Last week I wrote a blog that I believe has created an “accidental series” about the names of the small communities in our region, mainly in Western Kentucky and Southern Indiana. In my original blog, I wrote about where I grew up, Sorgho, a small community west of Owensboro in Daviess County. Where it’s name came from and a small history of the community, formerly named Sorghotown.
Since then, I began wondering about other small communities in our area and where their names came from. I thought I would research Curdsville, where my wife and her family are from. In my original blog I mentioned that there is a lot of history right in our own backyard, and Curdsville is no exception to that statement.
According to legend, an early settler was paid a barrel of whiskey to name the town after H.T. Curd, a steamboat captain on the nearby Green River. I’d like to hear from residents of Curdsville! How true is this legend?
Perhaps the best description of Curdsville in the 1900’s was by a Chicago railroad promoter, A.L. Frank, who was trying to drum up interest in building a connecting line from Owensboro to Calhoun. He described Curdsville around 1907 as having a population of 275, with a rural population in the area of 2,835.
In the early 1900’s the town was reported to having 3 general stores, on drug store, a post office, hotel, 2 physicians, 2 churches, and a two-story school house, a ferry across the Green River, a bank, a tobacco factory, and even a college.
Like many small communities in the area, the increased use of the automobile to travel and trade shifting away from Curdsville to Owensboro caused many stores to close. Curdsville remains as a small residential town with two churches and a few indications linger of its storied past.
A lot like the area I grew up in (Sorgho), Curdsville is filled with many acres of rich farmland and a wholesome area to raise children. If you need a break from the daily grind, take a trip to Curdsville and soak up the beautiful rolling hills along Curdsville-Delaware Road.
