Growing up in Louisa – Communities!
Weekly feature . . . by Mike Coburn
How’s your Geography? Well, I’m not sure I could pass any of the tests I had to take back in my school days. Many of the places I learned about back then have new names or have been absorbed, realigned, or annexed. I almost bought a globe once at a garage sale, but when I looked it over the places we know about weren’t identified. That kind of change happens even in local environments. In life, names change and new locations appear where there was once nothing, while some of the older ones simply fade away or fall into disuse. It reminded me of an incident when I was still in Louisa attending high school.
When I was maybe a sophomore or junior, my dear cousin, Julia Chapman (Smith), came to me begging for some help she needed on a school project. We had grown up together in the same household, so were more like brother and sister. She knew I liked art. She didn’t have that love for crafting, so it was natural for her to ask me to give her a helping hand. Her teacher had assigned her to hand-draw a map of Kentucky, and a second hand-drawn map of Lawrence County, each on separate poster boards. In those days the only way to do this was ‘free-hand.’
Poor little Julia had no chance of creating such a map, let alone two. I doubted she could even draw a simple grid to represent the streets of our tiny town. Nonetheless, I was reluctant to ‘cheat’ by helping her. She asked her teacher if she could have me help and was told that I could help her, but the finished work would have to be hers with guidance from me. That wasn’t enough to suit me so I continued to drag my feet. After days of her badgering me, I finally caved and began to do the research through the Rand McNally Atlas we kept in a room we called the ‘library.’ I also had several other ‘free’ road maps I’d picked up at ‘filling stations’ in town. (Remember when they were free and meant to encourage travel?) Well, with those to use as a reference, I figured we had enough to start our freehand work on the large poster board.
There were no computer enhanced programs either of us might have used to do the drawings. I knew a little about mechanical drawing because I had taken a class in the subject the year I went to school in Detroit several years earlier. I didn’t own a T-square, triangle, or even a drawing board. I would try to draw a light grid in pencil by using yard sticks and rulers. Drawing maps was more complex since geography outlines consists of non-geometric lines. After all, the shapes of mountains and the random way that tributaries meander and reverse course make it guess work at best. I figured if I drew one section in to approximate scale then I could add the next, as well.
For the state map I drew the fairly straight bottom boundary line to help put the overall size in perspective. Then I had to figure out the placement of the various counties along that line. I added the neighboring counties until finally I had filled it all in. After stepping back for a comprehensive view, I deemed this one ready for her to write in the names of counties. I placed a dot in the place where Julia would show the respective county seats. She penciled in the county names, showed the county seats, while I added lakes, rivers, highways, and a few major cities.
The second map was more difficult. I had to find out where, from a perspective point of view, each community within the county was as it relates to Louisa. The town was easy to spot because of the confluence of the Big Sandy’s two forks. After that, it was pretty much guesswork. Through trial and error, I added roads, the railway, creeks, communities, and anything I could to fill the map. The main roads and creeks helped. I knew the names of many of the whistle-stops going north, but was very hazy about most of the others. I made a list of communities I knew and carefully tried to approximate their locations. I had to consult with a number of people, and never got all of the names placed. I had Julia do the lettering.
It was some time later, when she rushed up and gave me a big hug. She had received an ‘A’ on the two maps. That made me feel a bit guilty, and still does even to this day, but she was proud that I cared enough to spend my time helping her on the project. After all these years, the last time I spoke with her, perhaps a few months ago, she thanked me again. Wow! That must have been important to her to recall it after all this time!
This particular memory makes me wonder how many of the current residents of the county could name the small communities that make up the local geography. I wonder, too, about how the landscape has changed. I know the town is very different, even if some of the older houses are still there. Some communities have grown dramatically and conversely others have disappeared altogether.
I recently checked the internet for a list of names of communities in and around Lawrence County. I still have memory of some, but living there did not necessarily help me know the locations of all of them. I’m always impressed at the knowledge my good friend Billy Elkins has of such things because he not only knows the locations, but the families and some history to go along with each.
Today’s technology has given us a greater ability to do research, but when you’re talking about neighborhoods, or the features of the landscape, the real locations can be elusive. I know a number of places that are named on the chart below, but others are new to me, or forgotten over time. Even today, with the help of mapping software, and satellite images, I cannot place the entire list. I also doubt, too, that my list is exhaustive. It’s possible I have somehow overlooked important places that I might know if the name appeared before me.
At least one place I knew disappeared under Yatesville Lake, (Carter’s bridge) while others have returned to nature in the underbrush. Demographics change and so do neighborhoods. I’m sure some new communities have been added, too. A prime example are the changes I’ve seen in High Bottom. What I remember doesn’t compare at all with the thriving community it is today. Liss and Delbert have written books on High Bottom, but finding some of those old landmarks would be a challenge for me. It used to be a semi-rural place with rolling hills with homes dotting the land, but now it is filled with modern homes, paved streets, and new school and hospital complexes. This doesn’t compare with those early properties I remember.
In any case, here’s are the names I’ve found by looking over a couple of on-line records. There may be more. It’s also likely I’ve misspelled some. It is possible that one or more of the names may actually refer to the same place. Anyway, I invite you to read through them and find the places your families call ‘home.’
Misspellings and misconceptions aside, I was surprised that I found so many names. More surprising was when names that were common in my day were not on any of the lists. Regardless, some of these may mean something to the reader. I expect I’ve known people from each area listed, but simply didn’t recall the name of the neighbor or district. I hope I didn’t miss yours. I think I may also have some that are now in another county. If so, at least they are local to the Lawrence County area.
I’d be pleased if you’d write a short note with a memory or two about the places and those special folk that once lived there. Some folks from Fort Gay may have similar memories of Wayne County’s outlying communities. I’d love to hear from you. Tell me how many you can place.
Whoops! I almost forgot ‘the Point!’ I have lots of friends I might have insulted. Whew!
