The Press Scribe Visits the river towns of Tolu, and Weston

 

As the Press correspondent traveled the county getting ads and subscriptions for the paper he would share some of his journey’s adventures with the paper. They are interesting and fun to read, plus saving some of our past history along the way.

 

 

Crittenden Press, Feb. 23, 1881

Visit to Weston

I took the road, if road it can be called, for there is no rougher one in the county, to Weston in company with Cal Elder, who was visiting tobacco growers in the interest of his firm. I saw a five-mule team badly stuck in the mud and only one hhd of tobacco and assisted the teamster to unload and get out of that snap and the need of good roads again impressed me. 

 

Next we came to M. G. Gilbert's the boss tobacco farmer. Uncle Mike is getting old but he is a determined farmer and was busy at work. Then on to John Gilbert's another one of our good farmers, who raises tobacco with the many other crops, such as grasses, corn and wheat.

 

We soon arrived at the town of Weston, we were the guests of the Weston Hotel, kept by J. L. Hughes, and no one knows better how to care for the wants of the weary and hungry, his table is supplied with the very best of eatables, his rooms comfortable and neat, and beds with snowy linen and elder down. You at once feel that you are at home. Connected with this well kept Hotel is a good table, a grocery store where staple and fancy groceries, as well as the choicest wines and liquors, cigars and tobacco are kept.

 

Weston is a very unpretending little place, but is surprising at the amount of goods sold there, all lines of goods are very well represented and no complaint of dullness in trade, all the merchants assuring us that trade was very good. Our young friends the Haynes Bros. are going to increase their business by adding groceries to their neat drug store.

 

Otho Nunn and Son intend building a storehouse soon to accommodate their growing trade. They carry an assorted stock of general merchandise. Lambeth Bros. are doing a thriving business. Billy is going to Cincinnati soon and if you will read the Press when he gets back you will see what he has for sale.

 

John Nunn and Co., has a nice lot of hardware, saddlery, furniture, plow, and field seed for sale. They keep the best line of cooking stoves I have ever seen in the county, and they sell for prices to suit the times. The store is presided over by the junior member, Bob, that enterprising, modest and gentlemanly young man, will charm you and you will be pleased and sure to go again.

Crittenden Press, Oct. 29, 1903

Tolu  by the Press Scribe.

Tolu is a much larger and prettier town than I expected to see, and viewed from the hilltop approaching it presents a picturesque and very beautiful appearance. There are a number of handsome residences and some really pretentious cottages – Mr. Ed. Dowell’s and the one adjoining it for instance.

 

The town has a fine flouring mill, which manufactures the best grades of flour; there are several general merchandise stores and a number of other business houses, two hotels – the Minner House and the Weldon Hotel.

 

Judge Gordon and Mr. Grayot dined at the Weldon, and your correspondent did the same, and was a guest of the house until Friday morning.

 

While there I was treated most royally, both by landlord Weldon and wife, and their handsome and accomplished daughter, Miss Mima. Every attention is paid to the comfort of the guest’s at this hotel and I will wager any amount that in a cooking contest Mrs. Weldon will win the prize every time.

 

I thought we had a beverage called milk here in Marion, but the golden nectar they gave me at the Weldon dispelled that illusion. Any traveler wishing the real comforts of a home will surely find them at the Weldon Hotel, with a grand landlord thrown in for good measure.

 

About half-past 7 o’clock Friday morning Old Eagle and I took the back trail for Marion. The sun shone brightly, the air was sharp and frosty, and as Eagle hit the road with that long, heavy swing of his which whizzed the buggy along like a young tornado we soon rattled off the miles between Tolu and Marion.

***

Assessor's Report for Crittenden County in March 1911

 

March 1911 - What the Assessor's Book Shows About Crittenden

Thanks to the old assessor's reports, we have historical information from Dogs to Diamonds that were in Crittenden County. 

 

One would expect the books to show the largest increase in dogs, that is, if one may believe all the evidence that his ears hear, and his eyes behold. But the increase is only 208, and there are there are now but 1278 dogs in the county. Since the tax is moderate, and the signs of increase many, we may expect the books to show it next year.

 

We have 4863 sheep, an increase of 45 over last year. These are valued at $2.50 per head. But for the work of some of the dogs listed, or not listed, the number of sheep would have been swelled to 4943, as their were damage claims filed for exactly 80 sheep killed and crippled during the year. It is not surprising to see that the sheep killed, were in every case, the best of the flock, and that the average claim per head was $5.00. The Crittenden county dog certainly knows a good sheep when he see it.

 

It is not so easy to account for the loss of 5665 acres of land, and 26 town lots. It may be that the surveyors have abandoned the old time way of calculating and measure from hilltop to hilltop. Certain it is, the assessors books show that we now have that number less of acres and town lots than we had one year ago. The total acreage is now 213,989, but the average value has increased 30 cents and it is now valued at $7.90 per acre.

 

There are 34,456 acres of woodland and the woodland taken in connection with the land in cultivation shows that there are 126,243 acres, more than half the land in the county, cleared, but idle and unproductive. Some can find encouragement to the fact that the 34,456 acres of woodland is an increase of 2876 over the year before. It is doubtful if a clearer example of re-forestization exists any where.

 

We raised 38,826 bushels of wheat on 2871 acres of land, and the year before raised 13,507 bushels on 967 acres; an average yield of each year of 14 bushels per acre.

