Flippin [nb 1] is an unincorporated community located in Monroe County, Kentucky, United States. A small residential village and community surround the intersections of Kentucky Route 249, Kentucky Route 678, and Kentucky Route 100, approximately 3.6 miles (5.8 km) south of the Monroe-Barren County line. The residents of this hamlet were referred to as “Flippinians” in an article (1968) about Flippin in a local newspaper, The Glasgow Republican.[6] The south fork and main stream of Indian Creek, a tributary of the Big Barren River, merge at these crossroads in Flippin.
Flippin | |
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Unincorporated community | |
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![]() ![]() Flippin Location within the state of Kentucky Show map of Kentucky![]() ![]() Flippin Flippin (the United States) Show map of the United States | |
Coordinates: 36°43′13″N 85°52′27″W | |
Country | United States |
State | Kentucky |
County | Monroe |
Elevation | 735 ft (224 m) |
Time zone | UTC-6 (Central (CST)) |
• Summer (DST) | UTC-5 (CDT) |
ZIP Codes | 42167, 42133 |
Area code | 270 |
GNIS feature ID | 492255[1] |
Land of Tomorrow
Before Europeans arrived, this land was the hunting ground and home of American Indians, or Native Americans. Evidence of their camps and villages and burials has been found here. Whether the Anglicized aboriginal name that has come down to us originally meant the "meadow” or the “land of tomorrow”[7] or some other meaning, or possibly just the slurred rendering in English (e.g., “Kaintuckee”) of the land of cane and turkey,[8] Kentucky was evidently regarded as a special place by several different tribal groups of Indigenous peoples. By the 18th century, this land was recognized as the domain of the Cherokee when purchased by the Transylvania Company in 1775, which included the watershed of the Big Barren River. The first longhunters had arrived by 1769, including Daniel Boone, Kasper Mansker, and the Skaggs brothers—Henry, Richard, and Charles—among others. Thomas Flippin, Sr. may have hunted and explored here as early as 1787,[9] although records show that he resided in Tennessee through 1796, until the military district south of Green River in Kentucky was opened for public land claims. The area that became Monroe County was officially restricted to military grants for veterans of the Revolutionary War until 1796.[10][11]
Pikesville
Before 1858, this community was known as “Pikesville”, or the “forks of Indian Creek”. The “town of Pikesville” (GNIS ID#2813764) was established with this spelling by Barren County, Kentucky Court in August, 1818, named for General Zebulon Pike (1779-1813),[nb 2] with the following Trustees: Leonard H. Maury, John Goodall, Archibald Sloan, Thomas Flippin, Sr. and his son, James Flippin. The 75-acre town site was located on Kentucky Route 249, east of Pikesville Branch of Indian Creek, approximately 1.25 miles north of present-day Flippin and the forks of Indian Creek. The town site was situated in a 353-acre tract previously conveyed by Thomas Flippin, Sr. and sons James Flippin and Isaac Flippin to son Thomas H. Flippin and in-laws William Baugh and Rev. John Baugh who remained the proprietary owners of the expansion land bounding the town site.
