THE CITIZEN-TIMES, Scottsville, Ky., Thursday, March 1, 2012—PAGE 11

The Citizen-TimesMarch 1, 2012

News FromThe Circuit Rider

By Rick FowlerC-T Staff Writer

Thanks to members of the Allen County Historical Society and many gener-ous donors, important arti-facts from our local history are being discovered, inter-preted, cataloged, preserved and exhibited for future generations. A wide range of historical items and docu-ments are housed in a well-organized collection at the Museum and Library at 301 North Fourth Street.

Collections are open to the public Monday-Thursday 11 a.m.-3 p.m. Volunteers are on hand to act as guides in the museum and to assist with document retrieval in the library. The museum is also open by appointment. It sponsors historical tours and reenactments during special community events.

Visitors may purchase Al-len County Historical Soci-ety publications and memo-rabilia in its gift shop. A meeting room with audio-visual tools hosts the Allen County Historical Society’s monthly meetings and pro-vides a venue for other com-munity events related to Allen County history and culture.

What better place for a historical museum than on a historical site? The mu-seum, formerly known as the Graves House, is listed on the National Registry of Historic Places.

“The house was built in 1900 by Henry Hendricks for his new bride, who had just started teaching at Scottsville High School one street over,” Historical Soci-ety President Jolene Cooper said. “The Hendricks family lived here until 1917, when Dr. Pellie Graves bought the house.”

The move would have its impact on the medical community throughout the southern Kentucky region, Cooper noted.

“Dr. Pellie Graves and his brother Dr. Lattie Graves went to medical school at Vanderbilt and graduated together,” she said. “Pel-lie Graves stayed here in Scottsville and started the Graves Infirmary on West Main Street (today’s Scotts-ville Primary Care Clinic). Dr. Lattie Graves went to Bowling Green and started the Graves-Gilbert Clinic.”

Pellie Graves often con-sulted patients in a small clinic that has been recreat-ed in a room on the ground floor. The consulting room

contains a medical library, medical equipment, furni-ture, written records, photo-graphs, and many artifacts from Dr. Graves’ own collec-tion and those of other phy-sicians who have practiced in Scottsville. It also con-tains items from the Graves Infirmary on West Main Street and from the old Al-len County War Memorial Hospital on Hospital Hill.

Large rooms on the ground floor contain furnishings, appliances, photographs, clothing, dinnerware and many other artifacts depict-ing Allen County’s cultural heritage and daily life. Items donated by individuals and families are cataloged and displayed with relevant in-formation. Donated furni-ture and artifacts from the Jacksonian Hotel and other historical buildings are used to decorate the museum with an early-20th century ambiance.

“It (The Jacksonian, origi-nally the Scottsville Ho-tel) was built when we had the oil boom here, and they needed a place for people to stay. That made Scottsville a big booming town,” said Cooper.

The Allen County oil boom followed from discovery of oil in 1866 near Halfway along Bays Fork Creek. By 1916 the onset of World War I and the rapid increase of prices created greater demand for crude oil. This need cata-lyzed the business of pros-pecting and the discovery of new deposits, accompanied by stimulated development and “wild-catting” in Ken-tucky. Allen County was revered for its shallow oil deposits; prospectors could drill only a few hundred feet, and hit what would take thousands of feet of drilling elsewhere. Pipelines carried the crude to other buyers in Warren County and Simpson County. The museum features artifacts and information on this pe-riod as well.

A room on the museum’s second floor contains keep-sakes from local schools dating prior to merger of Allen County and Scotts-ville school systems in 1975. Items include athletic uni-forms, class group photos, and many other treasures that will be familiar to those who went to school here.

“Until Allen County High

School was established in 1940, communities all over the county had their own high schools and marching bands,” said Historical Soci-ety Secretary Wayne Weav-er. Photographs and other memorabilia from the com-munity schools are on dis-play in the museum along with the other items.

The library on the second floor contains written and printed materials useful for researching history of Al-len County and genealogy. A microfilm reader is avail-able for accessing and print-ing data stored on hundreds of reels. Microfilm resourc-es include wills, deeds, court records and newspapers. Museum volunteers with knowledge of local history are available to assist visi-tors with library collections and genealogical research.

