A Short History of Hopkinsville and Christian County, Kentucky
William T. Turner
William T. Turner, professor of history at Hopkinsville Community College (in the University of Kentucky system), is one of the leading historians of that region and Cayce's background in it. He is the author of Gateway From the Past, a two volume pictorial history of Hopkinsville and Christian County. This article reproduces (and updates) the introduction to volume II of that work. Some of Prof. Turner's impressive collection of old photographs from the region may be viewed in Sidney Kirkpatrick's forthcoming work, The Open Door.
I. Settlement 1784-1830
Christian County and its county seat, Hopkinsville, are located in southwestern Kentucky,
a part of the Pennyroyal region. The county is bounded on the north by Hopkins and
Muhlenberg Counties, on the east by Todd County, on the West by Trigg County, and
on the south by Montgomery and Stewart Counties, Tennessee.
The Pennyroyal region derives its name from a branched annual plant in the mint family
that grows to 18 inches in height. Pioneer settlers found pennyroyal growing in abundance
throughout the area, and they bruised the leaves and stems for use as a very effective
mosquito and tick repellant. A tea made from the plant was used for treating pneumonia.
Indians used such a tea for headaches, and in colonial times it was recommended for
inducing perspiration in people suffering from colds. Boiled in water, this plant
was used by Indians to relieve itching eyes. Around a century ago, the colloquial
term "pennyrile" came into common usage and has thus been adopted in everyday
speech, becoming more generally accepted than the original pronounciation.
This county, the twenty-first established and the second largest in the state (45
miles long and 25 miles wide), was carved from Logan County by the Kentucky General
Assembly in 1796 with actual organization on March 1, 1797. The new county was named
in memory of Colonel William Christian, a native of Augusta County, Virginia, and
a veteran of the American Revolution. He settled on Beargrass Creek near Louisville
in 1785 and was killed by Indians in southern Indiana the following year. Originally,
the county included all land north of the Tennessee line, west of Logan County and
the Green River, south of the Ohio River, and east of the Tennessee River. All of
the present counties in this area were formed out of Christian between 1798 and 1860.
Two hundred years ago several Indian tribes moved in hunting parties across this
land on a seasonal basis in search of wild game and then returned to their homes,
both to the north and to the south of present-day Kentucky. The Delaware and Shawnee
Indians, who lived north of the Ohio River, and the Cherokee and Creek Indians, who
lived south of Kentucky, traveled in the area of Christian County.
Immediately following the American Revolution, a great wave of settlers, prompted
by stories of Kentucky's fertile land, made their way down the Ohio River by flatboat
and through Cumberland Gap in wagons and on foot. The majority of these pioneers
came from the Tidewater and Piedmont regions of Virginia, the Carolinas and Georgia.
The first permanent settlement in the county was made by James Davis and John Montgomery,
natives of Augusta County, Virginia. Around 1784 they brought their families by flatboat
down the Ohio River and then up the Cumberland River to settle on Montgomery Creek
two miles southeast of present-day Pembroke. Here the settlers built a log blockhouse
on land where they hunted and farmed. Several years later Montgomery was killed by
Indians while making a survey in Lyon County. Until his death in March 1797, Davis
and his family lived on the farm they had settled. His grave is the oldest one marked
in the county, and his will was the first to be recorded in the county will books.
Across the two decades following the arrival of Davis and Montgomery, settlement
was concentrated in North Christian and was completed by 1810. This area afforded
a greater abundance of fresh water, wild game, and timber for building and firewood.
Poor road conditions, the struggle for existence, and the valley settlements created
isolated social life.
The level fertile land in South Christian was settled in the first quarter of the
19th century. Rich clay soil with a foundation of limestone was well suited for crops,
especially dark tobacco. Most of the land was barren of trees and was covered in
prairie grass with a few springs located along Little River and West Fork of Red
River. Large farms supported by slave labor were patterned after those in the Tidewater
and the Deep South. Both sections of the county were fully settled by 1830, when
the population reached 12,684.
