A Little Bit of History

I’ve said it before, but history excites me. I like to learn about what happened before my time. 

For instance, I recently learned that Richmond, Ky., could have been the nation’s capital!

 It lost out to Washington, DC, due to a lack of nearby sea sports. I don’t even know what that means, but imagine if that had happened! Interesting, huh? 

The nation's first commercial oil well was not in Texas but was drilled in 1819 along the banks of the Cumberland River in McCreary County. I hear a lot about oil wells from my husband. He’s educated me reasonably well. He’s knowledgeable in so many things that it blows my mind.

Over half of all U.S. troops killed in the War of 1812 were Kentuckians. 

Middlesboro is the only U.S. city built inside a meteor crater. Middlesboro is also the home of the Coal House, which was constructed from 42 tons of bituminous coal and today houses Bell County's Chamber of Commerce. 

Kentucky has more miles of running water than any other state in the lower 48. Of course, I had to google these things. And I wanted to share them with you just in case you didn’t already know. We live in a pretty cool state. And our county is more significant than one may think when all the hollers and side roads are considered. 

Maybe you have a family with a rich history, rich as in you have a lot of relatives. Perhaps we are rich in money, too, but that does us no good, right? If we can invest our time in it, there's so much to learn. 

There are places in our county that we’ve never been. Me- I’ve never been to Erline. But it has its sign at the Oneida Bridge. What’s there? I need to know! So, I’ll travel there one day and let you all know. 

I hope you have enjoyed the sunshine and warm weather today. 6 more weeks of winter, the groundhog says. I about figured that. We might as well be okay with it- spring will be here soon. 

“If you don’t know history, then you don’t know anything. You are a leaf that doesn’t know it is part of a tree.” — Michael Crichton