The library also main-tains collections of resources from neighboring counties with histories and stories connected to Allen County. Collections include litera-ture and documents detail-ing history and public re-cords from Barren, Monroe, Simpson and Warren coun-ties in Kentucky as well as Macon and Sumner counties in Tennessee. Histories of Kentucky and other states tied to the people and histo-ry of Allen County are avail-able as well.

Genealogical resources include published books and bound notebooks with a wealth of information about citizens with ties to Allen County. Over 150 published books and compilations con-tain family trees and ge-nealogical data already or-ganized and assembled for those who are looking for a starting point for their own family history. Also use-ful are minutes from local churches, cemetery records and newspaper clippings of wedding announcements and obituaries.

The library also maintains vertical files containing fold-ers with records for over 625 individuals. Researchers can view military records copied from files in Washington, DC for over 650 soldiers who were born, lived, or died in Allen County dating back to the Revolutionary War.

In addition, the vertical files preserve clippings and photographs with historical stories, anecdotes and folk-tales. Topics include com-munity histories, schools, buildings, businesses, churches, medical care and politics.

Historical Society volun-teers are working to identify and catalog many boxes of photographs, and welcomes public input in the process.

“We would like for people to stop by and see if they can identify any people in the photographs so we can orga-nize them,” Cooper adds.

Regarding photography, the museum features an ex-tensive gallery of works by one of Scottsville’s promi-nent early photographers. Recently, over 300 photo-graphs and portraits taken by the prominent Scottsville photographer L.T. Powell were delivered to the muse-um. They were found where Powell had a studio from 1890-1898 on the northeast corner of the public square. Powell was later a promi-nent photographer in San Antonio, Texas. He held a patent for intellectual prop-erty pivotal to the develop-

ment of Polaroid instant photo technology.

In addition to books pub-lished by the Historical So-ciety, the library contains a comprehensive collection of books about the origins and development of Allen County. Other historical records and documents in-clude maps, deeds, oil leases

and property records. Local historians have produced a rich compilation about the African-American history of Allen County by extracting and assembling information from the library’s holdings.

The Historical Soci-ety meets in the confer-ence room of the museum the third Monday of each month. Meeting times are 7 p.m. April through No-vember and 6 p.m. Decem-ber through March. The meetings are open to any-one interested in Historical Society activities, joining or learning more. Membership in the Historical Society is available to individuals and couples for a small fee, and membership is granted to

Another piece of Allen County history on display at the museum is the old metal eagle from the top of Scottsville’s old belltower court-house that sat in the square from

1902 until its demolition in 1967. The bullet holes in the eagle are from revellers firing to celebrate the end of World War II.

The museum’s exhibits include many facets of Al-len County’s history, such as athletic apparel from the days when the county had two high schools: Scottsville High School, signified by the green Pointer letterman’s jacket, left, and Allen County High School, signified by the blue Patriot jersey at right.

(C-T Photos by Matt Pedigo)

The Allen County Historical Society Museum on North Fourth Street has a wealth of genealogical information and research materials. Above volun-teers Joyce Weaver, left, and Dixie Woodward go through historical photos that they hope visitors can help them identify.

Like Allen History? Local Museum a Must-Visitthose who donate more than $100.

The Historical Society publishes a quarterly news-letter with contributed fea-ture stories, photographs, announcements and other information. Inquiries can be mailed to the Allen Coun-ty Historical Society, PO Box 393, Scottsville, Ky. 42164.

The Historical Society can be reached by telephone at (270) 237-3026 or 237-3086 for more information or to schedule an appointment.

Information about The Al-len County Historical Soci-ety can be found at http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~kyallen/SOCIETY.htm. General information about Allen County plus many items preserved and promoted by the Society can be accessed at http://www.allencoky.com and at http://www.allencountyky.com. Information about the histo-ry of Scottsville can be found at http://www.scottsvilleky.org/Community/City_His-tory/City_History.htm.

LOST DONKEYS—They were found last week. If not claimed by Monday, March 5, they will go up for adoption. Please call the Allen County Animal Shelter at 618-7387 for more information.

Adopt a Wonderful Friend!Contact the Allen County Animal Shelter at 618-PETS.