Spring Fork, Kentucky One Place Study

Date: 1880 to 1910
Location: Spring Fork, Kentucky
Surnames/tags: One_Place_Studies Kentucky United_States

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One Place Study: Spring Fork, Breathitt County, Kentucky

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Name

Spring Fork is a hamlet in Breathitt County, Kentucky. The name arises from the creek branch that forks off of the Quicksand Creek.

Generally, these areas have a post office associated with them. There is not one named Spring Fork, but there were others in the area, such as Lambric.

Note: There is a Spring Fork, KY in a nearby county with the same name.

Geography

Continent: North America	County: Breathitt County
Country: United States	GPS Coordinates: 37.45, -83.28
State/Province: Kentucky	Elevation: 294 meters / 965 feet

Breathitt County with Spring Fork District Highlighted

The inset map is from 1880. The county boundaries changed slightly until the final borders were established in 1890, which is shown in the larger map.

This map makes it clearer where Quicksand Creek divides (or forks) into Hawes Fork and Spring Fork. Spring Fork then exits into Knott County.

1950 US Census Map for Spring Fork Area

History

Breathitt County was formed in 1839 from parts of Clay, Perry, and Estill Counties. Spring Fork is a magistrate district in Breathitt County. It first appears on the 1880 Federal Census.

Spring Fork borders Magoffin and Knott Counites.

Other than the census, there were few other mentions of the area. Most of the government documents were geology related. The focus was on finding coal or other precious minerals, such as the following excerpt.

Spring Fork of Quicksand Creek—Spring Fork is on the left of and joins Quicksand Creek above Lambric about 300 yards, which is seven miles above Caney Creek. The altitude of the mouth is 800 feet. The chief coals of interest are those opened on Laurel Branch, Hawes Fork, Cloverfield Branch, Brown Branch, and Lovely Fork, although some coal has been opened still higher up on Spring Fork.

Early Settlers in Breathitt County

This text is extracted from a WPA essay about Breathitt County found in the Morehead State University Archives.

William Hagins descended from the North Irish Higgins', came from North Carolina and settled near the Spring Fork of Quicksand around 1840. Thomas, one of his five sons, built a two-story log house below the mouth of Spring Fork Creek about fifteen miles southeast of Jackson. He held by prescription 3,000 acres of land from the head of Big Caney Creek, to the mouth of Spring Fork, a distance of about nine miles. He was considered a man of wealth by the standards of that date, owning a number of slaves. Another son of William Hagins, Daniel, became prominent as sheriff of the county.

At a later date, Levi Hollan (Holland), who established another family which looms prominently in the affairs of Breathitt, came from North Carolina.

Another late settler, William H. Blanton, who came from nearby Owsley County, was elected county judge for two terms in the 1880s and 1890s and county attorney in 1909.

Settlers on Quicksand included the Howards, Roberts, Millers, Pattons, Williams, McQuinns, Josephs, Manns, Bays, Patricks, Walkins, Keiths, Carpenters, and Crafts.

Other profiles related to this area.

Population

Prior to the railroad arriving around the early 1890s, Breathitt County was isolated and had a smaller population.

In 1880, the population of Spring Fork was young. Nearly half of the residents were under 15 years old. Relatively few over 55. All of the residents were white. Even for the county, there were very few minority populations.

Age by Gender

The population tended toward marriage especially as they aged. Very few were widowed perhaps due to the slant toward youth.

Age and Marital Status

As you can see, nearly all of the residents were born in Kentucky and even their parents were born in Kentucky.

Birthplace of children and parents

Notables

• Wikipedia:

Sources

• Other Settlers of Breathitt-Spring Fork Area
• Map of Spring Fork, Kentucky. Hometown Locator.
• Location of Spring Fork, Kentucky. Google Maps
• Wikipedia - Breathitt County, KY
• KY County Enumeration Districts