 | | Trigg County, the sixty-sixth county in order of formation, is located on the southwestern edge of the Pennyroyal region. It is bounded by the Tennessee state line to the south and by Kentucky Lake to the west and contains 421 square miles. Trigg County is surrounded by
Calloway, Marshall, Lyon, Caldwell and Christian counties. It was created on January 27, 1820, and was formed principally from Christian County and a small portion of Caldwell. The county was named for Col. Stephen Trigg, a native of Virginia, and a soldier of great renown, who came to Kentucky in the fall of 1779 as a land commissioner. After completing his work he moved on and was fatally wounded on August 19, 1782, in the disastrous Battle of Blue Licks.
The
first census of 1820 listed Trigg County's population at 3,874 inhabitants. The first government was organized on May 15, 1820, in a log structure at Warrington, occupied as a residence by Samuel Orr. The property is owned at present time by Tom and Nell Vinson.
On the 15th day of May, 1820, five commissioners, Mr. Givens, Mr. Thompson, Mr. Sharp, Mr. Dixon and Mr. Vance, appointed by law to locate permanently the seat of justice for Trigg County, made their report, which
proposed that the seat of justice of Trigg County be "fixed on the lands of Robert Baker, where he now lives on Main Little River on the top of the eminence above the spring, to include the lot whereon his stable now stands, it being the most central, convenient and eligible site for that purpose. Baker made a deed of transfer of the said stable lot, together with fifty acres of land adjoining, to the newly-organized county. The order books, papers, etc., of the county were
moved to the dwelling of Mr. Robert Baker and held at the dwelling of Baker.
Nothing appears of record that named the county seat of Trigg County. One version is that a group of Spaniards were encamped on Little River at the time of the first town meetings. They attended all meetings and the natives were so impressed with them they approved the name "Cadiz" for the Spaniard's hometown of Cadiz, Spain. They eventually stopped attending the town meetings and
moved on to other locations.
The choice of Cadiz as the county seat did not go unchallenged. Citizens of Canton, an established town on the Cumberland, objected. At the March term of court, 1822, an election was ordered for the purpose of deciding the matter and George Street, Richard P. Dawson, and Beaman Fowler were appointed Judges, and William Cannon, Clerk, for the election. Cadiz, Boyd's Landing (now Canton), Warrington and Center competed for the honor. The
election was held in Cadiz on the 6th of March, 1822, and the vote was Cadiz, 295; Boyd's Landing, 204, Warrington, 69; Center, 59. The matter of locating the county seat was effectually decided.
A history of the first settlement of Cadiz district would not be complete without a short statement about four men who began life almost with the beginning of Trigg County. Major Matthew Mayes, Collins D. Bradley, and T. W. Hammond, where three young lawyers who came to Cadiz in
1820, when the county was organized and even before there was a court house, and began to practice law. The fourth man, Linn Boyd, probably attained more prominence than any other native Trigg Countian. His father located at Canton in 1799 with others and established what is now Canton. He was born November 22, 1800, and like most others of his day received a very scant education. He soon engaged in politics and when 21 was appointed paymaster of the 72nd regiment of
Kentucky Militia. December 15, 1823 he was appointed a deputy sheriff of Trigg County, represented Trigg County in the Legislature in 1831 where he served in congress for 18 years and in 1859 was elected Lieutenant Governor of Kentucky. Boyd never took office on account of poor health and died in Paducah, Kentucky, December 17, 1859.
The afternoon of November 29, 1920, was unseasonably warm in Cadiz when a fire, which local historians call "the biggest disaster in Trigg
County history", broke out and destroyed most of downtown Cadiz, including Trigg County Courthouse, six of the eight buildings along Main Street, across the street from the courthouse; and all eight buildings along Court Street, west of the courthouse. The estimated loss was more than $200,000. It was the second county courthouse to be destroyed by fire. The first was burned by Union soldiers during the Civil War.
Among the early industries of Trigg County were distilleries, several of which were in operation in Cadiz Precinct shortly after the settlement of the county.
Think of Trigg County in its Sesquicentennial year of 1970 and thoughts of recreation pop up. Thoughts turned to fishing, boating, swimming, the beach and loafing around the plush new Barkley Lake State Park Resort. But the time was when Trigg County's major industry was far removed from recreation and leisure
time. Trigg was once a leader in an area of about five counties along the Kentucky-Tennessee line which made a bid for the national spotlight in the iron making industry. Trigg County got into the iron producing picture as early as 1841 and had iron furnaces in operation off and on for a period of more than 70 years. Empire furnace was the first iron furnace in the county. The need for coal to be imported as fuel for these furnaces was an important factor leading to the
construction of the Cadiz Railroad. Cadiz of the 1850's was thriving with a population of 600, with many county buildings, churches and "academies."
It has been said that Cadiz fulfills the scriptural text "a city set on a hill, and cannot be hid." It does stand on a hill and is a handsome and neat little city and its people are as courteous as the city is handsome. |
|
