| Notes |
- Somerset Commonwealth Journal
Pushing for progress
By BILL MARDIS, Editor Emeritus Jul 21, 2006
"We wouldn't be any farther from Somerset than Burnside if we had a decent road."
Verne Wright has a passion for improving Ky. 192, a narrow, unbelievably crooked, almost forgotten two-lane highway between Somerset and Mt. Victory.
Wright, a native and resident of Mt. Victory, has tried for years to straighten the curves on Ky. 192. He has had limited success; the State Department of Highways installed guardrails at the most dangerous drop-offs. However, Ky. 192 is still a shaded, crinkled ribbon of blacktop moseying uncertainly through the majestic hills of eastern Pulaski County.
"A friend of mine has a compass in his car and he says it shows all four directions on the way out here," Wright laughed.
A car's speedometer measures 16 miles between Somerset and Mt. Victory. Many places have a posted 20-mile-per-hour speed limit and often a vehicle "meets itself coming back" as it negotiates tight curves.
A retired schoolteacher, Wright admits frustration at local politicians in the past who ignored pleas to rebuild Ky. 192. He reasons they were "in love with Ky. 80" and relegated his beloved Mt. Victory to second-class status.
According to Wright, the late senator and ambassador John Sherman Cooper, when he was county judge, used WPA labor in the early 1930s to build the road to Dykes, a small community about halfway between Ruth and Mt. Victory.
"We had to travel the creek bottom between here and Dykes when the water wasn't too high," Wright recalls.
A modern, four-lane highway is not what Wright is after. "Just correct some of those ridiculous curves," he pleads. "I've said they should charge people a fee to ride a roller coaster the way it is now."
Does Wright still believe the curves will be made straight between Somerset and Mt. Victory?
"I never give up. I'm a schoolteacher," he declared. "I think eventually it will happen, but maybe not in my lifetime."
Mt. Victory is close to Wright's heart. It's a "city" on a hill. It's beautiful. It's his home. He was born there. He lives there. He loves it.
Wright's roots are deep in Mt. Victory. His great grandmother, Ella Darr, was instrumental in naming the community. She got assistance from a Mrs. Hughes (he doesn't recall her first name) and Mrs. Marian Nunnelly.
"They were looking for a name for the new post office established about 1901," said Wright. "Mt. Victory has a religious connotation; a victory in Christian faith."
In 1889 or 1890, Mrs. Nunnelly's husband, Marian, built the first house on the Mt. Victory ridge, an elevated strip of land some 25 miles long and 6-8 miles wide. It is bordered on the west by Buck Creek and on the east by the Rockcastle River.
The second house, a log structure, was built by a Hughes family, and Timothy T. Darr, Wright's great-grandfather, built the third house. Wright was born at the Darr House, facing Dykes Road.
There were houses in the area earlier than those on the ridge. Wright said people lived in the surrounding hollows where there was water and the soil was richer. "There wasn't much water on this ridge," he explained.
"Marian Nunnelly made some effort to develop this area," said Wright. "He built Nunnelly Springs Health Resort on the south side of what is now Mt. Victory." Wright said there were two springs in the area of the resort; one with clear water and one with sulphur water.
Also, about the same time, or earlier, there were a hotel and health resort in an area known as Sublimity Springs east of Mt. Victory at Bee Rock.
Nunnelly established a school in Mt. Victory about 1895 and asked Darr, Wright's great-grandfather, to teach. Darr's daughter, Maude Roark, also taught at the school and Darr was overseer. He was a preacher and was pastor of Wesley's Chapel Church.
Edward Guerrant, an ordained Presbyterian minister, came to Mt. Victory in 1905 and built a school. It was a Presbyterian academy and had a dormitory.
The Presbyterian church started a high school in Mt. Victory about 1922 and it eventually evolved into county-supported Mt. Victory High School that operated through the 1952 school year. An elementary school operated several years after that.
Wright is convinced lack of good roads inhibited growth in an area that had a lot of economic potential.
"No roads, that's the reason it didn't grow," assessed Wright. He estimated the population of Mt. Victory is currently about 300.
"It all depends on what you consider Mt. Victory. Some people as far away as Goodwater say they live in Mt. Victory." said Wright.
Wright pointed out that limestone formations around Buck Creek to the west and sandstone outcropping at Rockcastle River on the east both support a unique type of vegetation.
To Wright, the magnificent ridge called Mt. Victory is as close to Heaven as you can get on Earth.
- James Marion Nunnelly, 1840 - 1902
James Marion Nunnelly was born on month day 1840, at birth place , Missouri, to John P Nunnelley and Susan Nunnelley (born Gibson) .
John was born on August 15 1816, in Somerset, Pulaski, Kentucky, United States.
Susan was born on February 9 1821, in Pulaski, Kentucky, United States.
James married Minerva Ann Nunnelly (born Black) on month day 1858, at age 18.
Minerva was born on May 1842, in Pulaski, Kentucky, United States.
They had one son: Walter Albert Nunnelley .
James lived on month day 1850, at address , Kentucky.
He lived on month day 1880, at address , Kentucky.
James passed away on month day 1902, at age 62 at death place , Kentucky
- Pulaski County facebook group:
"Robert Sears
Before the Presbyterians had the school a school from Cincinnat called God's Bible School had the school. They were a very conservative Methodist offshoot. A very famous preacher of the day named Beverley Carradine( a man, not a woman) preached at the Camp Meeting held in the tabernacle associated with the school. Carradine Edwards a wellknown local man was named for him."
- Mt. Victory's First Schools
The first school at Mt. Victory,
Pulaski County.Kentucky,was founded
in 1896 by Methodist minister, Timothy Patterson Darr.
His wife,Ella Julian
Darr, and daughter, Maude Evangeline
Darr were the teachers.
The building used was erected on
land donated by Marion Nunnelly,
owner of Nunnelly Springs Hotel, located a few
miles from Mt. Victory. This
school building was a two-story frame,
with a library and class rooms on the
second floor. The first floor was living
quarters. The Darr family kept this
church school going until the county
government saw fit to conduct a public
school at Mt. Victory. The first public
school building was erected in the center
of Mt. Victory, across from and facing
the general store. It was a one-story
frame. The Darr building became a private
home with bedrooms where class moms
used to be. It had bedrooms with
blackboards on the walls. The library
was still there, located at the end of the
upstairs hall, with plenty of light from
a window overlooking the lean-to roof.
There still was no high school.
The Presbyterian Church filled in
this gap. They built Mt. Victory Academy,
a high school consisting of a two story
school building and a dormitory.
They also built a church building on the
upper side of the road. This road ran
from Rockcastle River, along Mt. Victory
Ridge, and on three miles to
Good water beyond to Clifty.
The young girl who was the teacher
for Mt. Victory's first school now found
herself accepting the position of principal
of Mt. Victorty first high school.
Maude Evangeline Darr Roark (my
mother), now married with a large family
and living six miles away, moved
back to Mt. Victory; having to ford Buck
Creek in a wagon pulled by two horses.
During the time of progress, there
were conflicts and rivalry. This caused the school to be closed and the buildings
sold. The buyer intended to start another
general store, but one night the
buildings mysteriously burned to the
ground. The next step was to convert
the church building into a schoolhouse.
Every student who graduated from Mt.
Victory High School was successful in
obtaining important positions.
Hazel Roark Davis
214 High Street
New Richmond. OH 45157
|
1840 - 1902
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