Piner, Bracht, Fiskburg, Morning View and Kenton

 Piner was originally called Piner Crossroads for Brack Piner. He owned and operated the first grocery store there in  Piner had a tobacco drying warehouse, grocery, blacksmith shop and livery stable.  The original school at Piner was on the site of Goshen Christian Church and called Goshen Grammar School.  Children in grades 1-8 went to this one room school.

In 1870 a 4 room frame building was built to serve children in grades In 1914 a new school was built as Piner High School. The first class graduated from Piner in 1917.

 1. How did the school change?  2. How did transportation change? 3. How did the children change? 4. How did technology change?

 The town of Bracht, had a depot, post office, trains, general stores, blacksmith, trotting course, taverns and one room schools.

 Morning View was located on the Licking River and was originally called Mullins Station.  It had groceries, hotels, tobacco warehouses, large farms, a post office and a dancing club!

 Fiskburg was settled in the early 1800’s and named after the Fisk family.  It was a center for tobacco growers.  There were many large farms.  There was also a school, Grange hall, general store, tobacco warehouse and a cigar making factory.  Wilmington Baptist Church is one of the best known landmarks.  The Wilmington cemetery is the final resting place for many pioneers of the area.

 The town of Kenton and the Country Club, White Villa had depots and were regular stops for the trains that passed through the area.  Kenton had churches, stores, an ice cream parlor and a post office.  Kenton was also known for its fishing lakes and in later years for the Thornhill Dragstrip.  The Thornhill Dragstrip is set on land that was originally used by the Native Americans as a hunting grounds.  Many arrowheads have been found in the ground that was once farmed around the Thornhill Dragstrip.

Think about how things have changed. Has anything stayed the same?  Kenton County A Status Report from the Superintendent 1900  The public schools of this county are growing in efficiency, and have the confidence of the public, though it is a fact, to be regretted, but some districts have had very poor schools taught in them on account of inexperience and lack of common sense on the part of the teacher, and on account of patrons who interfere with their teaching, thinking that they can give competent advice, which is seldom the case. We need teachers will make sure that they are right, and then go ahead.  Corporal punishment has not been abolished, and the public is not ready for such a step; for some children, though few, are so taught at home that they cannot conceive of any government only by the rod.  Taxation for lengthening the term of school, in some districts where it is not been tried thoroughly, is unpopular, and there are various other drawbacks to schools in this county; however, we have many excellent schools, and poor schools are few.  We need a different school system from the present trustee system. Thee should be a county board of not more than seven members, who should elect the superintendent, and the superintendent should have the power of appointing the teacher in the various districts, which appointment should be ratified by the board. This county board should receive all taxes collected from that county, directly from the sheriff, thus using all the money collected in a county by direct taxation for the benefit of that county.  We need a compulsory educational law that would compel every child under fourteen years of age to attend school for five months every year. [three months was common at this time] What types of things would you expect to stay the same? What types of things would you expect to change? What do you think your community will look like in the future?

Additional locations for information The Encyclopedia of Northern Kentucky. nkyviews.com/kenton kentoncountylibrary.org  Click here to see a video of Independence from around 1938!