Big Clifty, Kentucky

Big Clifty, Kentucky
Census-designated place
Big Clifty Location within Grayson County Big Clifty Big Clifty (the United States)
Coordinates: 37°32′44″N 86°9′13″W
Country	United States
State	Kentucky
County	Grayson
Elevation	397 ft (121 m)
Time zone	UTC-6 (Central (CST))
• Summer (DST)	UTC-5 (CST)
ZIP codes	42712
FIPS code	21-06508
GNIS feature ID	487153

Big Clifty is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Grayson County, Kentucky, United States.

History

Clifty Creek crosses U.S. Highway 62 and the P & L railroad several miles to the southwest of Big Clifty. It is said that travelers named the town due to the limestone cliffs that arose on the sides of Clifty Creek. Accounts of residents from the past report that Big Clifty was a "boom town" that at one time had a post office, bank, feed mill, several dry goods stores and restaurants. The Ben Goodman school was the local "country school" and the town had numerous churches. In yesteryear nearby Clarkson was a tourist destination due to the numerous hotels near Grayson Springs, which were visited by guests who wished to experience the sulphur water's curative properties. Big Clifty benefited from the traffic going to Clarkson. Spurrier Mill was a grist mill on the Nolin River, several miles from Big Clifty which was a benefit to the economy. Like many rural Kentucky communities, as passenger rail-use decreased and transportation and commercial shipping routes changed, Big Clifty's boom town status disappeared.

Big Clifty was also the site of tar bitumen oil mines, or “ black rock mines” as they were known in the 20’s.

One such mining site was at the end of Crown Rock Road, inside the Big Clifty limits. The mines produced tar from the tar sands that frequent the local geology of the area.

The Skees family of Big Clifty, owned several businesses in town, including the Jas H. Skees General Store , local funeral home, and railway shipping station.

Big Clifty is hometown of star of TV and Film, Actor and Comedian, Tim Skees.

*Many of the stories and persons used in Tim Skees’ comedy routines are derived from actual residents  from the town, during His youth, while living there.*

https://www.imdb.com/name/nm6512359/

Geography

Big Clifty is located in northeastern Grayson County along U.S. Route 62. It is 10 miles (16 km) north of Leitchfield, the county seat, and 21 miles (34 km) southwest of Elizabethtown. The Western Kentucky Parkway passes just southeast of Big Clifty, but the closest access points are at Clarkson, 5 miles (8 km) to the southwest, and near White Mills, 7 miles (11 km) to the northeast.

The town is on flat land. The surrounding terrain is flat to rolling with 20-to-40-foot (6.1 to 12.2 m) cliffs surrounding Petty Branch of Meeting Creek and Meeting Creek in the northeast. Clifty Creek runs to the west of Big Clifty with high ridges and cliffs surrounding it. The small community of St. Paul is west of Big Clifty, and the Rough River runs farther to the northwest of it. The geography around the Rough River is rugged with very high ridges and 40-to-60-foot (12 to 18 m) cliffs bordering the river in many areas.

References

https://www.imdb.com/name/nm6512359/