Bear Creek is a stream
Clay County Clay County is the name of 18 counties in the United States. Most are named for Henry Clay, U.S. Senator and statesman:
* Clay County, Alabama
* Clay County, Arkansas (named for John Clayton, and originally named Clayton County)
* Clay County, Fl ...
, in the
U.S. state
In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sover ...
of
Kentucky
Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia to ...
. It is a tributary of
Red Bird River
The Red Bird River is one of two tributaries at the head of the South Fork of the Kentucky River, the other being the Goose Creek.
It is located in the Daniel Boone National Forest in extreme southeastern portion of the U.S. state of Kentucky
...
.
Bear Creek received its name after a bear was shot there, according to local history.
Tributaries and post offices
Barcreek was established on 1900-03-07 by Elijah Herd, and remained in operation until March 1969.
It was half a mile upriver on Bear Creek from its confluence with the
Red Bird River
The Red Bird River is one of two tributaries at the head of the South Fork of the Kentucky River, the other being the Goose Creek.
It is located in the Daniel Boone National Forest in extreme southeastern portion of the U.S. state of Kentucky
...
.
Its name was most likely a corruption of Bear Creek, but could also have been a reference to a large local sandbar.
Herd's first choice of his own name had been rejected by the USPS because it clashed with an already existing postoffice in
Boyd County.
Green L. Langdon moved it upriver in 1914, close to, or possibly at, the site of what was later to be Spurlock post office. It was relocated back to Bear Creek in the 1920s, and was up the creek when it closed.
Spurlock post office was established on 1928-10-02, Silvania Herd's first choice of "Herd" similarly being rejected by the USPS because it then clashed with an already existing postoffice by that name in
Jackson County.
Named after the Spurlock family, descendants of settler William Spurlock (1815–1855) from North Carolina who had arrived at Bear Creek in 1835, it lasted until July 1988.
It was located 1 mile upstream of the mouth of Banks Branch, a tributary of
Red Bird River
The Red Bird River is one of two tributaries at the head of the South Fork of the Kentucky River, the other being the Goose Creek.
It is located in the Daniel Boone National Forest in extreme southeastern portion of the U.S. state of Kentucky
...
to the south of Bear Creek, to replace Barcreek post office after it moved back to Bear Creek.
See also
*
List of rivers of Kentucky
List of rivers in Kentucky (U.S. state).
By drainage basin
This list is arranged by drainage basin, with respective tributaries indented under each larger stream's name. All rivers in Kentucky flow to the Mississippi River, nearly all by virtue o ...
Cross-reference
Sources
*
*
Rivers of Clay County, Kentucky
Rivers of Kentucky
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