 

From the hand bills posted at cross roads and other public places, one would believe the county to be the veritable home of thoroughbred stallions, yet there are only three, with a value of but $500.00.

 

There are only two diamonds in the county, as against eight the year before, but the size and quality has vastly improved. The eight were worth $955. while the two still in the county, are worth nearly as much, to be exact, $740.

 

In jewelry there are manifest signs of economy. Last year there was $1,110. worth of jewelry, while now there is only $140. worth, and we know the man that owns it all. In gold, silver and plated ware, economy and retrenchment too is shown. Last year there was $190 worth of such ware, while now the stock is reduced to $105.

 

It is good to note an increase of 300 in children of school age over last year and the number now stands at 3,769. As compared to ten years ago, we now have 360 fewer children.

 

The adult males in the county number 3,083 a slight increase over last year, but a decrease in the last ten years of 140. Children may come but they certainly go from us as soon as the age of discretion permits.

***

This very impressive and detailed report of the county was taken by Robert Thomas who was the County Assessor in the year 1911.

Frontier Setting was early Marion

 

 In the 1840's and 50's Marion had no direct state connection with the older communities of east and central Kentucky and Tennessee.  The new town like the trans-Mississippi West cow-towns, had to  build itself independently like most Western frontier towns. 

The town of Marion during her first two decades must have closely resembled the typical movie set of an old frontier town with weatherboard log and frame two-storied buildings surrounding a public square.

As noted before Marion, like the towns of the Old West, was not intended to be a residential center but a business centralization point of the surrounding territory, so there were only a dozen or so substantial residences within the boundaries of Marion before the Civil War.

Marion had only two or three sawmills and a couple of grist mills, all water or horse-powered, situated near the bank of Crooked Creek just to the north and west of the present Northwest corner of Marion.  

One of the original by-laws provided that with the exception of citizens of Crittenden County that all "peddlers and transient persons" should pay a license before doing business in Marion.

Apparently this first attempt at an "occupation license tax" was successful, for the town's industrial and mercantile growth in the 19th century was truly phenomenal.

In 1850 R. E. Haynes was appointed the first Marion City Attorney, and the Trustees ordered that each proprietor build a substantial brick or stone pavement in front of his property on each side of Main Street.

Bill Monroe At Fohs Hall in February 1954

Bill Monroe at Fohs Hall

Feb. 19, 1954. Direct from the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, Tenn, Bill Monroe and His Blue Grass Boys will appear in person at Fohs Hall, on the night of February 24^th. The show will be sponsored by the Marion Kiwanis Club, for the underprivileged children and needy persons of Marion and Crittenden County.

 

Bill Monroe is regarded by experts in the field of American Folk Music as one of the truly representative singers in this field. He expresses the feeling of the countryside to a marked degree. His handling of heart songs is in a class by itself. Tis said in the singing of folk songs that the words are secondary and the feeling is primary. Bill has been with WSM since October 1939 and he brought his Blue Grass Boys with him.

 

Since then he has written several outstanding song hits – "Kentucky Waltz," "Uncle Pen," and Poison Love" which are riding high in the list of popularity charts. He comes by these writings honest, being born and raised in the hills of old Kentucky, taking the themes from actual characters and situations.  His latest hits can be heard on the Decca label and music stops cannot keep up with the demand for his recordings. 

Bill Monroe is still one of the most consistent box office attractions for the Grand Ole Opry and is known as "America’s Number One singer of American Folk Music."

Trying to Save old Marion High School - 2001& 2003

 Just for history's sake, I thought it would be good to record here a couple of efforts to save the old PWA built Marion High School.  Will anyone in the future regret that this beautiful landmark building in Marion was destroyed?  I doubt it.

The Crittenden Press, October 18, 2001.

Plan would revive old school as new location for city hall.  One of Marion's oldest and prized landmarks may again have a chance at new life if local officials follow through on a plan to save the historic building.

On Monday  night, Marion's city council gave Mayor Mick Alexander the authority to enter into an option agreement with Tommy W right for the city of Marion to purchase the old Marion High School on South College Street.

If feasible, the city could soon call the deteriorating building home, converting the former school into Marion City Hall.

Last year, attempts by local officials to purchase the school and its surrounding property for use as a joint city-county justice center were hampered by real estate acquisition discussions involving the parking lot.   (The Marion United Methodist church has previously purchased the lot behind the school for their parking lot)

The mayor said the city has enough money in reserve to get the building stabilized, repairing the roof and other structural problems that have arisen in nearly 20 years without regular maintenance.  Several exterior problems are obvious - broken windows, crumbling woodwork an unattached gutters, but extensive water damage exists inside on either end of the building covered by a flat roof.

Alexander said any use of the property by the city would maintain the  historical integrity and outward appearance of the structure. 

This most recent effort to save the historic schoolhouse marks the third time in four years the property has been considered for development by local officials.  Prior to lat year's justice center plan, a 1998 study looked at converting the structure to a center for higher education.

The Crittenden Press, April 24, 2003 - Old School Plans too High

No one from the county showed up to hear a presentation for renovating the old Marion High School for use as a city/county building during Monday's night's Marion city council meeting.

It may have been just as well, as the cost for the project came close to $9 million.

The resulting monthly cost of more than $37,000 for 20 years came out to payments of $22,379 for the county and $15,035 for the city.

All efforts failed as board members on both city and county didn't think it was worth spending that much money on it.

Now will be only a memory in our forgotten passages of time.