History and Old Stuff...
Snooping around in Google Books for "history Christian County Kentucky" tonight, I came across a description of Christian County written in 1843. It's rather interesting so I decided to post it. It was written in one long paragraph, but I have broken it up into separate lines to make it more readable.
The "fertile barrens, as they are called" in southwest Christian County (mentioned in the second sentence above) were areas of treeless prairie. Some of the grasses that once grew on those prairies were eastern gamma, Indian grass, big bluestem and little bluestem. Today, the land in that part of the county is mostly farmed.
CHRISTIAN, county, Ky. Situated in the s. part of the state and contains 612 sq. ms.
The land in the N. part is poor but covered with timber; in the S.W. are fertile barrens, as they are called. The soil is a fertile clay, and produces tobacco, corn wheat &c.
It is the 3d county in wealth in the state. Watered by Little r[iver] and its branches and Pond and Tradewater r[iver]s. Capital: Hopkinsville.
There were in 1840,
neat cattle, 15,053,
sheep 18,196,
swine 52,656,
wheat 103,833 bush. produced,
rye 13,284,
Ind. corn 1,022,850,
oats 290,585,
potatoes 22,846,
hemp and flax 177 tons,
tobacco 3,400,502 pounds,
cotton 43,040,
sugar 19,190,
bituminous coal 11,475 bushels;
31 stores, cap. $136,875;
8 tanneries,
19 distilleries,
3 potteries,
13 flouring [mills],
23 grist [mills],
13 saw [mills],
1 oil [mill],
1 printing office,
1 weekly newspaper.
Cap. in manufac. $81,640.
4 acad. 234 students, 19 schools, 517 scholars.
Population whites 9491, slaves 5,997, free col'd 99; total, 15,587.
Source: A Complete, Descriptive and Statistical Gazetteer of the United States of America... (page 127) by Daniel Haskel and John Calvin Smith. Published in 1843 by Sherman & Smith of New York.
May 23, 2007A hayfield in Christian County, KY
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