Paducah’s history




Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Image
Ravenswood. Aug. 1. Mile 221, Ravenswood  I missed wring about Marietta.    Marietta was named for Marie Antoinette, who was still in general favor in 1788. It was a thank you for French help in the Revolution.   Marietta is rightly proud of its history as the first real town in Ohio, and a key player in the subsequent settlement of the region.    It never became a big city like Cincinnati, even though the grandeur of its public buildings anticipated a much greater population.    I’m not sure what all supports Marietta today, but Marietta College is a big part.    It was founded way back in 1835, and has 1200 students. It is regarded as one of the top    Midwest colleges.  In Marietta, like many towns along the river, the architecture is dazzling, paid for with prosperity in the past. Months ago I contacted Joe Tewksbury, coach of the Marietta High School Rowing Club.    We met at the boathouse, w...
Read more

Distinctions

Image
As few days ago I saw what is referred to as a “sawyer”. I wanted definition of the other terms for water hazards.     This is from a Kentucky state site: “Steamboats had to be on particular watch for different types of river hazards. “Rafts” were accumulations of logs that lodged on sandbars. Snags in the river waters came in a couple of forms. One, called “planters,” were whole trees whose roots had become embedded in the river bottom and reinforced by silt. The tree tops, limbs, and branches devastated many craft. “Sawyers” were much like planters but bobbed in the river top down with the bottom of the tree and roots cutting the water’s surface similar to a sawmill blade.” More distinctions.    Flowing into the Ohio are many ”rivers”, like the Licking River the Muskingum or Kanawha; “creeks”, and then “runs”.    Dictionary lists do not define “run”, but they are common on the Ohio. Too small to be a creek. All of this inflow reminds me that...
Read more

2400 miles from Ohio River

Image
This is not the beginning. Seven years ago I had the thought of going down the Mississippi River in a boat.  I mentioned it to my brother then. About once a year he would say, “When are we going down the Mississippi? “   I thought he would forget, but he kept doing this. Finally in 2017, I realized the notion wasn’t going to go away. We pulled together a plan and went down the Upper Mississippi.   “Upper Mississippi” means from Minneapolis to Cairo Illinois, where the Ohio River joins the Mississippi. Lower Mississippi is the portion ending in New Orleans.  We did a basic write up here:  https://muddymo2017.wordpress.com/2017/09/02/from-dave/ Neither of my companions had any desire to go further. Another year passed, and I realized I could do a river trip by myself if I had a boat I could sleep in. I wasn’t looking for luxury.  Luxury would be taking the 11 day American cruise line trip from Pittsburgh to Cairo, roughly $6000 per person, double occupancy....
Read more