Hopkinsville was settled about 1794 by a North Carolina couple, Bartholomew and Martha
Wood. After the Wood family had camped for the night near the present East Ninth
Street bridge, they arose the following morning to survey a slope of land which extended
across Belmont Hill and westward to Little River. This land became Wood's choice,
upon which he staked a claim of 800 acres. "Bat" Wood, as the first settler
was known, was a hunter and a farmer, a man of strong practical sense who, equipped
with the knowledge of his surroundings, selected an area abounding in wild game,
an abundant water supply, and land suitable for farming. The founder built a cabin
on the present northeast corner of Ninth and Virginia Streets and a few yards east
of the "Rock Spring." A few years later Wood built a home southeast of
14th and Campbell, where he died in 1827. The pioneer and his wife were buried in
Pioneer Cemetery on West 13th Street. Wood's settlement soon attracted other settlers,
and a pioneer village emerged.
The present site of Hopkinsville was selected for the county seat by Christian Quarterly
Court in November 1797. They accepted Wood's offer to give five acres of his land
and a half interest in his spring. The following year a log courthouse, jail, and
"stray pen" were built on the "publick square" facing Main Street.
The plat for the town, first called Christian County Court House, was surveyed by
John Campbell and Samuel Means in 1799. In honor of Wood's eldest daughter, the town
was named Elizabeth that same year. Original town boundaries extended from Fourth
to Fourteenth, north and south, and from Virginia Street westward to Little River.
Conflict with another town of the same name in Hardin County brought another name
change. In April 1804, the Kentucky General Assembly renamed the settlement Hopkinsville
in honor of General Samuel Hopkins of Henderson County. A colonel in the American
Revolution, Hopkins had settled in Kentucky in 1797 and was later promoted to the
rank of General during the War of 1812.
II. Traditional Agricultural Society 1830-1870
The four decades following the period of settlement produced an era of social and
economic growth in Christian County. County population doubled and many farm communities
were established to support rural people through the country store, post office,
church, and school. Rich farm land supported by slave labor produced livestock, corn,
and wheat, but the heart of local agricultural success was the production of dark
tobacco. Farmers specialized in dark-fired tobacco, a heavy weed popular in Europe
for snuff, chewing, and cigars. The nearby Cumberland and Tennessee Rivers facilitated
large-scale marketing at New Orleans. Traditional county fairs were originated in
1857 with these annual events providing education and entertainment at the fair grounds
then located at First and Vine Streets.
Many social advances indicated the progressive nature of local people through the
middle of the 19th century. Several major institutions created during this era established
Hopkinsville as a regional civic and educational center. Local private schools, in
operation by 1812, preceded public schools by almost thirty years. The 1843 state
public education act produced forty school districts in the county by 1856. Private
academies indicated the presence of affluent people from the Tidewater tradition.
South Kentucky College (established in 1849) and Bethel Female College (organized
five years later) provided formal higher education for young ladies.
Toll road construction was initiated in 1837, thus starting a highway building network
which eventually destroyed the isolation of country life. Western State Hospital,
a mental institution organized in 1848, created job opportunities and a deeper awareness
of human needs and compassion.
Politics and war provided social issues which greatly influenced area residents during
this period. Local Whig party support for Henry Clay was challenged by the Democrats'
loyalty to Andrew Jackson; thus the county was fairly evenly divided politically.
The Civil War (referred to by most Southerners as "the War Between the States,"
a name which is still often used) split public sentiment in Christian County and
Hopkinsville. North Christian people, independent of slave labor, were joined by
a number of "Union families" in the county seat in sympathizing with the
Union. Support for the "Lost Cause" was strong in the southern part of
the county. Christian County was the home of a Union general, James S. Jackson, and
birthplace of the Confederate president, Jefferson Davis.
