Mays Lick, Kentucky
Mays Lick (a.k.a. Mayslick, originally known as May's Lick) is census-designated place and unincorporated community located in Mason County, Kentucky, United States, about nine miles southwest of Maysville.
Mays Lick, Kentucky | |
|---|---|
Location of Mays Lick in Kentucky | |
| Coordinates: 38°31′03″N 83°50′31″W / 38.51750°N 83.84194°WCoordinates: 38°31′03″N 83°50′31″W / 38.51750°N 83.84194°W | |
| Country | United States |
| State | Kentucky |
| County | Mason |
| Established | 1788 |
| Area | |
| • Total | 0.64 sq mi (1.66 km2) |
| • Land | 0.64 sq mi (1.65 km2) |
| • Water | 0.00 sq mi (0.01 km2) |
| Elevation | 883 ft (269 m) |
| Population (2020) | |
| • Total | 252 |
| • Density | 394.98/sq mi (152.42/km2) |
| Time zone | UTC-5 (Eastern (EST)) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC-4 (EDT) |
| ZIP code | 41055[3] |
| Area code | 606 |
| FIPS code | 21-21161 |
| GNIS feature ID | 497750[2] |
| Other names | Mayslick Mays Spring New Jersey Colony William Mays Settlement[2] |
Demographics
History
Local Government Officials:
The Mayor of May's Lick is Joe Jolly. The Vice Mayor is Devin Hull. The Constable is Joe Collins.
May's Lick was founded in 1788 by the following six families from Scotch Plains, New Jersey.[5]
- Abraham Drake (1751–1805)
- Cornelius Drake (1754–1833)
- Isaac Drake (1756–1832), father of (i) Daniel Drake (1785–1852), American physician and author, and (ii) Benjamin Drake (1795–1841), American historian, editor, and writer; Daniel Drake's son, Charles Daniel Drake (1811–1892), was a United States Senator from Missouri and an anti-slavery politician
- David Morris (1746–1798) and wife, Mary née Shotwell (1748–1806)
- John Shotwell (1753–1826) and wife, Abigail née Shipman (1754–1835)
- Note 1: Abraham, Cornelius, and Isaac Drake were brothers
- Note 2: John and Mary Shotwell were siblings
The group purchased 1,400 acres of land from William May (for whom the community was named) near the salt lick in southern Mason county and began to build a community.[6] The Mays Lick Post Office opened in 1800. Kentucky's first consolidated school and first school transportation – consisting of a horse and wagon – was founded in Mays Lick.[7]
When May's Lick was founded (1788), Kentucky was part of the Commonwealth of Virginia. That year (1788), the Commonwealth of Virginia established Mason County. May's Lick became the name of the town after first being called May's Spring.[8]
Mays Lick Consolidated School
The Mays Lick Consolidated School was constructed in 1909–1910 for $32,500 The building was the first high school in Mason County and until 1960, was the only public high school to serve the Mays Lick District. In 1982, the building was added to the National Register of Historic Places.[9]
Also see: May's Lick Negro School
The May family
The same May family for whom the Mason County Seat (Maysville) is named is also the namesake for May's Lick.
- Mays Lick is named after John's brother, William May.
- Maysville is named after John May ( –1790).
- The May brothers
- George May ( –1795), a surveyor
- William May
- Charles May
- John May ( –1790)
- Gabriel May (1751–1813), married to Sallie Stokes (Susannah May Stokes, 1759–1815), niece of Ethan Allen (1738–1789), the hero of Ticonderoga and Crown Point[10][11]
Notable residents
- Joseph Desha (1768–1842), a US Representative and the ninth governor of Kentucky
- Daniel Drake (1785–1852), American physician, author
- Benjamin Drake (1795–1841), American historian, editor, and writer
- John McLean (1785–1861), Associate Justice, US Supreme Court from 1830 to 1861[12]
- William McLean (1794–1839), Ohio legislator
- Charles Young (1864 - 1922), Third African-American graduate of West Point, first black U.S. national park superintendent, first black man to achieve the rank of colonel in the US Army.
See also
References
- ^ "2020 U.S. Gazetteer Files". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved March 18, 2022.
- ^ a b c "Mays Lick". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior. Retrieved 2011-07-16.
- ^ "Mays Lick KY". ZIP Code Lookup. Retrieved 2011-07-16.
- ^ "Census of Population and Housing". Census.gov. Retrieved June 4, 2016.
- ^ History of the Scotch Plains Baptist Church, From Its Organization on the Fifth of August 1747 To Its One Hundred and Fiftieth Anniversary, James H. Parks, D.D. (born 1839), and James D. Cleaver, Scotch Plains Baptist Church (publisher (1897), pg. 16; OCLC 12023826
- ^ Edith Davis, "Mayslick Once Was Emporium, History Shows", The Daily Independent, (Rotary Club Edition), October 31, 1962
- ^ History of Mays Lick 2012-03-15 at the Wayback Machine, by David Lynn (interviewer), Kentucky Oral History Commission, Collection No. 18–19 (1988); OCLC 85841474
- ^ The Encyclopedia of Northern Kentucky, Paul Allen Tenkotte, PhD (born 1960) (University of Cincinnati) & James C. Claypool, PhD (born 1938) (Professor Emeritus, Northern Kentucky University) (eds.), (excerpt: May's Lick, by John Robert Klee; born 1954, pps. 593–594), University of Kentucky Press (2009)
- ^ #82002733 National Register of Historic Places
- ^ "The May Family," Kentucky Explorer, Vol. 10, No. 5, October 1995, p. 96
- ^ "Mason County", The Kentucky Encyclopedia, John E. Kleber, University Press of Kentucky (1992), pg. 614
- ^ "May's Lick: Pioneer Town in Kentucky When Lexington was the Western Metropolis," The Daily Evening Bulletin (Maysville, Kentucky), April 17, 1889, pg. 2, col. 2,
External links
- Mayslick history, online