Bonnie Strassell - Owen County Historical Society

In the 1900s it was a common sight in most backyards. During the summer it gleefully skipped through the air, wrapping its ends around sturdy trees or poles secured in the ground.

Clothespins provided a solid anchor on its expanse, and for many years the lowly clothesline seemed to bask in the attention of the American family.

A long, forked wooden pole propped in the middle of the line would lift the laundered clothes to just the right height for youngsters to duck under as they galloped about in their pretend world.

Early Owen County settlers called it “locust and pawpaw” land. Its rich loamy soil nourished a great number of locust and pawpaw trees and provided bumper crops of tobacco and produce.

There was a time when Severn Creek Valley was home to mills, a school, a church and a number of households. By 1958 only a few families lived along the five-mile stretch from the mouth of Severn to where it crossed by Highway 35.

His stooped figure was a familiar sight among the hills of Owen County in the early 1900s. At times he would exit the road and stroll through fields to visit an isolated family. His age was unknown, but his deeply-lined weathered face acknowledged years of exposure to the elements.

Two heavily-laden packs settled themselves comfortably on his shoulders and boasted of small necessities, along with a few frivolities that brought pleasure to young and old alike.

A small village located in the Scottish highlands boasts of a long history of castles, battles and the Loch Ness monster. Its name, “Inverness,” traveled with Scottish immigrants across the Atlantic, and was bestowed upon several towns and villages in the raw, new land of America.

The Gowers immigrated from Inverness, Scotland, to Kentucky in the early 1800s. Their daughter, Lucy Harriet Gower, married an upcoming Owenton lawyer in 1824.