Thomas Flippin, Sr. (ca.1740-1830) [nb 3] claimed or purchased 1,350 acres (Grants South of Green River, 1797-1866) in Barren County (Warren County before 1798, Monroe County after 1820), of which 800 acres were located on or near the “waters of Indian Creek” (Pikesville Branch), where he settled his family in 1797. Thomas Flippin, Sr. operated a grist mill, store, and tavern, and served as court commissioner, justice of the peace, and sheriff of Barren County. Two of the earliest roads created by Barren County Court crossed near Thomas and Rhoda (McAdoo) Flippin’s home: The “[Thomas] Flippin Road” (1799) from Glasgow, Kentucky to White Oak Creek at Barren River, and the route (1801) later known as Tompkinsville Pikesville Gallatin Road, a.k.a. “Pikeville Road”.[11] Traditionally, the route of the “Flippin Road” (Kentucky Route 249, today) is believed to have roughly followed an ancient Native American trail from Indian Creek and Indian Camp Branch of Peters Creek that continued beyond Glasgow to Flint Knob near Cave City, Kentucky.[15]
Barren County Deeds, 1818-1820, described Pikesville as a town with ten named streets, a town square, and 189 town “Lots”. [16][17] Pikesville competed in the election (1819) for county seat of the new county of Monroe (1820), and lost to Tompkinsville by a plurality of four votes. The history of Pikesville after 1820 as told in public records was largely erased when Confederates burned the courthouse of Monroe County during the Civil War, in 1863.[18] By 1830, Thomas Flippin, Sr. and all of his sons except Isaac and James had left Pikesville and Kentucky with their families for new lands and new ventures. Thomas Sr. made his final home in Henry County, Tennessee, where he died and his last will and testament was recorded, December 1, 1830.[19] Thomas H. Flippin also moved to Tennessee and later to Marion County, Arkansas, where he became a founding father of the city of Flippin, Arkansas. [20]
In his series of published (1889) Historical Sketches of Monroe County, Manlius Thompson Flippin, great-grandson of Thomas Flippin Sr., remembered a “three-story hotel, ... many houses that had been residences, stores, shops and barns when the town was at its zenith.” [21] When interviewed (1943) for a news article, some older residents of the Pikesville community remembered a town with six stores, grist mill, blacksmith shop, tan yard, and race track.[22] The blacksmith shop of William Hays Lewis and Bethel Methodist Episcopal Church (1857-1923) on Bethel Branch were located near Ward-Lewis Cemetery. Nothing of the town remains today. A short section of “Pikeville Rd” (est. 1801) now used as a farm road has been marked by the county. “Pikesville Branch”—variously spelled—has remained on maps as a landmark (GNIS ID#500621). A school at Pikesville continued well into the 20th century, after Pikesville School #1 (1855–1929) a.k.a. Common School #41 (#6 after 1900) was replaced, until Pike(s)ville School #2 (1929–1951) was consolidated.[11][23]
Flippin
According to U. S. postal records in the National Archives, “Pikeville” in Monroe County had a post office, 1830-1833, with James Falconer/Faulkner as postmaster. On July 13, 1858, a new postal name, “Flippin, Kentucky,” was established in this community to avoid confusion with “Pikeville,” county seat of Pike County, Kentucky. The new post office was traditionally named for the Family of Thomas Flippin Sr., and probably for James Flippin (1783-1858), the only one of his sons who remained in the community.[nb 4] Dr. William C. Brockett (1816-1897), Flippin’s first postmaster, [nb 5] was a Trustee of Bethel M. E. Church at Pikesville and a founding member of Flippin M. E. Church, South. He also treated the medical needs of destitute residents of the county home, and served as an educator of other aspiring physicians.[30]
According to U. S. postal records, Flippin had a post office from 1858 to 1964, except for a brief interval, 1870–72. Ella Hughes was the last postmaster when Flippin’s postal code, 42132, was permanently retired in 1964. [31] Flippin retained a postal station operated by Bela Turner from 1964 to 1981.
The site of Flippin at the forks of Indian Creek is situated in a two-mile long expanse of Indian Creek that was first recorded in 1797 as the “Reid and Pearson survey,” an 1,800-acre tract adjacent to (south of) Thomas Flippin, Sr.’s land, which was a part of the military grant of Virginia Navy Captain Thomas Lilly for his service during the American Revolutionary War. A “large Sulphur Lick” near Indian Creek, mentioned in a previous survey (1796) as a “large Buffalo Lick,” was cited as a landmark in the metes and bounds of the Reid and Pearson survey. The tract was subdivided when surveyed, with 1,442 acres assigned to Charles Copland, Esq. of Richmond, Virginia, who later assigned (1808) his entire acreage to the family of his sister, John (Sr.) and Clarissa (Copland) Goodall, and to their son in law, John Martin. The remaining 358 acres were assigned to Major William Croghan, chief surveyor of the military district of Kentucky. Daniel Boone and John Raburn were two of the recorded surveyors and hunted here. In his Historical Sketches, Manlius T. Flippin reported the discovery in 1849 of a Beech tree in the vicinity bearing the inscriptions of Boone and Raburn.[10]
