Breckinridge County KyArchives News.....Hernon Station/Kirk January 5, 2022 ************************************************ 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 April 9, 2022, 9:54 pm The Herald News Newpaper January 5, 2022 HERNDON STATION/KIRK, PARTS 1 and 2 BY LESLIE GALLOWAY HAYCRAFT THE HERALD NEWS NEWSPAPER 1/5/2022 and 1/12/2022 EDITIONS --------------------------------------------------- Part 1 Four miles southwest of Hardinsburg on current day Hwy 261 lies an area referred to still by locals as Kirk. Today its most distinguishing feature is the sharp curve called Sand Curve but at the turn of the century it was a bustling little spot. Early settlers of the county living around that area were: Rhodes, Mattingly, Miller, Withers, DeHaven, Jarboe, Sheeran, Taul, Coomes and McGary sir names, to name several. Land there was fertile for farming and the roads were basic dirt roads from separate family farms to Hardinsburg which was close for supplies. From nearby McQuady (then called Jolly Station) there was a road that led to Cloverport which was a major port for shipping and commerce. Even up until the Civil War the area of farmland was remote and separate community with no post office or stores. Located between McQuady and Hardinsburg, it was not put on the map until the railroad spur came through. The railroad came in 1889 to discuss where a station might be built for the new spur from Irvington to Fordsville. Contractors came to the area to work, rented houses and prepared to bring their families there to live. Several railroad representatives met with William K. Withers at his farm after which Withers stated the station would be there on his land and he planned to build a town around it. That station was originally called Herndon Station but not for long. The spur was built by the McCrancken Brothers from New York who had originally immigrated from Kirk, Germany. As the story goes, Bill McCracken constantly bragged about their town of origin being “the prettiest town in all of Germany” so much that Herndon Station’s name was soon changed to Kirk. Withers, whose farm the station was built on, held true to his promise to build a town. Starting with a dry goods store, Withers built in 1888, he would go on to be involved in several different businesses over the next few decades. Soon after this was opened and running successfully he applied for a Post Office which was approved and located inside his store. He was the very first Postmaster of Kirk. On the south side of the settlement Pete Sheeran opened yet another general store, although they may have carried slightly different wares. This was not open very long before Sheeran bought Withers’ store out and combined the two. Another early business built was a tobacco warehouse, built in 1890, after which many other businesses followed suit. A tobacco warehouse was a great asset to the community to save farmers in the area from having to travel further with their crop. Having a train station also gave the warehouse the option to ship their tobacco on the train using what they called hogshead barrels. Stables, blacksmiths, doctors, and sawmills could all be found in Kirk within just a few years of the arrival of the railroad. Hiram Winchell, Robert Scroggins and Robert Mattingly were known blacksmiths in Kirk. At one time there were two doctors and two blacksmiths at the same time. Hiram Winchell, Robert Scroggins and Robert Mattingly were known blacksmiths in Kirk. Dr. Cosby and Dr. Milton Board both helped provide medical care to the community during the height of Kirk’s population. No taverns were found in town so when the distillers from Louisville came to take orders for liquor, the orders were shipped by train back to Kirk. Anyone over 21 years old could order from the “drummers” or salesmen. Businesses were often bought and sold changing partners. Just about anything a person needed could be bought in Kirk, even a casket. It became a hub for commerce and shipping for farmers and businesses that previously had to travel further and on difficult roads. Trains coming to Kirk were not just freight trains; there were also passenger and mixed trains on that route. Lon Jarboe and Pete Sheeran opened a stave mill together for which they had a contract from Cincinnati Co. Cooperage. They cut staves to make barrels as well as cutting lumber and used the train to ship their contract goods to Cincinnati. Newspaper records show that Mary Board taught at Kirk in 1890; this was most likely at the Oakland School. Evidently it was doubled as a church for a few years, which was common at that time. Another reference to the school is found in The Breckinridge News in 1896 stating that Brother Crowe had been holding services for the Methodist Congregation who voted to build a separate church at Kirk. That church was active for about 26 years until the congregation merged with Hardinsburg Methodist due to declining parishioners in 1922. Cyrus Miller built a general store in 1898 that was a two-story building with living quarters on the top floor. Marcus Miller managed the store and it sold farm machinery of all kinds. This store changed hands several times also ending up lastly in the ownership of J. M. (or Cap) Hinton. Around 1900 baseball was a very popular sport, even in Kirk. Many stories have been told about the Kirk baseball team and their talent in 1905 games which were played on the baseball diamond there. Their diamond was located on Sand Curve and was still