"Cities, Towns & Countryside"

5th Annual Preservation Week 2003 Photo-Essay Competition

TITLE : Creelsboro

The Creelsboro of yesterday is quite different than what it is today. Creelsboro is located in Russell County close to the Cumberland River.

It was a booming little town back during the days when the steamboats traveled up and down the river. The town population was about 50 people in the 1840s. Creelsboro consisted of a constable, post office, hotel, bank, doctor, drugstore, tavern, blacksmith shop, a church and a school. At times there would be twenty to thirty teams of horses and wagons parked along the streets. Also, a lot of people from all over Russell County would travel to Creelsboro to pick up goods that had come up the river on the steamboats. The goods were unloaded at the Campbell Ferry which was located about a mile from town. Some of the goods consisted of farm machinery, coffee, lard, salt, sugar, pepper, shoes, clothes and other items. Irvin's store sold more goods by 1900 than all the other stores in Russell Springs and Jamestown combined. Creelsboro had one of the twelve landings on the Cumberland River.

At one time there was a vote as to where the county seat would be located at, Creelsboro or Jamestown. Between the two places voted on, Jamestown won by just a few votes and the county seat was established at Jamestown in Russell County.

Steamboat traffic began to lessen in the 1930-1940s when roads were being built and trucks were bringing goods into the town. Also, the Wolf Creek Dam was competed in 1951, which stopped the steamboat travel on the river. With the steamboat traffic gone, the economy of Creelsboro also died. At present time, Creelsboro is sadly just a ghost town.

This could have been a wonderful little town if it had been preserved. Although the work involved in renovating buildings such as this one in Creelsboro would have been expensive and painstaking, the efforts would have paid off.

People, then, now, and future generations to come, could visit and enjoy the rich history of yesteryear's Creelsboro. If the Creelsboro store could be preserved, it could serve as an educational landmark for students near and far to visit and learn of its vast history.

Inside the store, photographs from the past could be displayed on the walls to help those visiting, view its past and marvel at the "treasure" still in existence.

Picture: The store shown in the photograph was originally owned by J. D. Irvin and then later owned by his sone W. K. Irvin. The left side of the building was a General Store, a restaurant was in the middle and on the right side of the building were the living quarters for Mr. and Mrs. Irvin. The upstairs was used as a storage area. The building at the far end was also a grocery store.

This essay and photograph(s) are the property of Preservation Kentucky, Inc. and Kentucky Heritage Council and that any use of the photo or essay must be approved by PK and KHC.

Click picture for larger image