Glens Fork, Kentucky

Glens Fork
Unincorporated community
Glens Fork Glens Fork Location within the state of Kentucky
Coordinates: 37°0′50″N 85°15′2″W / 37.01389°N 85.25056°WCoordinates: 37°0′50″N 85°15′2″W / 37.01389°N 85.25056°W
Country	United States
State	Kentucky
County	Adair
Elevation	810 ft (250 m)
Time zone	Central (CST) (UTC-6)
• Summer (DST)	CDT (UTC-5)
GNIS feature ID	492906

Glens Fork is an unincorporated community in Adair County, Kentucky, United States. Its elevation is 810 feet (247 m).^[1]

History

This community has been variously known as Glens Fork, Glenville or Glennville, and Hardscratch.

Glens Fork is located in a region of limestone, so the land is perforated by many sinkholes and small caves. Most of the area is a karst landscape, where there is no direct drainage into any streams, but instead the rainfall goes directly into sinkholes. There are several undeveloped caves in the area, including the Helms Caves which contained American Indian artifacts.

It is unclear when the first settlers came to Glens Fork, but the first deed at the Adair County courthouse dates from June 29, 1802. Glens Fork was apparently named for an early land owner by the name of Glen, but almost nothing is known about him.^[2] Another possibility is that Glens Fork was named for David Glenn, who was a hunter employed by George Rogers Clark.^[3] The post office was established on September 2, 1857, and discontinued on July 31, 1863, because of the American Civil War. The post office was re-established on October 10, 1865, and has been in continuous operation since then. The name "Hardscratch" may refer to a Civil War campsite where living was hard.^[2]

On March 25, 1872, the town of Glenville was established by an act of the Kentucky General Assembly.^[4] The town boundaries were established as one-quarter of a mile in every direction from the northeast corner of the Masonic Hall, which was established as the center of town. ^[2] At some point, the town government was discontinued, and Glens Fork became an unincorporated place again.

References

1. U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Glens Fork, Kentucky
2. Hamon, Welcome (1992). "The History of Glens Fork, Kentucky". Adair County Review. 6 (4): 76–79.
3. Rennick, Robert (1988). Kentucky Place Names. Lexington: University Press of Kentucky. ISBN 978-0-8131-0179-8.
4. Rennick, Robert M. (1987). Kentucky Place Names. University Press of Kentucky. p. 117. Retrieved 2013-04-28.