Breckinridge County KyArchives News.....Development of Harned October 27, 2021 ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/ky/kyfiles.html ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Dana Brown http://www.genrecords.net/emailregistry/vols/00005.html#0001067 March 6, 2022, 7:44 am The Herald News Newpaper October 27, 2021 DEVELOPMENT OF HARNED BY LESLIE GALLOWAY HAYCRAFT THE HERALD NEWS NEWSPAPER 10/27/2021 EDITION Development Of Harned Nicolas Scott, who married Mary Pate, was the first land owner in Harned around 1800. He had come from Virginia with a land grand and settled in that area. What would eventually be named Harned is the geographical center of Breckinridge County. His land neighbored the great Prince of Wales Plantation that covered nearly 2,000 acres from Harned to Deadman’s Curve. This land stayed in his family for generations, slowing the development of other families settling into the area and buying land. As late as 1880 it was still very wooded from Harned to Garfield as it had not yet been cut for timber for the railroad. Keep in mind everyone still used ox cart wagons and mules at that time. During these years lumber yards were very profitable and drew several to the land to work. Up until the early 1900’s this timber was cut for railroad ties, much of it being sold to Dean Tie Company of Glen Dean, and sawed also for homes and barns developing in the new town of Harned. There were no schools or churches in the area but nearby surrounding areas did have schools and churches that later moved to town. Early settlers in the area held worship in their homes and alternated among families, sharing this responsibility of host. The closest church to what would soon be Harned was Lost Run Baptist which was east and about one mile out the road to Locust Hill. They moved to Harned in 1894, built a church on Kingswood Road and Payne Street and were open until 1930 when they joined Hardinsburg due to a dwindling congregation. Another church on that same road to Locust Hill was an African American Church at German Town built around 1898 which also later moved to be near the new train depot. They were said to have paid $20 for land from Green Payne to build a new church. In 1880 there was a new one room school house built on the Davis property at Ephesus. There were simple handmade furnishings with long benches on each side under the windows. On these benches the students practiced writing and repetition. Children also had classes in the front of the room. Harned had not been an official town until 1890 when the Louisville, Hardinsburg, & Western Railroad came through the area. It had basically been an intersection for several communities. Henry C. Harned donated land and the right of way for the depot to be built in 1890. Harned was named after him for his generosity. He had first settled first in Custer after the Civil War, then moved to Harned and in 1908 moved to Oklahoma with most of his family. The railroad, which ran parallel with Hwy. 60, easily helped Harned become a trading center for the surrounding communities. Some of the following areas came to Harned for services: Ephesus, Locust Hill. Buras, Marks Ridge, Lost Run, German Town and more. Harned grew quickly around the railroad activities. There was a new post office and post master (Ed McGuffin) in 1891. With train access, this also removed the trip by horseback for someone to get the mail in Hardinsburg. New businesses of all types had built establishments. Archibald Weatherford and Son General Store, est. 1898 were not only a general store but were licensed undertakers and casket sellers. The son Bob bought out the father and ran the store of 25 years and was well known for an elaborate hearse carriage drawn by a pair of beautiful black Percheron mares. There were other general stores also, but none quite like his, most were more basic. Steven Davis owned a produce house from 1908-1940 in which he purchased local farmers products only. Products that he carried were feathers, cheese, chickens, ginseng, eggs, geese, turkey, mayapple root, opossum, skunk and cream for example. There was a doctor, Dr. Joseph Matthew, who built his office in Harned in 1914 according to records. He made calls by horseback early on and lived until 1946. Blacksmith for the town was Ben Ed Gray, said to be able to fix anything for the farmers and others around. By 1903 the Davis school at Ephesus was discontinued and a new school built near the train depot. Andrew Driskell and his wife were the first teachers in that school. Soon it was outgrown and a new two room built in 1906. During the summer months the same school buildings were used for normal school (teachers training and higher learning). Ephesus Church took advantage of the empty school that had just been discontinued and used it for church services for several years. This church was both Presbyterian and Methodist congregation joined together. Reverend was Rev. St. Clair and they finally built their own church in 1888. Later the churches would separate and have their own sites for worship. As Harned thrived so did the school, to need a three room school and built another down the road further from the train station in 1922 (where the new Methodist Church stands). That building served the community until 1940 when Harned was consolidated with Hardinsburg. Hwy 60 was a dirt road through town until 1930. This helped travel and businesses greatly. Harned was an important hub for the county. Louisville, Hardinsburg, & Western Railroad ran from 1890 until its last train came through in 1941. The train track can still be followed partly as a paved side road covers its path. The train station was restored and still stands to remember Harned’s Glory Days. (Thanks to The Breckinridge County Archives and US GenWeb Archives Project for much of the information found to write this article.) Additional Comments: Permission granted by and through Leslie Galloway Haycraft and the Herald News newspaper File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/ky/breckinridge/newspapers/developm34nnw.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.net/kyfiles/