Lone Star School

Another one of our little country schools was Lone Star School.  The school was in operation by the late 1880's and in the year 1903 there were 77 students on the school census.

The families of Woodall and Hill lived in this area and they had 28 of the 77 children attending school there.  Many of the other families were also related.  They included children from the families of Boone, Jennings, Campbell, Rushing, Parmley, Harris and Crider.

The school was located about half-way between Crayne Cemetery Road and S. R. 1107 on the Lone Star Road.

There has never been a picture located of just the school, but several school groups have been made by the school or on the steps of the old school.

This picture was made about 1943 and these students were in the 8th grade.

Left to Right: Teresa Hill, Dorothy Jennings, Clara Mae Woodall and James Belt. (Later Clara Mae returned to the school as a teacher in the 1950's.)

Wonder what ever happened to the bell that you see in the picture.  

The school was closed in 1958 and one of the Woodall family bought the old wooden building, tore it down and used the lumber to build other things on his farm.

Today all that remains of the once busy little school is the old iron pump still standing in the field where the school sat.

Picture made in 2012.

Freedom Baptist Church

Freedom General Baptist Church was organized June 21, 1853.  Land for the church building was deeded to the trustees, A. H. Belt, William Jopland and Thomas Riley, by Alfred Moore.

The first church was a log building with only one window to the side.  The next was a frame building.  The  third building was destroyed by a tornado May, 17, 1946, and was replace in 1949.   This is a picture after the tornado destroyed it.

In 1972 the church building was enlarged by adding a new wing on each side.  

In 1998 the church had outgrown it's present 50 year old home and a new expansion project was being done.  It included a fellowship hall and handicapped accessible restrooms.  The project also included new windows and a new steeple.  The picture above is how the church looks today.  

Freedom Baptist Church is located about 3 miles west of Marion on Hwy. 91 North and is an active church today.

Winter Weather Causing Unusual Events

The unusual wet and icy, wintery weather they think, is what caused the several ton boulder to come off the side of Pine Bluff on Blackburn Church Road,( shown in an early Blog post), and now the Cave-In-Rock Ferry is closed due to ice in the Ohio River which was put there by the ice from the Wabash River farther up North.

This picture was made about 10:00 am Thursday, January 9th, 2014.  I was standing on the Ferry Ramp on the Kentucky side.  The Kentucky side was free of ice, but on the Illinois side it stretched as far as the eye could see.

You can see it all along the shore line and around the tied up ferry boats.  As I wasn't able to get any closer you can't really see how large and how much ice that was really there. 

 A picture taken from the Illinois side of the river, you can see the ice more clearly and also the current in the river.

The Old Nash Dealership

This is one of the old familiar business buildings that was torn down to make room for the new Marion Fire Station a few years ago.

From some information found from the files of the old Crittenden Press comes this informative information.

Marvel and Harmon, New business opened in April 1953.  The Nash Dealership.

The building, before Marvel and Harmon purchased it and remodeled, it was a one-story and unsightly, badly in need of repairs.  It has been a poultry and egg dealer's place of business.

Now it is a 2-story building with completely modern display and sales room, with offices on the second floor.  In the rear of the showroom is a completely renovated service department.

After the Nash Dealership closed other local businesses were housed here, in the 1970's for a time there was shop here that sold sewing material and sewing supplies.

Here is an old Marvel & Harmon Nash ad that was in the 1955 Marion Reporter local paper.

Marion, at one time, had a car dealership about on ever corner of the town, as was the same with Gas stations.

Recent History Making Nature Event

 Pine Knob Bluff on Blackburn Church Road looses a piece of it's rock.

Once again a section of the Pine Knob Bluff has fallen off and crashed into the Blackburn Church Road causing thousands of dollars damage to the roadway. 

 In January of 1994 another boulder fell not to far from where this most recent one did.  It is believed that this one is larger that the one in 1994. 

 This is the boulder that has fallen off and landed in the middle of the road. 

 Even though you can't see it, the rock is sunken several feet deep into the roadway. 

Some of the beautiful Crittenden County scenery that is to be

seen in the area.  

This balancing rock may be a threat in the future as it could possibly push the rock it is laying against off of the ledge.

The icicles hanging from the rocking bluffs made a beautiful sight as

 the sparkled in the sunlight like

diamonds.

A delightful day of sightseeing for the New Year's Eve, December 31, 2013.

Cave Spring Church and Community

The Cave Springs settlement in Crittenden County is about nine miles northeast from Marion.  Many years ago it was the home of about 45 families.  The farm homes were scattered about the hill sides and valleys.  It was a wooded areas that has many hills, bluffs, streams and a lot of natural beauty.  Today there are still several homes located around but not as many as it used to be.   

 One of the natural wonders of the area is the Blowing Spring.  There is a strong current of cold air blowing out of the cave.  You can see the bushes waving 100 yards below the spring.  The air seems warm in the winter and cool on a hot summer day, but the temperature of the air is always the same.

Cave Spring Baptist Church is located in the Pigeon Roost Valley just below the spring.  This spring is sometimes call Blowing Spring and sometimes Cave Spring.  When the church was established in 1870 they chose to name the church Cave Spring for the natural wonder of the area, and it was located close to where the little wooden frame church house was built.

This wonderful old picture of the Cave Spring or Blowing Spring was made in 1890 with two couples that had family ties to the area.  Left to right : John Smith and Rev. James F. Price,  ladies on the right are Nancy Elizabeth Smith, wife of John,  and Elvah Stewart Price wife of Rev. Price.  John Smith owned a farm near the area.

I have been to this Blowing Spring once, and it is was very beautiful, but not an easy walk to get to.  When I look at this picture I wonder how the two ladies in their Sunday best made it up the hill to the spring in such fine condition.

Dean and Shewmaker Monuments

Crittenden Press, Jan. 25, 1929.  Recently a handsome granite monument has been erected at the grave of the late Alfred Dean.  At the time of his death, Mr. Dean was living at his farm home, in the Forest Grove section, and he was buried in the family cemetery on his farm.  Having spent his entire life in that immediate

vicinity.  The marker was erected by Henry and Henry.

Mr. Dean known for many years known as one of Crittenden County's most progressive farmers.  He had attended County Court day on Monday and after the Court meetings he went to McConnel's Barber Shop and became suddenly ill with a heart attack.

He had reached his 88th birthday on February 8th, and was born on the Glendean farm and had lived there all of his life.  He father was the late Alexander Dean, member of a leading West Kentucky family.  Mr. Dean was a bachelor.

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Nov. 1911.  Henry and Henry have just turned out from their marble works a fine monument to be placed on the lot of P. E. Shewmaker and wife in the Mt. Zion Cemetery.  This is a very artistic piece of work and one of the heaviest in the county.

Peter Ewing Shewmaker was by trade a carpenter and also a farmer.  Peter was born in 1831 and died in 1917. He traveled a lot of years in his youth but returned to Crittenden County in 1871.

Soon after returning he purchased, what is still known today, as the Shewmaker Farm, located five miles from Marion on the Fords Ferry Road.

 Along with farming, he ran a successful general store which was located on the farm near the site of the home place today. 

He was married to Sarah J. Duvall.