being used for softball games in the 1950’s. Most of the games had moved to Hardinsburg by the late 40’s and were most often played at night. Sources: The Breckinridge County Archives, The Breckinridge News 1889, 1890, 1902. -------------------------------------------------- Part 2 By 1927, the decision had been made by the county to consolidate the Oakland School with Hardinsburg and it was closed. It had held classes for eight grades since it was built but the number attending had dwindled. In 1926 Mrs. H. A. (Ruth) Withers and Mrs. Agnes Dodd opened up a business that was unique to the area in more than one way. Not only were the employees mainly women but the business owners and managers were women. The company was simply named Withers and in two “cottages” in Kirk they opened a studio for needlework and sewing. At first making quilts (with chintz, calico and gingham fabrics), they soon after expanded their line to other products. Quilts were both patchwork and appliqué style and cost $75 and up. Comforters and spreads, pillows and more were made of luxurious satin, taffeta, and real silk. A handmade decoratively stitched three-piece set of robe with pajamas sold for $50. As their line of products grew, Withers expanded to three cottages in which ladies could work. Women worked in the cottages mainly in warmer weather and during cold months employees could work from home. Keeping track of their long work hours was important; one source stated they received 10 cents/hour wages. At one time nearly 100 people were employed by their company. Breckinridge County talent made Withers a success with their fine sewing skills and Withers and Dodd had great business minds. They had 14 wholesale sales ladies across the USA for their products to retail stores. Withers had a retail specialty store of their own in the famous Brown Hotel in Louisville. In 1929, only their third year in business, the two women entrepreneurs sold $75,000! Today’s value is close to $1,219,070! Tragically the next year in 1930, there was a fire and major loss of $60,000 for the company leading to the close of the business. A county road was finally graveled from Hardinsburg to Fordsville in 1935 making a huge impact and travel easier to and from Kirk. With improved roads, this opened up options for the area; people were more likely to travel to another town to purchase products for example. Although the toad was great, it had a downfall for Kirk also. Now people had an option to drive past Kirk to Hardinsburg (or another town) where stores had other products and businesses to compete. Soon after in 1941, the rail service to Kirk ceased. Although the railroad was what had built the town and the new county road deterred people from stopping as much as they used to stop, there were still a few new things on the way. The pickle station was built by Ed Whitehead in 1944, then sold to Richard Mattingly. In 1946, J. A. Nash purchased it and ran it for Paramount and when ti closed in 1990, it was still in the Nash family, being run by his son, Roger Nash. At one time cucumbers were a huge cash crop in Breckinridge County with as many as 90 growers and 55 acres supplying for the pickle station. Electricity came to Kirk in the early 1940’s which brought excitement to everyone. This might have been close to the time that a couple of new general stores were built facing the new gravel road. The concentration of traffic flow had changed from the train station to the road. Paul Mattingly built another general store on the county road and sold it soon after to J. M. (Cap) Hinton. Years ago when general stores were sold, if that store being sold had a post office in it, then it was a package deal. Mattingly’s store had the post office, so Hinton’s wife, Katherine Hinton, took over as Postmaster when they purchased the store. She was Postmaster from 1940-1964 when Kirk post office was closed. Their store closed in 1966 and the building was purchased by Tommy Smith who moved it across the road on his farm. Mr. Embry had a grocery facing the road to take advantage of the traffic. It was still open in the 1950’s to the best of my understanding. Today the pickle station is still standing on the Nash property and Kirk Loop is mostly empty. It is hard to believe that 100 years ago a person could purchase almost anything they might need among the businesses on a two block are of Kirk, Ky. A person could order lumber to build a house, a barrel of whiskey when the salesman came through, purchase a casket, farm equipment, or buy a new wagon. If the businesses didn’t sell what someone needed, it could be ordered and delivered by train. Kirk was an important shipping and receiving point during the years of the train’s activity. Hwy 261 is parallel to where the train tracks were alongside Kirk, but in McQuady a gravel road later followed on top of what was the railroad after that part of the line closed. And so it ws that Kirk’s railroad days seem to have been forgotten but maybe this will help some of you reading to try and envision how great it used to be. Sources: The Breckinridge County Archives, Guida Goodman Snavely, The Breckinridge News 1910, 1914 Additional Comments: Copied from original article, with permission from Leslie Galloway Haycraft (reporter) and the Herald News newspaper, from their 9/8/2021 edition. File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/ky/breckinridge/newspapers/hernonst571gnw.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/kyfiles/