Ballard County, KY...part of Genealogy Trails

Ballard County, Kentucky Genealogy Trails

County History

BALLARD COUNTY. (Revised 1907 by Judge J. A. Hines.)

At the sitting of the Legislature in the winter of 1841 and 1842 the County of Ballard was brought into existence by a curtailment of both McCracken and Hickman Counties. Blandville was at that time made the County Seat, since then in the year 1886 Ballard County was divided and Carlisle County was made of the south half of what was originally Ballard County.

The soil of Ballard County is mostly of a black loam with a yellow clay sub-soil except the valleys which are a black sand
loam with a blue clay foundation and are very productive. The southern part of the County is hilly with broad valleys between
and has been very heavily timbered but most of it has been cut and the land is now tilled. The northern part of the County or
about three-fourths of the whole County is comparatively level and is very productive. Wheat, corn, tobacco, hay and stock of all kinds are extensively raised, but fruit growing, which could be made profit able, receives very little attention.
The minerals which exist in the hills of this County are undeveloped but they abound in a fine quality of potters clay which crops out in many places. About thirty miles of the boundary of Ballard County is on the Mississippi and Ohio rivers and about twenty miles on Mayfield creek which constitutes the navigable waters touching it.
The County has no turnpike roads, but has as good graded dirt roads maintained by a system of taxation as there is to be found in the State.
The Illinois Central and the Mobile and Ohio are the railroads that touch the County. The Illinois Central has one line running through the western part of the County and one running through the central part from Paducah, Ky., to Cairo, IL; the Mobile and Ohio has one line running through the western part of the County, and in all Ballard County has about thirty miles of railroad, which in connection with the river frontage makes transportation east of access, and freight reasonably low.
Farm lands will average in price $35.00 per acre. While agriculture is the chief industry there is a good opening for the establishment of all kinds of clay industries as well as flouring mills and implement factories; creameries would also do well in several parts of the County.

Wickliffe is now the County Seat of Ballard County and is located on the Mississippi river six miles below Cairo, IL. It has one heading factory, one ice plant and one tobacco house where association tobacco is handled. It has an excellent graded school and good school building, and is at the head of deep water navigation of the Mississippi river.

On the new railroad which was built through the central part of the County a few years ago, are the towns of Barlow, La Center and Kevil, all prosperous towns. Barlow and La Center have a population of about 600 each, while Kevil is not so large, all three are fine business points and are surrounded by as fine farming lands as can be found in the western part of the State. Barlow and Kevil have a good tobacco house each where association tobacco is handled, have good graded schools, good brick school buildings.

La Center has a splendid College School Building and a good school is being taught there, also has two tobacco warehouses and two tobacco prizing houses where association tobacco is handled. Blandville has a Baptist College.
Bandana is in the north part of the County and has a good graded school.

Ballard County is situated in the First Congressional, first Appellate, first Judicial, Second Senatorial and Second Legislative district.
Post-offices, Bandana, Odgen, Oscar, Ingleside, Kevil, La Center, Barlow, Holloway, Wickliffe, Blandville, Slater. Cage and Lovelaceville.

Source: Handbook of Kentucky, Bureau of Agriculture, 1908 [contributed by: C. Horton 2008]