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The Kentucky Historical Society will crisscross the Commonwealth to dedicate five historical markers in May.
Here is the schedule:
May 4, Walton CCC Camp Bean Ridge, 1 p.m., 30 School Road, Walton
Civilian Conservation Corps company 3541 opened in 1935 in Walton. The 200 men stationed there specialized in soil conservation. They trained local farmers in contour farming, crop rotation and strip cropping; planted trees; built fences; and developed farm management plans. They also provided relief during the 1937 Ohio River flood.
May 8, Webster County Courthouse, 10:30 a.m., CDT, Webster County Courthouse, Dixon
The courthouse dates to 1941 and was a Works Progress Administration project during the Great Depression. Architect H. Lawrence Casner, from Webster County, designed the building, as well as the Caldwell County courthouse and the main vault at Fort Knox. His wife, Arminta Bowmer Casner, made the sculptured faces on the building’s exterior walls.
May 10, First Louisville Slugger Bat, 10 a.m., 118 S. First St., Louisville
This address is the site of the original J.F. Hillerich carpentry shop. The Louisville Slugger baseball bat has its roots with Louisville Eclipse player Pete Browning’s broken baseball bat. J.F. Hillerich’s son was at the game in 1884 when it broke and offered to make a new bat for Browning. Browning got three hits with the new bat, creating a demand from his teammates for their own bats. The company trademarked “Louisville Slugger” in 1884.
May 20, Ted Poston “Dean of Black Journalists,” 3:30 p.m. CDT, 9th and Main Streets, Hopkinsville
Hopkinsville native Theodore Roosevelt Poston began his journalism career in 1936 as a freelancer for the New York Post. He went on to spend most of his career there, covering major civil rights stories of his era. Among his many awards was a Pulitzer Prize (1949).
May 28, Bon Jellico, 2 p.m., Highway 92W and Bon Hollow Road, Whitley County
The Bon Jellico coal mine operated from 1912 to 1937 and employed 350 workers. It annually produced nearly 100,000 tons of Blue Gem coal. The town included 75 houses, a three-room school/church and a company store. Around 1,500 people lived in Bon Jellico over the 25-year period the mine operated. It closed primarily because the coal supply was depleted.
More than 2,400 historical markers statewide tell Kentucky’s history. More information about the marker application process and a database of markers and their text is available at history.ky.gov/markers. Also available on the site is the Explore Kentucky History app, a source of supplemental information about marker topics and virtual tours of markers by theme. KHS administers the Kentucky Historical Marker Program in cooperation with the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet.
Photo: KHS
Last week, the Kentucky Historical Society (KHS) announced recipients of the first grants from the Kentucky Local History Trust Fund (KRS 171.325), a funding pool that supports local history organizations’ efforts to preserve and tell Kentucky’s stories.
Seventeen organizations from 16 counties across the Commonwealth received grants totaling $9,504.30. Individual amounts range from $290 to $1,000 for projects related to collection conservation, education, promotion, exhibits and strategic planning.
Kentucky Local History Trust Fund grant recipients include:
- Appalshop, Inc., $1,000, Letcher County, for collection management
- Highlands Museum and Discovery Center, $1,000, Boyd County, for collection management
- The Friends of Audubon, $1,000, Henderson County, for exhibit artifact conservation
- Ben E. Clement Mineral Museum, $909, Crittenden County, for educational programming
- McDowell House Museum, Inc., $700, Boyle County, for collections management
- American Printing House for the Blind, $700, Jefferson County, for exhibit installation
- Bluegrass Heritage Museum, $600, Clark County, for collection management
- Boone County Public Library, $500, Boone County, for collection management
- Shelby County Historical Society, $500, for organization development/management
- Montgomery County Historical Society, $500, Montgomery County, for exhibit artifact conservation
- Erlanger Historical Society, $355.30, Kenton County, for collections management
Six groups received $290 each to enroll in the American Association for State and Local History Standards and Excellence Program for History Organizations field-based standards program. Participation in a standards-based program such as this one is one of the requirements for grant eligibility.
- Duncan Tavern Historic Center, Bourbon County
- Historic Paris-Bourbon County/Hopewell Museum, Bourbon County
- Hickman County Historical and Genealogical Society, Hickman County
- Riverview at Hobson Grove, Warren County
- Allen County Historical Society, Allen County
- Kentucky Railway Museum, Inc., Nelson County
Local History Trust Fund money comes from Kentuckians who donate a portion of their state income tax refund (as little as $1 or as much as the entire refund). The Kentucky Historical Society administers the Local History Trust Fund, accepting applications and awarding grants. For this work, it may reserve 15 percent of the annual contributions to cover administration costs.
The Kentucky Historical Society (KHS) will dedicate two new historical markers in November. One, in Jefferson County, marks the Kentucky Soldiers’ Home site. The other, in Paducah, recognizes a Boy Scout troop founded in 1910.
The Kentucky Soldiers’ Home was the only institution in Kentucky established for Union Civil War veterans. Its purpose was to provide a home for those who were aged, infirm and unable to support themselves. J.T. Boyle Post No. 109 of the Grand Army of the Republic proposed the home. It was chartered in 1890 and opened in 1891.
Former Union Gen.Speed S. Fry served as the home’s first superintendent and director. He died in 1892. Catherine E. Hirst of the Ladies’ Aid Society headed the facility until it closed several years later. During its brief time in operation, it housed 35 veterans. Five of them died at the home.
The Kentucky Soldiers’ Home marker dedication will be at 11 a.m., Saturday, Nov. 12, at 6319 Upper River Road, Harrods Creek.
In 1910, Rev. Clinton S. Quin, rector of Grace Episcopal Church in Paducah, organized Boy Scout Troop 1. The Boy Scouts of America was incorporated on Feb. 8 of that year. Troop 1 is the seventh-oldest troop in the United States. Grace Episcopal Church continues to sponsor the troop, providing meeting facilities and volunteer leadership. The troop is a member of the Lincoln Heritage Council, one of the older local councils serving both urban and rural areas in the nation.
The Boy Scout Troop 1 marker dedication will be at 11:30 a.m. (CST), Sunday, Nov. 13, at 820 Broadway, Paducah.
More than 2,400 historical markers statewide tell Kentucky’s history. More information about the marker application process and a database of markers and their text is available at history.ky.gov/markers. Also available on the site is the Explore Kentucky History app, a source of supplemental information about marker topics and virtual tours of markers by theme. KHS administers the Kentucky Historical Marker Program in cooperation with the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet.
