Headed West on Backroads from Owensboro KY

As this post to my blog site is being published on July 4^th, it’s important that we remember why we celebrate this Holiday and date… It’s not just a long weekend full of family fun and a day off work.  It was on July 4^th, 1776, that the Second Continental Congress established the United States of America!

While the Fourth of July is perhaps the most important milestone in America’s history, we’re also wishing that all Americans have a safe and happy July 4^th holiday!

…continuing on our recent road trip via back roads to St. Louis Missouri.

I remember a family road trip back around 1952 when my stepfather drove us from Jackson Michigan up to Sidney Mines Nova Scotia Canada…and then back again via Connecticut.  It was all 2 lane roads, long before today’s super limited access highways.  Since everyone was on these narrow roads, a slow truck, farm equipment or just a slow driver, really extended your ‘road time’. 

These days, with rare exception, we just sail along the back roads, only dealing with local traffic and small towns to slow us down.  But there are exceptions!  As we headed west from Owensboro Kentucky, for about 30 minutes, we were trapped behind 2 large trucks/dual segment carriers hauling huge I-beams toward a project somewhere…probably a bridge being rebuilt.  A lead vehicle was way out in front ensuring that oncoming vehicles were pulled off the road.   

I didn’t have any particular items listed in Sebree Kentucky for us to take a look at.  But we stopped to take photos when we spotted Bell’s Drug’s, an old time drug store that still has fountain service.  I couldn’t determine when the building was constructed but my guess would be sometime ca 1900.  Note the “Drugs” built into the face of the building.

In any case, Bell’s Drug Store is an icon of sorts in Sebee.  It still has that old time charm and you can still buy a cherry soft drink made to order.  Customers today sit in the same red leather chairs and at the same tables with black Formica tops where parents and grandparents sat before them.  The Bell family bought the drug store in 1946.  Previously, it had been the Melton and Mosby Drug Store.  The Bell family still operates the store.  To learn more, go to Contact | Bell's Drug Store (wordpress.com).

This is a fairly recent photo downtown Sebree Kentucky that I borrowed from the Internet.  Bell’s Drug Store is just right of the center of the picture.  Sebree was founded in 1868 just before the arrival of the Louisville and Nashville Railroad in the fall.  It was founded by William Scott and Colonel E.G. Sebree and it was named after Sebree for his assistance in bringing the railroad to the area.

The railroad, now long gone, ran right through the middle of town.  At one time Sebree was home to about 40 businesses, hotels, shops and stores.  Its first church was erected in 1870.  The town was also home to Sebree Springs, a summer resort and park.  Telephone service arrived in 1895 and several tobacco factories were also built.  The historic Sebree Deposit Bank, ca 1890, is still in operation.  It’s at the far left of the photo.

This old bank which was built in 1903, is right across the street from Bell’s Drug Store.  I couldn’t learn anything about the structure but at least it has been repurposed, now serving as the law office of Tommy Joe Fridy.

Sebree’s population has held steady in recent years.  It now numbers 1,533 residents.

What…!  Yet another short delay in our trek across western Kentucky toward the Ohio River and Illinois.  Not a great photo, but this time we spent several miles trailing behind 2 crop spraying tractors.  They were too wide to pass and oncoming vehicles had to squeeze by or pull over to let the tractors pass.  Roadway courtesy prevailed though.  When they came to a place with their lead vehicle and both tractors could safely pull over, they did and we headed on down the road.

FYI, curiosity got the better of me and I started wondering what one of these tractors might cost.  I found a used one on line, a 2010 model, for only $130,000.  The new ones I found ranged from $228,900 to $269,500.  The size of the chemical tank is an important factor in cost…

We had to stop and take a photo of these two beautiful black and white American paint horses.  We both love horses…

The American Paint Horse combines both the conformational characteristics of a western stock horse with the pinto spotting pattern of white and dark coat colors.  They were developed from a base of spotted horses with both Quarter Horse and Thoroughbred bloodlines.  The American Paint Horse Association’s breed registry is one of the largest in North America.

One of my railroad depot resource documents noted that there might still be an old Louisville and Nashville Railway Depot located in the tiny town of Pride Kentucky.  The ‘town’ consists of 4 blocks along KY Hwy 141.  As you can see, the depot still stands and it has been well maintained.  My source indicated that it had been used by a local business for some time.  The depot looks great, especially considering how rural this area is and that fact that more than 70 years have passed since that the railroad abandoned the Morganfield Branch line.

Fohs Hall is located in Marion Kentucky, the county seat of Crittenden County.  The town has a population of about 2,900.  Fohs Hall was built in 1926 to serve as a community center for the town and an auxiliary building for the high school which was located right across the street.  It was a donation of Ferdinand Julius Fohs, a notable petroleum geologist who grew up in the town.  The building included a music room, lounge, study hall, a small library, classrooms and an auditorium.

Ferdinand Fohs has been credited with helping discover the Mexia oil field in 1920.  That Texas oil field has yielded over 110,000,000 barrels of oil to date and it’s still in production, although at a much reduced pace.

Notes:

• Crittenden County was generally pro-Confederate during the American Civil War.  Fighting here was minimal despite both armies passing through it repeatedly.  The county courthouse was burned by Confederate Brigadier General Hylan Lyon during his raid across western Kentucky in 1864.  Lyon’s men, all Kentuckians, burned a total of 7 courthouses.  This was because the Union Army was using them for barracks.  Locals were allowed to move the records before the fires were set.
• One product that has been manufactured in Crittenden County caught our attention.  Now we know where the blue crystal glass used by Ball Company’s canning jars came from.  In the early 1900s, people thought that darker glass helped prevent food from spoiling as quickly.  Other colors used included yellow, amber, olive and a number of shades of green.

God Bless America!

Happy July 4^th

                                                  

 Just click on any of the photos to enlarge them… Thanks for stopping by for a visit!

Take Care, Big Daddy Dave