During the Civil War (1861–1865) the majority of Monroe Countians remained loyal to the United States. When President Lincoln first called for volunteers, hundreds from Monroe and surrounding counties stepped up. These citizen soldiers were first organized at several “Lincoln camps,” finally to rendezvous at Camp Robert Anderson, on the farm of John M. Fraim,[32] on the south fork of Indian Creek.[33] Major Henry Dunn[34] of the Monroe County Home Guard (US) superintended a drill school for the new recruits at Indian Creek Baptist Church. Camp Anderson was located near the intersection of Kentucky Routes 100 and 1366, about 1.5 miles south of the church and present-day Flippin. A highway historical marker commemorates the site. John M. Fraim became a government contractor during the war and was instrumental in the formation of the unit that became the 9th Kentucky Volunteer Infantry Regiment when mustered into the U.S. Army, November 20, 1861, at Camp Boyle, Columbia, Kentucky.[35][36]
Aside from recorded casualty losses of soldiers from disease and battle, there are few accounts of the impact of the war on the home front in Monroe County. Published just nine years after Appomattox, Collins' History of Kentucky (1874) suggests that the crisis of conflict for civilians was very real: "During the War of the Rebellion, Monroe County was nearly devastated. Roving bands of marauders—some professing allegiance to the cause of the Union, some to that of the South, and some to neither cause—overran the county, and rendered life and property precarious and insecure.”[3] Men from this community also joined units of the 37th Kentucky Mounted Infantry Regiment (US) organized at Fort Williams in Glasgow, Kentucky, in September and October, 1863, primarily to combat guerrillas and protect public property in the region.[36]
The Department of Kentucky of the Grand Army of the Republic (G.A.R.) of Union veterans of the Civil War was officially organized January 17, 1883. W. T. Bryant G.A.R. Post #30 was subsequently organized at Flippin, named for Captain William T. Bryant (1840-1915) of the 49th Kentucky Mounted Infantry Regiment (US).
Lodowick Turner Goodall (1827-1911), grandson of John (Sr.) and Clarissa (Copland) Goodall, and wife Rebecca were founding members and donated land in 1879 for Flippin Church of Christ and Cemetery.[37][nb 6] Monroe Normal School (a.k.a. Indian Creek College), located in Flippin, was incorporated by an Act (Chapter 646) of the Kentucky General Assembly, March 24, 1888, and was authorized to confer the Bachelor of Arts Degree as a teacher-training academy,[38] with the following Trustees: Thomas C. Gillenwaters,[39] Elijah A. Purcell,[40] George T. Fraim,[41] Daniel E. Downing,[42] James T. Beals,[43] Francis M. Button,[44] Lilburne P. Flowers, James M. Neal, and Dr. Joseph A. Flippin. The building also served as the site of Flippin Elementary and High Schools, until replaced in 1938 by a new elementary school building erected by the National Youth Administration. Flippin High School was closed and consolidated in 1934. Flippin Elementary continued until consolidated in 1958.[10][45]
The largest ever recorded old-growth tulip poplar tree grew in the Flippin community, located near the intersection of Kentucky Routes 100 and 1366. The big tree measured 10–11 feet (3 to 3.4 m) in diameter at its base; its height was not recorded. Whether cut for timber initially or for exhibition, a four-foot log section was transported and displayed at the World's Columbian Exposition in 1893, in Chicago.[46][47] A photograph of the tree and a piece of its bark were later donated by descendants of landowner William B. Downing to Indian Creek Baptist Church.[10] This “Famous Tree” is commemorated by a Kentucky highway historical marker in Flippin. [nb 7]
Lumber from this tree was used to rebuild the (third) Indian Creek Baptist Church, and also to build the new Flippin Methodist Episcopal Church, South (1894-1964), which was formed by a splinter group from Bethel M. E. Church (1857-1923) at Pikesville. Flippin Methodists opposed reunification with the Methodist Episcopal Church (North) that Bethel Methodists had steadfastly supported since the end of the Civil War.[48] American Methodists in the North and South finally achieved reunification in 1939. Southern Baptists also separated from their northern brethren in 1845, but never reunited after the Civil War. Indian Creek Baptists initially met from 1835 in the local school building. The first Indian Creek Baptist Church building of logs (1838–67) was replaced by a frame building (1867–93) that burned in 1893. Originally organized in 1835 near the forks of Indian Creek as the United Baptist Church of Christ, “United Baptist Church at Indian Creek” was formally incorporated by an Act (Chapter 1051) of the General Assembly, January 22, 1867, with Daniel E. Downing, Ellis Riggs, and James M. Neal as Trustees. This third Baptist Church building burned in 1921, and was replaced by a fourth building (Landrum, 1976). The fourth building has since been abandoned due to flood damage (2010) and replaced by a fifth Baptist Church building located near Neal Cemetery.[10][49] Neal Cemetery[50] was gifted by Deed to Indian Creek Baptist Church as a “public burying ground” by the William P. Neal Family in 1885 (Landrum, 1976).
Today, Flippin is a farming community surrounding a small crossroads village that was once a thriving center of mercantile and civic life, although never incorporated. [51] Flippin was served by various business enterprises during the 19th and 20th centuries, which included a water-powered grist mill, steam-powered flour and saw mills, three hotels (Purcell, Maxey, Dossey), several blacksmiths and liveries, two sewing factories, ax handle factory, furniture factory, bank, distilleries, several general stores and specialty shops, and other trades and crafts. According to Manlius T. Flippin, the first steam-powered mill in Monroe County was installed on Indian Creek at Flippin about 1857.[21][28][51]
Robert Rennick’s research notes for Kentucky Place Names included the following about early Flippin enterprises, sourced only by reference to the “Gazette” and year: “According to 1883-84 issues of the Gazette: George Bales & Company and Evans,[52] Hughes & Button owned and/or operated general stores. Dotson & Franklin had an ax handle factory and a general store. J. S. Isenberg operated a grist mill. Neal, Pare & Company had a grist mill and sawmill. G. W. Bullock was a carpenter. John Collins & Company and Riggs & Taylor were blacksmiths. William S. Maxey had a hotel and livery service. Taylor & Gillenwaters had an academy. Neal & Purcell had a tobacco business. According to 1895-96 issues of the Gazette: General stores in Flippin were owned and/or operated by: (1) Ferguson, Lee & Short, (2) Gillenwaters & Brothers, (3) Hughes & Button [a.k.a. Lane Webb & Company]. Mrs. M. J. Flowers & Company had a millinery business. Maxey and Jackson were druggists. J. L. Robinson was a furniture manufacturer.”[28]
Some of Flippin’s proprietors, professionals, and craftspeople not identified elsewhere: Joseph Loyd,[53] Thomas W. Batdorf,[54] John T. Flowers,[55] Dr. Cyrus H. O. Young, Kinchen D. Dossey, Robert Fred Johnson, Charles and Nettie Wood, Carson Bailey, Lillian Francis, Garon Pare, Winfred Apollos, and Ruth Copass.[10][51]
John Lane, William T. Webb, William Hughes, and perhaps others were 19th-century investor-partners in Lane Webb & Company, the flagship general store at Flippin, principally operated by Francis M. Button, which retained this business name although operated by his son, Francis L. “Frank” Button, and successors. After Frank Button died in 1932, his widow Hettie (Downing) Button with her sister, Ella and husband Paul Hughes, and his brother, Lewis and wife Annie Lee (Johnson) Hughes continued as storekeepers, until Lane Webb & Company and Flippin Post Office finally closed in 1964. Thomas and Sarah (Register) Button, Frank’s brother, also operated a store in Flippin in three different locations until closed in 1955. Flippin Lodge #647, F&AM, initially located across Indian Creek north of the Baptist Church, was active during the period, 1890-1941. Flippin Bank opened after the First World War and closed during the Great Depression. Gus and Lura Arterburn operated Flippin’s first gasoline station, a cream station, and a harness repair shop during the 1930s and 1940s. Lester Turner’s Garage, a Flippin landmark of the post-Second World War era, closed in 1988. The stores, mills, shops, schools, hotels, factories, and most of the buildings of Flippin’s past are gone. Two active congregations still meet in Flippin: Indian Creek Baptist Church (est. 1835) and Flippin Church of Christ (est. 1879).[10][51][56]
Municipalities and communities of Monroe County, Kentucky, United States | ||
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County seat: Tompkinsville | ||
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