For up-close views of these postcard images from Harrison County's railroading past, click here. (Postcard images provided by C.W. Feix)

A Royal Visitor in Cynthiana:

The "March King" Comes to Town

By Philip A. Naff

July 4th is the day marking the anniversary of the beginning of the end of crown rule in the American Colonies and the birth of the United States.  While the “Founding Fathers” may have had a tiff with old King George, it doesn’t mean Americans dislike royalty, for we really do like kings, only in a different realm, that of music.

     Who doesn’t know who the “King of Rock ’n’ Roll” is?  We must all know who the “King of Pop” is by now with the unfortunate death of Michael Jackson.  About a century ago it was another king who ruled in the land; his name was John Philip Sousa (1854-1932), and he was known as the “March King.”

 July 4 is a day for picnics, family outings, fireworks, hot dogs, apple pie, and, yes, Chevrolet, which just barely made the list this year.  It is also a day for a little music.  Neil Diamond’s “They Come to America,” Lee Greenwood’s “Proud to Be an American,” Bruce Springsteen’s “Born in the U.S.A.” are annual anthems.  (If you aren’t already humming the melody to one of these, can you consider yourself American?)

     One tune that has always been popular for July 4th festivities is “The Stars and Stripes Forever,” often heard during the fireworks finale of any celebration.  In 1918 it was most likely performed by the famous bandleader and composer John Philip Sousa.  Sousa and the Great Lakes Naval Station Band were making a wartime visit to Cynthiana, just two days after the first anniversary of America’s entry into World War I.  The Cynthiana Democrat of April 11 reported the following details of the events:

     “The Great Lakes Naval Station Band, of Chicago, with the famous bandmaster, John Philip Sousa, director, stopped over at Cynthiana Monday night for a short concert at the railroad station.  A crowd of at least a thousand people greeted the band.  Sousa appeared on the rear platform of the train.  The band numbered 280 pieces and was made up of naval recruits in uniform.  There were ten coaches to the special train.  It reached here at about 8:30 o’clock, and was on the way to Cincinnati from Lexington where it participated in a Liberty Loan demonstration Monday.  It had the same business in Cincinnati Tuesday, and is part of the organizations touring the country to awaken the people to a sense of their responsibility and duty.  Louisville, Lexington, Paris[,] and Cynthiana were the only towns in Kentucky where the band stopped.”

      The paper didn’t mention a performance of “The Stars & Stripes Forever,” but it had been a hit virtually since that day in 1896 when Sousa put the composition to paper.  He was returning from a vacation in Europe to take charge of the Sousa Band after his manager’s sudden death.  In his autobiography he recalled “pacing on the deck, absorbed in thoughts . . . Suddenly, I began to sense a rhythmic beat of a band playing within my brain.  Throughout the whole tense voyage, that imaginary band continued to unfold the same themes, echoing and re-echoing the most distinct melody.  I did not transfer a note of that music to paper while I was on the steamer, but when we reached shore, I set down the measures that my brain-band had been playing for me, and not a note of it has ever changed.”

     It may be the greatest, and probably oldest, hit ever written by “royalty!”  Move over, Elvis!

This article was originally published in the August, 2009 issue of the Harrison Heritage News.

Railroads in the County

Railroads in Harrison County, Kentucky, was Harrison County historian George Slade’s last book and was published only a month before he died.  Unfortunately, he was too ill to participate in a celebratory book signing event.

Bill Penn, the book's editor, has written that "this book will be a lasting contribution to not only Harrison County’s railroad history, but will be of interest to railfans regionally."  Bill has graciously permitted the posting of the original texts of Railroads in Harrison County, Kentucky to these pages at HarrisonCountyKy.US so that it may reach even a wider audience than ever before and help to further the knowledge and research of this important period in our nation's past.

George Slade left his extensive research files Bill Penn, which have been placed at the Cynthiana-Harrison County Museum for researchers to use, as he would have wanted available to those following in his footsteps, preserving Harrison County’s history.

A PDF viewer is required to see the texts and images.  Be sure to get the free software that you need at Adobe.com.

Railroad Dates Significant

to Harrison County

1847

Kentucky legislature grants articles of incorporation to Licking and Lexington Railroad Co., March 1.

1849

Above repealed and a new charter granted authorizing ―construction of a railway, with single or double tracks, from Covington to Lexington, and any town or place in any of the counties through which the road might pass or in any adjoining counties.‖ Name changed to Covington and Lexington Railroad Co. (C.L.R.R.).

1850

Approved contracts for construction of first 18 miles of road which had been previously surveyed.

1851

Approved contracts for remaining superstructure of the road.

1852

Wm. K. Wall deeds land to Covington-Lexington Railroad for depot, ―adjacent to the town of Cynthiana on the south side.

1853

C.L.R.R. completed to Falmouth and service begun to that place, October 17.

1853

Maysville-Lexington R.R. completed Paris to Lexington. First train passes from Paris to Lexington December 22, 1853.

