Historical Marker #1320 “Shelby County Hemp”

Location:

US 60 & KY 714 Hempridge Rd , 3.5 miles east of Shelbyville (Marker Missing)

Marker Text:

“One of the chief producing counties. Crop income reached a yearly high of $150,000 in 1860.  Nine hundred tons of hemp were consumed to produce 2,000 bales of twine and 5,000 coils of rope that same year.  One of the ten Bluegrass counties which accounted for more than 90% of the yield of the whole country in the late 1800’s.”

Shelby County’s Hempstory:

The drive along Hempridg Rd (KY 714) is one of the most breathtaking of the entire Hemp Highway.  The small road twists and turns across a ridge line through stunning countryside.  Imagine yourself back in time 175 years ago. The rolling hills covered in hemp, tops glistening in the sun.

As you drive through undulating farmland you will roll past the silent ghosts of an era long gone, like the Hempridge Baptist Church.  Built in 1916, it sits nestled to the side of the road. While the congregation is small, it is still active.

“Hempridge” supposedly received its name from Senator Henry Clay.  Local residents presented Clay with a walking stick fashioned from a hemp stalk. Clay was so delighted that he reportedly declared any community  producing such a hempstalk should be “known as Hempridge.”

A Grateful Connection:

The rock n roll band, the Grateful Dead, make an interesting inroad into Shelby County.  Their alchemist and sound engineer, August Owsley Stanley III (Owsley or Bear), was born into a powerful Kentucky political family from Shelbyville.  His grandfather Augustus Owsley Stanley, a 6 term US Congressman, a US Senator and the 38th Governor of Kentucky, was born in Shelbyville. The story is told on a historical marker in front of the house in which A. O. Stanley was born.

Other Points of Interest:

In addition to driving scenic Hempridge Rd., check out the Shelbyville History Museum

Eat and Drink: