LOUISA, KY — Rotary held their regular weekly meeting on Thursday, June 6, 2019 beginning with the Fourt way test and this weeks’s announcements.
The guest speaker was Bill Jackson, an avid Historian of Lawrence County who is currently writing a book about Lawrence County and how things from over 100 years have changed and become what Lawrence County is today.
His first segment was on Lawrence County /City of Louisa, the second segment was Transportation Systems. His 3rd segment on The History of Lawrence County is “Mineral Wealth is fortunate in Lawrence County but unfortunate no one uses them.”
There were 9 Coal Camps in Lawrence they are beginning at the turn of the century:
Lawrence County Coal Companies
Torchlight Coal Company
Crystal Black Coal Company
Peach Orchid Coal Company
Sure Barn Coal Company
Ky. Block Coal Company
Eastern Ky. Coal Company
Torchlight Coal Companies (2)
Mr. Jackson ended by explaining the original High Schools were here before consolidation; there was Blaine High School, Webbville High School and Clifford High School.
One of the questions asked at the end of the presentation was “Why do they call part of downtown Little Italy? Mr. Jackson said during the construction of the locks/dam on the Big Sandy river there were Italian immigrant employees who set up tents and made that their general area to live in.”