28, 1879 on a 5 column outside patent as a weekly.  Like the other Marion businesses it experienced an amazingly rapid growth from 1879 to 1894 and it grew to a 7 column outside patent to an 8 column all-home-print paper by 1894.

Press subscriptions grew from 200 to 500 in the first few years to 1400 in 1886 to 1800 in 1894. The Press no doubt prospered on a similar scale under Walker until it was sold to S. M. Jenkins about 1903.

On July 15, 1904, the firm of James E. Chittenden and C. H. Whitehouse founded the Crittenden Record which was greeted with almost instant success by the growing community as is shown by the subscriptions which grew from 1500 soon after it started to over 2,000 by the time of dissolution of the Crittenden-Whitehouse Firm in November, 1905.

The Concrete Building (as it was then known, now the Wheeler's antique building) on East Carlisle Street that was built just east of the mail access alley to the Post Office for the Record's office and presses.   After the 1905 fire, the building went to Whitehouse (who in 1912 sold the building to Henry & Henry Co.); while the newspaper went to Chittenden.

So the homeless Crittenden Record merged with S. M. Jenkins' Crittenden Press and Jenkins edited and published The Crittenden Record-Press through 1917.

An early Crittenden Press ad from a 1897 paper.