A Look at Union County 1878

It is exciting to locate material that gives a description of a place as it looked at the time. The following information comes from Kentucky: Its Resources and Present Condition - The First Annual Report 1878.

Towns and Villages

Morganfield, the county seat, is handsomely located north and west of the centre of the county. It contains a population of between 600 and 800 persons, one of the best court houses in the State (cost, $60,000), an academy, grist and saw-mill, tannery, wool-carding factor, a dozen mechanic shops, and several elegant private residences.

Uniontown, on the Ohio River, seven miles north of the county seat, has about 1,200 inhabitants, and is a place of decided commercial advantages. Large quantities are stemmed and shipped from this point, mostly to England.

Caseyville, on the Ohio river, near the mouth of Tradewater, has a population of about 700, who are mostly connected to coal mining.

Clayville, Francisburg, Locust Port, Raleigh, DeHaven, Gum Grove, Huntsville, Boxville, Seven Gems and Bordley are all neat, thriving villages, each doing a considerable local trade.

Agriculture - Nine-tenths of the people of Union County (leaving out those engaged in coal mining( are employed in tilling the soil, and live upon their farms. The principal staples are tobacco, corn, wheat, oats and hay.

Other Industries -  There are numerous grist and saw-mills, where flour is manufactured for export, and where millions of feet of lumber are sawed for shipment to New Orleans and other places, much of which goes even to Europe.

Schools and Churches - Prof. J.S. Austin has a well-managed academy at Morganfield. The St. Vincent Female Academy, under the charge of the Sisters, is located some 4 miles east of Uniontown, and 7 miles north of Morganfield. There is a first class female institution, well patronized by the citizens of Union county and the southwestern part of Kentucky. There are several other Catholic schools of merit in different parts of the county. The free common schools, under the State system, are taught in nearly all districts of the county. The Catholic is the leading Christian denomination in this county.

The People -  Nowhere in Kentucky will be found a more noble, hospitable, intelligent and moral community that in Union county. There are no very poor persons in the county. The court dockets are sparse of cases, and the jails are generally empty. Everybody works, and no one is so rich as to make him purse-proud or aristocratic.