Christian County people witnessed the removal of the Cherokee Indians from their
home in Eastern Tennessee to the new Indian Territory, now Oklahoma. Between October
1838 and February 1839, over 13,000 Cherokee traveled the "Trail of Tears"
which extended through western Kentucky. Their campground was located in present-day
Cherokee Park on East Ninth Street.
The middle period of social development brought completion of the organization of
the area's early major religious groups. Circuit riders established a Methodist church
in Hopkinsville about 1800; then Little River Baptist Church was constituted in 1804.
Other denominations organized in Hopkinsville included: Presbyterian (1813), Cumberland
Presbyterian (1825), Episcopal (1831), and Christian (1832).
Another example of public awareness leading to social progress was in the publication
of newspapers. From the first issue of the Western Eagle on January 1, 1813 through
129 years of the Kentucky New Era (starting 1869), 45 newspapers have been printed
in Hopkinsville and Christian County. Thirty-eight were weekly publications, one
was tri-weekly, five were semi-weekly and four were daily papers. Two papers were
morning editions and three were monthly. At times a paper might be published on more
than one printing schedule, from daily to weekly or otherwise.
III. The Railroad Era
Christian County made a remarkable and rapid recovery after the Civil War. The reasons
for this recovery are reflected through the stable labor market, the innovative approaches
of the farmers, and the survival of pre-war wealth invested in the construction of
turnpikes, railroads, schools, houses, warehouses, and flour mills.
Agriculture and farm-related business, along with rural social advances, moved country
people from isolation to full participation in community life. The first local tobacco
market sale in 1870, coupled with the large, low-paid labor force, brought success
to tobacco production. The eventual price collapse of that market throughout the
"Black Patch" brought about the Night Rider War between 1906 and 1911.
County farmers promoted the Grange movement during the 1870's, and the annual county
fair continued to draw large participation from country and town people.
In 1913 Christian County obtained one of the first county agents in Kentucky. An
Englishman, Geoffery Morgan, initiated a progressive agricultural program including
the production of burley tobacco and the agricultural extension service. Other farm
activities included the formation of the Farm Bureau in 1920, 4-H Clubs in 1921,
and the first homemakers club in 1924. Pennyrile Rural Electric Co-op brought the
convenience of all-electric homes and farm buildings in 1938.
Turnpike construction progressed actively during the 1870's with the freeing of these
toll roads accomplished in 1901. Rural Free Delivery of mail arrived that same year.
The first federal highway, constructed of loose gravel between 1923 and 1927, was
U.S. Highway 41 North and South, known as the "Dixie Bee Line." In 1932
this highway, along with U.S. 68 West, was the first concrete road paves in the county.
Railroad construction and operation in the late 1860's opened markets for agricultural
and industrial products in addition to providing convenient transportation. Railroad
service was inaugurated in Hopkinsville with the arrival of the first train from
Guthrie on April 8, 1868. Constructed by the Evansville, Henderson, & Nashville
Railroad, this line was later extended north to Henderson and was acquired by the
Louisville and Nashville Railroad in 1879. Another L&N route, "Buckberry's
Special," was conpleted across South Christian County, connecting Clarkesville
and Princeton in 1886. This line was abandoned in 1933 and was replaced by Highway
117. The Ohio Valley Railroad, purchased by the Illinois Central Railroad in 1897,
was built from Gracey to Hopkinsville in 1892. In 1903, the western division of the
Tennessee Central Railway entered Christian County at Edgoten (Edge-of-Tennessee)
connecting Clarksville and Hopkinsville. Many small county towns owe their creation
and prosperity to the railroads. These late 19th century communities include Pembroke,
Casky, Kelly, Crofton, Empire, and Mannington on the Henderson Division of the L&N;
Kennedy, Oak Grove, Bell Station, Howell, Herndon, Rich, Newstead, Julien, and Gracey
on the C&P Branch; Green's Crossing on the Illinois Central; and Edgoten, Thompsonville,
Naomi, Masonville and Fidelio on the Tennessee Central.
