Post by benotforgot on Feb 20, 2006 22:29:23 GMT -6
BARREN COUNTY. Barren County, the thirty-seventh in order of formation, lies in south-central Kentucky, midway between Louisville and Nashville, and covers an area of 482 square miles. It is bounded by Hart, Edmonton, Warren, Allen, Monroe, and Metcalfe counties.
The Kentucky General Assembly created it on December 20, 1798, from parts of Warren and Green counties. Barren County then totaled some 1,500 square miles, but parts of it have gone into the creation of surrounding counties. Originally it extended from the Green River on the north to the Tennessee line on the south. Although the county now is only about a third of its original size, only ten counties today are larger.
The county was named for the barrens, the meadowlands that cover the northern third. Many of the early settlers were Revolutionary War veterans who received grants of land south of the Green River reserved for that purpose by Virginia.
Seventy percent of the original settlers came from Virginia; more than 80 percent of the early settlers were English, Scottish, Welsh, or Irish in background. The county seat was named GLASGOW to honor the large number of Scottish settlers. Other principal towns in the county include Cave City, Park City (formerly Three Forks), and Hiseville (formerly Goose Horn); many of the hamlets of the early days have disappeared.
Perhaps the first explorers to spend time in what is now Barren County were Long Hunters led by Henry Skaggs, who camped on Beaver Creek in 1769. Many pioneers traveled the Cumberland Trace, which passed through the northern part of the county, connected with Daniel Boone's Wilderness Road at Hazel Patch, and went on to Lexington and Limestone (now Maysville).
Stage lines later linked the area to Nashville, Louisville, and Lexington. A well-known stage line of the last half of the nineteenth century ran from Park City through Glasgow to Burkesville.
Mammoth Cave lies outside Barren County, but visitors to the cave in the 1800s reached it by way of Park City or Cave City; a railroad to the cave ran from Park City (then Glasgow Junction). The spur railroad from Park City to Glasgow that opened in 1870 and connected with the Louisville & Nashville (now CSX Transportation) was a boon to economic development of the county.
During the early decades, most of the county residents were small farmers. Tobacco has been the main cash crop since early days. Livestock and dairying have replaced row crops to a great extent. Hay is another major farm product. A new industrial growth has recently taken place in the county, especially in Glasgow.
Two governors of Kentucky, Preston H. Leslie (1871-75) and Louie B. Nunn (1967-71), have come from Barren County. During the bicentennial celebration in 1976, three of the county's modern greats were recognized: Gen. Russell E. Dougherty, then the commanding general of the Strategic Air Command: Billy Vaughn, band leader and musician; and Julian Goodman, who was then chairman of the board of the National Broadcasting Company: Arthur Knock, a writer for the New York Times, was a native of Glasgow.
The population of the county in 1970 was 28,677; 34,009 in 1980; and 34,001 in 1990.
See Cecil E. Goode and Woodford L. Gardner. Jr., eds.. Barren County Heritage (Glasgow. Ky., 1980); Goode. Heart of the Barrens (Glasgow. Ky., 1986).
CECIL E. GOODE
The Kentucky General Assembly created it on December 20, 1798, from parts of Warren and Green counties. Barren County then totaled some 1,500 square miles, but parts of it have gone into the creation of surrounding counties. Originally it extended from the Green River on the north to the Tennessee line on the south. Although the county now is only about a third of its original size, only ten counties today are larger.
The county was named for the barrens, the meadowlands that cover the northern third. Many of the early settlers were Revolutionary War veterans who received grants of land south of the Green River reserved for that purpose by Virginia.
Seventy percent of the original settlers came from Virginia; more than 80 percent of the early settlers were English, Scottish, Welsh, or Irish in background. The county seat was named GLASGOW to honor the large number of Scottish settlers. Other principal towns in the county include Cave City, Park City (formerly Three Forks), and Hiseville (formerly Goose Horn); many of the hamlets of the early days have disappeared.
Perhaps the first explorers to spend time in what is now Barren County were Long Hunters led by Henry Skaggs, who camped on Beaver Creek in 1769. Many pioneers traveled the Cumberland Trace, which passed through the northern part of the county, connected with Daniel Boone's Wilderness Road at Hazel Patch, and went on to Lexington and Limestone (now Maysville).
Stage lines later linked the area to Nashville, Louisville, and Lexington. A well-known stage line of the last half of the nineteenth century ran from Park City through Glasgow to Burkesville.
Mammoth Cave lies outside Barren County, but visitors to the cave in the 1800s reached it by way of Park City or Cave City; a railroad to the cave ran from Park City (then Glasgow Junction). The spur railroad from Park City to Glasgow that opened in 1870 and connected with the Louisville & Nashville (now CSX Transportation) was a boon to economic development of the county.
During the early decades, most of the county residents were small farmers. Tobacco has been the main cash crop since early days. Livestock and dairying have replaced row crops to a great extent. Hay is another major farm product. A new industrial growth has recently taken place in the county, especially in Glasgow.
Two governors of Kentucky, Preston H. Leslie (1871-75) and Louie B. Nunn (1967-71), have come from Barren County. During the bicentennial celebration in 1976, three of the county's modern greats were recognized: Gen. Russell E. Dougherty, then the commanding general of the Strategic Air Command: Billy Vaughn, band leader and musician; and Julian Goodman, who was then chairman of the board of the National Broadcasting Company: Arthur Knock, a writer for the New York Times, was a native of Glasgow.
The population of the county in 1970 was 28,677; 34,009 in 1980; and 34,001 in 1990.
See Cecil E. Goode and Woodford L. Gardner. Jr., eds.. Barren County Heritage (Glasgow. Ky., 1980); Goode. Heart of the Barrens (Glasgow. Ky., 1986).
CECIL E. GOODE