Historical Marker # 1319 “Clark County Hemp”

Location:

5 Miles West of Winchester on US 60 (between Lexington and Winchester)

Marker Text:

“One of 10 Bluegrass counties which produced 90% of the entire country’s yield in the late 1800’s.  Production increased from 155 Tons in 1869 to over 1,000 tons in 1889, valued at about $125/ton.  In 1942, Winchester selected as site of one of 42 cordage plants built throughout country to offset fiber shortage during war.”

Clark County’s Hempstory:

Hemp on the Frontier:

Local historian Harry Enoch dates the earliest record of hemp in Clark County to a journal entry from William Clinkenbeard’s in 1779.  The resident of Strodes Station wrote, “The first hemp seed I got was while I was in the station after I was married.  Saved the stalks and broke it up and my wife made me a shirt out of it.”

In 1792 the Kentucky legislature established one of three hemp inspection stations at warehouses in Clark County.  These were likely the warehouses at the Lower Howard’s Creek industrial site.

According to Enoch, David Dodge started Winchester’s first hemp based industrial site in 1811.  Dodge moved to Lexington from New York in 1797, eventually partnering with Thomas Hart on a rope walk.  In 1809 Dodge his intention to move his business to Winchester. In 1811 Dodge starts a rope walk and bagging factory in Winchester.  The intersection of Main and Hickman Streets forming the northwest boundary of the property  Dodge mortgages his Winchester property in 1818.  He dies soon after in 1819.  The business struggles along for another 2 decades.

The last owner of the rope walk and bagging factories was Fauntleroy Jones.  Jones bought the factory at auction and apparently took a financial shellacking in the short time he attempted to operate the business.  Following the debacle Fauntleroy Jones reinvented himself as a horticulturalist and successful business man.

Hemp Before World War II:

Winchester continued to be a center for hemp production between the Civil War and WWII.  The hemp industry hemp industry revival in the 1880’s. By the 1890 hemp was again Kentucky’s leading cash crop.  Winchester was a center of the hemp revival. And, David S. Gay , was the man at the center of the Winchester hemp renaissance.

From the 1880’s until the mid 1920’s Gay was one of Kentucky’s and the nation’s leading hemp merchants.  Gay and his partner W. M. Jones built their warehouse and “Hackling House” on N. Main Street near the railroad in 1886.  Fire was a common hazard in the hemp industry.  Gay, apparently, had to to rebuild his warehousing and hackling facility several times.  He also had a hemp farm near the community of Pine Grove.

Gay was incredibly successful.  In the early 1900’s he is price competitive for contracts at the Naval Shipyards in Boston against Riga Reign, the hemp “gold standard”.   In 1901 he outbids several Kentucky hemp merchants securing a contract for 125 tons of American hemp worth $26,250.

By 1916 Gay, E.F. Spears and two other area hemp merchants were working together to secure a contract from the Boston Naval Yard for 350 tons of hemp.  However, World War I would be a last hurrah for Wincheter’s hemp industry.  Production would start to dwindle. And, in 1929 no hemp production was reported in the county.

Hemp for Victory:

While Kentucky’s main role in the Hemp for Victory program was to supply seed stock, Winchester was selected for Kentucky’s only government built hemp mill.  Construction of the mill was started in 1943.  James Hopkins shared in A History of the Hemp Industry in Kentucky, the plant “processed only one crop” before the mill was sold by the War Assets Administration.

When Hemp for Victory was conceived Washington expected a long drawn out conflict.  The program was launched 1942 before the Axis powers had even experienced a significant defeat.  By the the time America’s first Hemp for Victory crop was planted in 1943 the tide of the war had started to turn. Furthermore, imported fibers from S. America and India eased the urgent need for domestic fiber. Hopkins’ research observes this was recognized by some in the government as early as October 1943.  Hopkins basically concludes that Hemp for Victory  was $25,000,000 worth of “insurance against a lack of fiber”.

Other Points of Interest:

Featuring an exhibit highlighting Winchester’s role in “Hemp for Victory”, the Bluegrass Heritage Museum is a must place to visit. The display includes an original “Hemp for Victory” poster and hemp seed sack from the Civilian Commodity Corporation. The exhibit is not just about “Hemp for Victory”, in addition to these artifacts, the exhibit includes hand processing tools from an earlier era.

After that, visit Fort Boonesborough, a state park living history museum.   Actors in period costumes recreate the experience of life on the frontier.  Periodically, this includes demonstrations of spinning and weaving on hand operated tools.

The John Holder Trail at the Lower Howard’s Creek Nature and Heritage Preserve features a moderately challenging hike into one of the area’s oldest industrial sites.

Eats and More:

Wildcat Willie’s Distillery and Farm to Table restaurant is the place fill up while in Winchester, Clark County.  The menu features organic meats and vegetables raised at nearby Mt. Folly Farm.  After dinner enjoy the “moonshine” on the back patio.  Oh, and the celestial views are breath taking as well.

Mt. Folly Farm features a restored log cabin built in the 1790’s.  This cabin is being converted into a fully functional “frontier homestead” bed and breakfast with all the latest conveniences.

If you live in the area, or are looking to get some healthy snacks to take with you on the road, stop by Full Circle Market.

Winchester also hosts Kentucky’s premier hemp harvest festival.  Started in 2019, the inaugural Winchester Hemp Harvest Festival  hosted over 60 vendors from 4 states and attracted visitors from both coasts.