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Brief History of Clay County, Kentucky
The Kentucky Legislature created Clay County in December of 1806
from parts of Madison, Floyd, and Knox Counties. This went into
effect on April 01, 1807. Between the years 1807 - 1878 parts of
Clay County were used to help form other counties: Estill,
Perry, Laurel, Breathhitt, Lee, Owsley, Jackson, and Leslie.
Clay County was named after General Green Clay who lived in
Madison County. He was cousin to Henry Clay. General Clay
served in the war of 1812. He was a Madison County legislator
and a Kentucky surveyor. Green Clay was born in 1757, and died
in 1826.
Clay County was the leading salt producer in the state during
the nineteenth century. Salt was so important; Daniel Boone
offered to re-route the Wilderness Road to pass the Goose Creek
salt works. He did not get the approval, however, and the area
had no suitable roads for sometime. In 1811 the Kentucky River
was made navigational and a canal system was proposed during the
1820/1830's. A pass by the Goose Creek salt works helped expand
the market. Salt production peaked between 1835 and 1845.
During the Civil War, about October of 1862, the Union ordered
all salt production sites destroyed rather than risk them
falling into the hands of the Confederates again. Only four
salt sites remained after the war, the last one closed in 1908.
Afterwards, Clay County had little contact with the outside
world for quite a while, mostly due to lack of transportation.
The railroad service came to the area in the early twentieth
century; after the coal fields started developing, around 1914.
In 1971, the Daniel Boone Parkway opened and linked Manchester
to I-75.
Today, Clay County, Kentucky covers 471 square miles and is the
sixteenth largest county in the area. Population of Clay County
was 21,746 in 1990. Coal mines still provide approximately
one-third of the local employment. The
eastern Kentucky coal field covers the eastern end of the state,
stretching from the Appalachian Mountains westward across the
Cumberland Plateau to the Pottsville Escarpment. Coal mining is
the major industry. Bordering
counties are Knox, Laurel, Jackson, Owsley, Perry, Leslie, and
Bell. Other neighboring counties include: Harlan, Whitley,
Rockcastle, Madison, Estill, Breathitt, and Letcher. Clay
County was the 47th county to be formed in the state of
Kentucky. The county seat is in the city of
Manchester. |