The black community experienced development through the organization of a school
system in 1872 and many new churches were constituted. In 1885 the first African-American
served on a grand jury, and by 1898 that race had been represented in the political
offices of coroner, jailer, constable, and pensioner.
The city of Hopkinsville progressed through many social and civic improvements during
the post-bellum period. A public library was established in 1874, two years after
the city school system was organized. A Commercial Club dates from 1888, and was
followed by a Board of Trade and the Hopkinsville Business Men's Association. These
groups were forerunners of the present Chamber of Commerce, organized in 1921.
A shift in county political influence came in the post-bellum period. Christian was
a Republican stronghold both in national and local elections from 1865 through the
1928 election. Since 1928 the Democratic Party has controlled most local offices,
and prior to 1980, won all but one of the national elections.
Utility service installation included a telephone exchange in 1887, electricity in
1892, a water system in 1896, and city sewerage service in 1906. Leisure and recreational
activities included the "Hoptown Hoppers" baseball team in the Kitty League
(1903-1954); the first radio station, WFIW (1927-1933); and the opening of Ware's
Crystal Swimming Pool and "tourist cabins" at East Seventh and Butler Road
in 1922.
City streets received a new look when the first "white-way" street lighting
system was installed in 1918 and intersection traffic signal lights were erected
on posts set in concrete pyramids in 1925. These mid-intersection "fender-benders"
(located at Ninth and Main, Ninth and Virginia, and Seventh and Main) were all replaced
by overhead signals in 1937. Jennie Stuart Memorial Hospital was a gift to the community
by Dr. Edward S. Stuart of Fairview in 1914. The U.S. government erected a veterans
hospital at Outwood in northwest Christian County in 1922. Community growth was the
hallmark of the railroad era.
IV. Mileposts of Progress 1940-present
The decades since World War II have brought many progressive contributions to Christian
County and Hopkinsville. Business, agriculture, education, health services, and cultural
activities have all experienced extensive advancements.
Business and industry have developed at a faster rate than in any previous comparable
period. Mechanization has transformed farming operation into a science with soybean
production replacing tobacco as the top money crop.
Cultural advancements include a new public library and a historical museum, the community
concert association, an expanded Western Kentucky State Fair, two radio stations,
the military base at Fort Campbell, United Way, the Bassett Urban Renewal Area, the
Riverfront Improvement Project, the Pennyrile Parkway and I-24.
Educational changes were reflected through the closing of Bethel College and the
opening of Hopkinsville Community College, the merger of the city and county school
systems, and the opening of University Heights Academy.
Medical mileposts were revealed through the creation of the county health department,
the new mental health center, and the extensive enlargement of Jennie Stuart Memorial
Hospital.
Dedicated leadership and the commitment of public-minded citizens have made the past
decades an era of progress. Our record of accomplishment and disappointment, success
amd failure, strength and weakness tells of a people always intent on building a
better way of life. These human characteristics were shared by the first settlers
(Davis, Montgomery, and Wood), and they are also shared by the nearly 70,000 citizens
of Hopkinsville and Christian County today.
Appendix: Census Returns for Hopkinsville and Christian County
Year / Hopkinsville / Christian County
1800 .......25 *...... 2,318
1810 ......131 ......11,020
1820 ......700 *.... 10,459
1830 ...1,263 ......12,684
1840 ...1,581 ......15,587
1850 ...1,900 *.... 19,580
1860 ...2,289 ......21,627
1870 ...3,136 ......23,227
1880 ...4,229 ......31,683
1890 ...5,833 ......34,118
1900 ...7,280 ......37,962
1910 ...9,419 ......38,845
1920 ...9,696 ......35,883
1930 ..10,746......34,283
1940 ..11,724 .....36,129
1950 ..12,526 .....42,359
1960 ..19,465 .....56,904
1970 ..21,076 .....56,224
1980 ..27,125 .....66,265
* estimated