1854

C.L.R.R. completed to Mr. Robinson‘s mill, 8 miles north of Cynthiana, April 13.  C.L.R.R. completed to town limits of Cynthiana, May 18. First passenger trains run between Cynthiana and Covington, May 22. Barbecue held at Cynthiana to celebrate the completion of the railroad to this place, June 8. Estimated that 15,000 to 20,000 people attended. Cynthiana News reported that ―The amount of provisions destroyed on this memorable occasion was: In notions, $80; Loaves of bread, 650; Hams, 50; Number of Beavers killed, 6; Number of Shoats killed, 25; Number of Sheep killed, 75.  C.L.R.R. completed to Paris and trains began running, September 27.

1855

Cynthiana News, Jan.4. reports ―C.L.R.R has leased the Lexington-Paris section of the bankrupt Maysville-Lexington R.R.‖ C.L.R.R. cars running from Covington to Lexington and return.

1863

Jan. 11 - Covington-Lexington R.R. re-chartered as Kentucky Central R.R.

1886

Kentucky-Central R.R. falls on hard times and goes into receivership.

1889

Louisville & Nashville R.R. acquires entire capital of K.C.R.R.

1913

Double tracking of L&N R.R. through Harrison County completed.

1961

Start work of taking down railroad passenger depot building at Cynthiana.

1968

Last scheduled passenger train stops at Cynthiana, March 7.

1986

C.S.X. Transportation acquires L&N R.R.

1985

Completed return of the railroad to a single track in Harrison County.

Source:  Slade, George D., Railroads in Harrison County, Kentucky, 2005, p. 8.

About the Author:

George D. Slade

By William A. Penn

George D. Slade was born in Harrison County March 12, 1916, and died in Cynthiana, June 6, 2005. (See obituary, Cynthiana Democrat, June 9, 2005). George’s many important contributions to preserving Harrison County’s history will be difficult to summarize on one page, but an attempt will be made.

George was an early member of the Harrison County Historical Society and occasionally contributed programs. One was on his former business of cultivating Irises that attracted his cousin, Harold Slade, to attend, which led to Harold’s longtime involvement with the historical society and museum. George and his wife Helen were not able to attend meetings in recent years due to Helen’s health problems, George’s hearing difficulties, and more recently, his declining health.

George was one of the founders and trustees of the Harrison County Trust, Inc., which organized the Cynthiana-Harrison County Museum in 1994; he was active in acquiring artifacts, as was his cousin Harold, who now volunteers as curator. George enjoyed working at the museum and was often consulted on local history questions from visitors.

When the Harrison Heritage News began publishing monthly in March 2000, George wrote his first History Notes column and continued writing feature articles which were published up to the month before his death. These articles covered a broad range, including ghost stories, jails, courthouse, churches, Cromwell’s Comments columns, whiskey industry, railroad, A. Keller, schools, maple sugar, droughts, post office, chickens, buggies, baseball, hot air balloons, hemp, L.L.L. highway, steam engines, hog days, kitchen stove, community histories, and one of his last, privies.

There will be more George Slade articles for I believe he has left many unpublished writings in his files.

George had several subjects that seemed to hold his interest. One was the Graveyard, and his manuscript on its history, assembled with contributions from Harold Slade, is available at the Museum. He also researched the history of the Cynthiana First Methodist Church. He compiled several useful reference lists which were published in this newsletter on important dates in Harrison County history, a list of major fires, and lists of “whatever happened to” in an effort to locate missing historical artifacts.

George helped organize the “I Waited For Lucinda Boyd” celebration at the Cynthiana Post Office December 10, 1993, the date Mrs. Boyd stated in her Chronicles of Cynthiana she would return at midnight. He read the chapter on Sheely’s ghost to an attentive crowd.

Most of Harrison County’s citizens knew George through his “Museum Musings” weekly column in the Cynthiana Democrat. This popular column started about the time the Museum was established and was intended to bring an awareness to Harrison County’s history and to attract visitors to the Museum. The contents were usually newspaper excerpts from the 1840s up to the 1970s or so, often all on the same subject, ending with a Burma Shave road sign verse. Other sources were Col. Moore’s reminiscences, and more frequently, the Democrat columns of John M. Cromwell, “Cromwell’s Comments.”

George had photocopied from microfilm all of the Cromwell’s Comments columns from 1928 to 1940, which led to his first book, which we co-edited, Cromwell’s Comments, published by the Cynthiana Democrat in 2002. This book, indexed and illustrated, which documents Cynthiana’s history up to 1940, would not have been feasible without the availability of the columns he printed out. His many annotations in the book’s footnotes are valuable for clarifying or sometimes correcting Cromwell’s writings, and for identifying the exact addresses of sites Cromwell referred to.

George Slade’s last book, Railroads in Harrison County, Kentucky, was published only a month before he died, but unfortunately, he was too ill to participate in a celebratory book signing event. This book will be a lasting contribution to not only Harrison County’s railroad history, but will be of interest to railfans regionally. Both of the books George published are on the shelves of the Kentucky History Center research library.

George Slade left his extensive research files to me, which I will place at the Museum for researchers to use, as he would have wanted available to those following in his footsteps, preserving Harrison County’s history.

This biography was originally published in the July, 2005 issue of the Harrison Heritage News.