Bobtown, Kentucky
Joe Lick, Joe's Lick Knob
Unincorporated community
Bobtown is located in Kentucky
Bobtown
Bobtown
Bobtown is located in the United States
Bobtown
Bobtown
Coordinates: 37°37′05″N 84°13′44″W / 37.618°N 84.229°W / 37.618; -84.229
CountryUnited States
StateKentucky
CountyMadison

Bobtown, also known as Joe Lick, is a rural hamlet near Berea, Madison County, Kentucky, United States.[1] Founded in 1769, since the mid-19th century it has historically been a predominantly African-American community.[2][3] It is located 12 miles south of Richmond, Kentucky, and roughly 5 miles northeast of the city center of Berea, Kentucky; and is near Farristown, and Middletown, two other African American communities.[2][1][4][5]

History

It was founded in 1769 as Joe Lick, or Joe's Lick Knob, and is said to be named after an early settler who had carved his name on a stone fence.[4] One of the first houses was built for Capt. Phillipps in the early 1800s, on the Berea and Kingston Road.[4]

Starting in 1865 after the American Civil War, African Americans were allowed to purchase land and settled in this area.[1] In 1872, the settlement was renamed Bobtown in honor of "Uncle Bob" Fitch, a long-time African-American resident.[1] The community was tied together as a community by the formation of the New Liberty Baptist Church (1866), and with schools, and stores.[2][1]

Rev. Matthew Campbell (1823–1896) founded the New Liberty Baptist Church in 1866; and Rev. Thomas H. Broaddus was the pastor for many years in Bobtown and for the surrounding towns.[1][3] In the early history of the community they had separate White and Black elementary schools.[1] In the 1930s with a merger of schools, the Black students were bussed to the Middletown Consolidated School and Richmond High School; and White students attended schools in Kingston.[1] The railroad industry and farming industry were the largest employers in the early history.[1] Pigs, cattle, and tobacco were farmed locally.[1]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Smith, Gerald L.; McDaniel, Karen Cotton; Hardin, John A. (2015-08-28). The Kentucky African American Encyclopedia. University Press of Kentucky. p. 53. ISBN 978-0-8131-6066-5.
  2. 1 2 3 "Bobtown, Farristown, and Middletown (Berea, KY)". Notable Kentucky African Americans Database, University of Kentucky Libraries, University of Kentucky. Retrieved 2023-02-05.
  3. 1 2 Burnside, Jacqueline Grisby (2007). Berea and Madison County. Arcadia Publishing. pp. 57–72. ISBN 978-0-7385-4432-8.
  4. 1 2 3 Grise, Robert (April 28, 1971). "The Story of Bobtown". Madison's Heritage Online. Retrieved 2023-02-05.
  5. ↑ "Bobtown Populated Place Profile, Madison County, Kentucky Data". KY Hometown Locator. Retrieved 2023-02-05.
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