Henderson County (1905)
Revised 1905 by J. H. Powell
From the Sixteenth Biennial Report of the Bureau of Agriculture, Labor and Statistics of the State of Kentucky (1904–1905)
Henderson County was formed out of Christian County in 1798 and was organized June 4, 1799, and was named in honor of Judge Henderson, more commonly known as Col. Richard Henderson. It is situated in the southwestern part of the State on the Ohio River, which forms its northern boundary for a distance of about seventy miles.
Daviess and McLean counties bound it on the east, Webster on the south, and Union on the west. Green River runs along its eastern border for a considerable length, thence in a northwesterly direction, emptying into the Ohio some five or six miles above the city of Henderson. Both streams are navigable for steamboats at all seasons of the year. The bottom lands along these rivers embrace many thousands of acres, the soil of which is extremely fertile, producing corn and tobacco and other crops in enormous quantities. In the production of corn, wheat, and tobacco, Henderson County ranks among the foremost of the State, taking the lead in tobacco, her area considered, her soil being particularly adapted to this product, as is shown by some two hundred analyses of soil taken from all parts of the State, which showed her tobacco soil to be the richest with but one exception.
The soil is well adapted to the growth of all the cereals known in this latitude, the uplands comprising about three-fourths of the area of the county. Besides being well adapted to agriculture, it is also well adapted to fruit culture, there being some as fine fruit grown here as can be found elsewhere in the State. Very lately there has been considerable attention paid to this branch of industry. The nursery at Cairo has planted and caused to be planted twenty commercial orchards, aggregating about 23,000 trees, within one hour’s drive of the town of Cairo in the last three or four years. Who can estimate the number of carloads of apples that will be the result of these orchards? Suffice it to say that in a few years Cairo will be the great fruit center and leading market in the State.
The Henderson County display of fruit that captured a State ribbon at the late State Fair was gotten up at Cairo, and the apples and pears in this display scored higher by far than those of any other display shown. Mr. M. F. Johnson, chairman of the committee of the horticultural display and also president of the Kentucky State exhibit for the World’s Fair at St. Louis, acting upon the merits of this display, came to Henderson and purchased seventy-five barrels of apples, put them in cold storage, and exhibited them at the World’s Fair. He was particular to get twenty of these barrels that grew at Cairo. There were some twelve to fifteen thousand barrels of apples shipped from this county that fall, and from the interest now being manifested in fruit culture, it would seem that this branch of industry is only in its infancy. When our citizens consider the special adaptability of these fruits to the soil and climate of this county, together with the great railroad facilities for placing them on the market within a few hours’ run, they will realize that fruit culture in Henderson County for profit will exceed many times that of other industries, and that its possibilities will far outstrip the professions.
There is an abundance of timber, and while there is a very great variety, oak, ash, hickory, poplar, and gum largely predominate. There is a great disposition of late toward diversified farming, proving much more profitable and safer to the ordinary farmer. This mode of farming, taken in connection with the milling and manufacturing industries, gives employment year-round to all the laborers of the county at remunerative prices. The labor of the county is noted for its intelligence and thrift and in some measure accounts for the general thrift and wealth of her citizenship. Farm labor commands from twelve to fifteen dollars per month, with board, year-round. The cropping system is very much in vogue, and the population of the county is rapidly increasing.
The city of Henderson is the county seat and stands on the banks of the Ohio fully thirty-odd feet above the highest water known. Her water and railroad facilities for transportation, surrounded as she is with abundant coal and timber, ought to be a sufficient guarantee for the successful employment of capital looking for investment in manufacturing industries. When incorporated as a town in 1810, Henderson had a population of only 160 persons; so steady has been the growth that today the population is near 17,000. The city has a most excellent system of schools, whereby the poorest child may obtain a liberal education. She owns her electric light, gas, and water works, which ensures necessities at the very lowest possible cost to the consumer.
Henderson is noted for her well-graded, graveled, and broad paved streets, her fine residences, and particularly for her wealth. The city has a lucrative trade. Her intelligent and enterprising merchants deal in almost all channels of trade that make up civilization and furnish the people of the county with the latest innovations. Her manufacturing interests are considerable. Her woolen and cotton mills, the latter very extensive, are noted for successful management and superior goods. Her flouring mills and grain elevators are of such capacity as to handle millions of bushels of grain, of which Henderson is becoming a great center. Her tobacco stemmeries, nineteen in number, handle more tobacco than any other city of like size in the world, making Henderson the best loose-tobacco market in the State. The city has also very recently established a large wagon manufactory.
Henderson is surrounded by many market gardens, and the soil of the entire county is well adapted to truck gardening. Taken together with the recent interest in fruit growing, this makes Henderson County one of the very best locations for a canning factory in the State. Certainly one is very much needed, and from a business standpoint there is nothing that offers better inducements for profits on capital invested. The great steel truss bridge spanning the Ohio at this point enables the railroads of the county—forty-eight and a half miles in operation—to run in every direction.
The county has twenty-eight miles of gravel roads, formerly owned by stock companies and operated as toll roads, which have recently been purchased by the county and opened to the public. Henderson County has an excellent system for working its public roads, supported by a special tax yielding approximately eighteen thousand dollars per year.
Public schools touch the life of every citizen from cradle to old age, offering a nucleus around which a complete sociological system may be built. Education is attracting much attention; schoolhouses are being modernized, and facilities for education are unsurpassed elsewhere in the State. There are two nurseries in the county, one at Cairo and one at Robards, both thriving. Telephones are being erected along public roads and into farmhouses, making it only a matter of time before farmers may converse from fireside to fireside across the county. Rural free delivery has been established throughout most of the county, greatly benefiting the farming community.
A mineral spring near Green River has recently attracted considerable attention, many visiting for its health benefits. Coal mining is expanding rapidly, with mines operating in Henderson, Baskett, Corydon, Spottsville, and Robards. Lands have steadily increased in value. The chief products of the county are corn, tobacco, wheat, rye, oats, hay, and potatoes. Towns deserving mention include Audubon, Spottsville, Zion, Hebbardsville, Robards, Cairo, Corydon, and Dixie, along with many smaller communities.
The population of Henderson County is intelligent, generous, and hospitable, standing with open doors and outstretched arms ready to welcome immigrants of brain, brawn, and capital. It has been said that of all the worlds the Lord ever created, this is the best. We believe that the United States is the grandest country on earth, that Kentucky is the best of all States, and that of all counties within the Commonwealth, Henderson is the best.
Henderson County lies within the Second Congressional, First Appellate, Fifth Judicial, Fifth Senatorial, and Thirteenth Legislative Districts.
