Big Clifty, Kentucky
Big Clifty, Kentucky | |
|---|---|
  Big Clifty Location within Grayson County  Big Clifty Big Clifty (the United States) | |
| Coordinates: 37°32′44″N 86°9′13″W / 37.54556°N 86.15361°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[1] |
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. | [2]
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.
The Skees family of Big Clifty, owned several former businesses in the town, including the Jas H. Skees General Store, local funeral home, and railway shipping station and several area farms.