Second Place: Mykel Northcutt - Middle School, A Crystal of an Unpolished Stone
Rabbit Hash! Who eats that? Disgusting! Gross! However, that is just what the people in Rabbit Hash eat during the holiday season. Rabbit Hash is located on the bank of the Ohio River in Boone County, Kentucky. It is a small quaint town in a rural area with settlement since 1813. According to my source, most of Rabbit Hash has survived several Ohio River floods in 1884, 1913, and 1937 which ruined many records of the town’s history. During the 1937 flood as the families watched the building, homes, a creamery, a tobacco warehouse and blacksmith shop be washed away by the flood, the town came together afterwards and were discussing what they were going to have for Christmas dinner that evening. A man named Frank (the town clown) was being unusually quiet. Someone asked what he would have for dinner and he said that there would be plenty of rabbits there because they are all coming to higher ground to escape the flood. In turn, he would make “Rabbit Hash” for dinner.Rabbit Hash, Kentucky was originally the town of Carlton but when the post office asked them to choose a new name for the town since it was being confused with the city Carrolton (only a few miles away). They responded with a NO-BRAINER, we are the town of RABBIT HASH! This is the most popular theory of how Rabbit Hash got its name.
Once you have discovered the secrets of Rabbit Hash, you will have opened the door and once the door is opened it cannot be closed until you have consumed all there is to consume. You will soon realize this town is A CRYSTAL OF AN UNPOLISHED STONE!
The history of Rabbit Hash is an amazing tale, the story of the way it was built to how it was saved from the terrifying floods and finally to the present and how it exists in today’s society. Let’s dig into Rabbit Hash (YUMMY!)
The amazing town is home to Kentucky’s first Ferry. In 1813 Meeks Ferry was just up the river from Rabbit Hash. They used the ferry to transport people, livestock, and farm products across the river to Rising Sun, Indiana (which did not become a state until 1816). They were like neighbors, with the economic trade between the two cities increasingly growing. As Rabbit Hash became more and more populated, so did the need for more storage for the products waiting to be transported. The trade had become spectacular between these cities.
In 1831 a group of farmers got together and built a storehouse on the Rabbit Hash bank of the Ohio, known as the General Store, owned and operated by James A Wilson at age 17. It has been in operation ever since, with hardly any change at all. What a commitment to keep history alive! It has survived all three floods when so many others did not. These floods were to say the least, ruthless, and to survive them all. What a thing to go through! During the 1913 flood, the General Store was completely under water and they have the mud in the attic to prove it!
From generations to generations from horse and buggies to cars and motorcycles, the history here is just amazing, the first Ferry transporting goods from Kentucky across the Ohio to Indiana. The first steamboat, the famous floods, and the ways our ancestors are preserved here. Did you know that Mrs. Bush visited that little town and did all she could to see that it was still up and running? GO MRS. BUSH! THANKS! Look, if the former President’s wife has taken an interest in this little town, why should we?
I have visited the little town personally and it reminds me of the stories my Grandma tell me about when she was a little girl and the way the times were then. The old wooden floors, the old time shelves, the old time stove. The room filed with antique tools of my ancestors, the old dog lying on the wooden front porch of the store when he isn’t lying on the wooden floor. Speaking of dogs, did you know the people of Rabbit Hash elected a dog for their mayor? It was a real election and each vote would cost $1.00 the one with the most votes (money) won the election, Lucy Lu became the new mayor. Since the old Mayor Goofy died in 2004. (Dog) (This must have been Frank’s idea) (town clown). The money raised was for a good cause, it was donated to the Historical Society.
Rabbit Hash has been known as the Center of the Universe and if you haven’t visited please reward yourself to the heartwarming atmosphere. It has it’s own take it easy feeling, simple ways of life, and nice, kind, laid back kind of people. Rabbit Hash has over 100,000 visitors a year with music, barn dances, and pig roasts.
Letting it go would be a shame to see, letting it go to waste and allowing all the hard work to just be thrown away would be a disaster. GONE! VANISHED! A piece of heaven on earth! This is a platform that builds our country and world. It would be wasted on this “give me generation”. This is a great place. Save it! We owe it to our ancestors to save their hard work. This is a community and our amazing country. Let’s not take it for granted. Our generation can save it and maybe the next generation will have space ships parked in the parking spot since we have already had horse and buggies, automobiles and motorcycles.
If Rabbit Hash was to be erased from the earth we would loose so much history and the visibility to see the past generations life-style. When I personally visited this town it warmed my heart tremendously, just knowing that this is a piece of the past that I have learned about in teaching and have never been able to visualize until my owe visit. People, we can make the difference, get on the ball let’s put our efforts into this. Don’t you want our next generations to see the way our ancestors built and lived in America.
This essay and photograph 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.