Higdon Road, Kentucky
Higdon Road Sign, Kentucky
The motorcycle ride from Asheville was mostly uneventful. I rode into rain at the beginning of the weather system around Burkesville, Kentucky. I continued to Leitchfield and got directions to Grayson Springs. From there I used the MapQuest maps to locate Higdon, Kentucky. I found Higdon Road and followed it to the house at its end. The woman I spoke with hadn't lived there long and didn't know much about the area's history. After her children found horseshoes and other artifacts she learned that Higdon Road once continued past her house, across over the river and back to the main road.
She told me there had once been a bridge, a gristmill and a general store at the river crossing. The only thing that remained of any of that was a building foundation somewhere back in the woods. Even the bridge had been removed.
She drives a school bus, which she parks at the end of the pavement on Higdon Road. Behind the bus and the popup camper, there's a path that traces the original route of Higdon Road through an opening in the trees and to the river. I walked down the path as far as the river and explored a little, but I didn't find anything that looked man-made.
I backtracked on Higdon Road to a mailbox I had seen with the Higdon name on it, and I rode up a winding driveway to the house. There I met Dennis and Cindy Higdon and family. They had lived and farmed there several years. They told me a man named Higdon had settled in the area and originally owned a large tract of land. The property had been divided up over the years, so there isn't much Higdon presence anymore. In their heyday, the gristmill and general store had been sort of a community center.
From Dennis and Cindy I also learned of the Higdon Family Association. I haven't contacted them yet, but after returning home I checked out their web site and found that they organize trips and reunions and distribute a newsletter. The web site has links to a Higdon family genealogy forum where I discovered there's a place called Higdonville near Franklin, North Carolina. My previous search was only for the name "Higdon"; I hadn't thought to look for variations. There may still be other places to visit!
When it began to get dark I saddled up and headed back to Leitchfield in a steady rain. As I left, I stopped at the end of Higdon Road just long enough to take a picture of the street sign. Higdon Road is about the only remaining indication of a Higdon connection.
I had planned to camp at Nolin Lake State Park or elsewhere nearby, but it was still raining so I decided to stop at the first motel I found. It wasn't until just after I got on the Western Kentucky Parkway that I saw a motel sign just on the other side of the parkway. The next motel I found was 25 miles away in Beaver Dam.