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The Spirit of Kentucky


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Here's a old map that's inside the book "The Spirit of Kentucky"

Copyright, 1945 Glenmore Distilleries Company, Incorporated, Louisville Kentucky by James Boone Wilson...

The little barrels represent the location of one or more distilleries in Kentucky :grin: :grin:

Notable interest on this map...

My Old Kentucky Home...I hope most of ya have seen it from trips to the Kentucky Bourbon Festival and the Sampler?

Abraham Lincoln's birthplace and boyhood home...In Hodgenville and in Athertonville.

Natural bridge...quite impressive

"Mamoth Cave" the largest cave in the world. 350 miles of chartered tunnels.

Tobacco (disappearing at a fast rate) we used to have tobacco crops everywhere.

Kentucky Colonel with his hand lifted to "Welcome" :grin: :grin: :grin: everyone :grin:

:grin: Thoroughbred horse farm...I would like to have seen the "twin spires" there :grin: :grin: :grin: but I'm bias as hell :bigeyes: :lol: :lol:

Fort Knox is noted with "U.S. GOLD---good to see it. Seems as if no one relates Kentucky with Fort Knox, Patton Museum, and Gold :grin: :grin: :grin: to back our U.S. currency.

Uncle Tom's cabin is there.

Note the Jefferson Davis monumtent...

Old Iron Furnace where Bessemer Steel process was discovered...

Thoroughbred Hogs?...

and I hate...hate...hate...to say this but it's noted on this map...Richmond...home of the "witch" Carrie Nation...I was gonna substitute a letter in her pre-intro but I'm wearin' my halo today :grin: :lol: :lol: and yes, Jim...I "still" have one :grin:

Thought some of ya would enjoy seeing this old stuff :grin: :grin:

Bettye Jo

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Thanks for posting this Bettye Jo. My only Kentucky experiences have been along I-65. Being new to bourbon this will give me some info on possible side trips on my travels.

You can't miss the signs for JD distillery on 65, and I seem to remember a Beam distillery sign but no others. I will have to keep an eye out for some.

Thanks again,

MikeR

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I love those old artifacts.

There are a couple of derricks at least on the map, were these oil rigs? Is oil still to be found in KY?

Gary

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I love those old artifacts.

There are a couple of derricks at least on the map, were these oil rigs? Is oil still to be found in KY?

Gary

There are small oil patches throughout Kentucky, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and, I suspect, some other midwestern states, but those are the ones I know about. For the most part the wells are small and the oil is not very "sweet" but the active wells have pumps on them that go, automatically and unattended, 24-hours a day and produce, maybe, a barrel a week. Obviously, nobody is getting rich off them but they don't cost much to operate so they are profitable and it's a little extra money for the landowner. There were some around where I grew up in Ohio and I've always been aware of them.

Marathon Oil is based in Findlay, Ohio. Ashland Oil is based in Ashland, Kentucky. Those companies aren't making their living on local oil production now, but that is their roots.

The oil tends to be in the same areas as coal, natural gas and oil shale.

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I grew up in the southern third of the state of Illinois in the 1950's. At that time there were many oil wells in the vicinity, enough to support Halliburton and Schlumberger service facilities in our little town of 5,000.

The old timers lamented that the boom of the 30's had dropped off significantly at that time. Even so, the income the wells produced had a visible impact in the area. If the boys at the coffee shop were to see a farmer driving down Main Street in a new Buick, one was certain to say, "Old Fred is livin' it up on his orl money, ain't he?"

It's been years since I've driven through the area. I don't know the state of affairs today. I remember thinking more than once that the amount of oil extracted was barely enough to offset the fuel used to power the pumps.

Yours truly,

Dave Morefield

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In a masterful biography of John D. Rockefeller, Sr. I read some time ago, there was reference to a key moment, in the later 1800's, when the oil he was extracting was not suitable for kerosene manufacture. I think the wells he first exploited in the East were used up (even then), so he started to explore for oil further west, but the oil had some kind of defect, too much sulphur I think, which made burning kerosene have a terrible smell. Everything turned on his ability to devise a technical solution to this. He encountered a German scientist who claimed to be able to rid the oil of this fault. Taking an enormous gamble, he bet the company (in effect) on the new technology - and it worked! A typically inspired, calculated risk by the master businessman. Later, just as the electric light market started to grow and spelled the end ultimately of kerosene, gasoline became a major product and Rockefeller could again do no wrong. He was in the right place in the right time, but if anyone made his luck, this native of rural New York State and long time resident of Ohio did so.

Gary

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There was a huge oil boom in Pennsylvania in the 1800s. The oil ran out around the turn of the century. Incidently, for those who are interested, "The Prize" is a fascinating and very well written book about the history of the oil business. It was made into a PBS documentary a few years back.

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Bettye Jo,

Thank you so much for posting this!! I viewed it earlier but am only now finding time to respond to your thread. I know you got more cool history stuff, don't hold back now!! :grin: :grin:

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