Creelsboro is a historic town in Russell County,

Kentucky Kentucky (, ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north, West Virginia to the ...

, United States. The declining town was thriving some sixteen years before Russell County was formed. It was named for Elijah Creel, an early settler. Creelsboro was a trade center along the

Cumberland River The Cumberland River is a major waterway of the Southern United States. The U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed June 8, 2011 river drains almost of southern Kentucky and ...

in the 19th century although its population was only about 50. It was once the busiest river port on the river between

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

, and

Burnside, Kentucky Burnside is a home rule-class city in Pulaski County, Kentucky, United States. The population was 611 at the 2010 census. In 2004, Burnside became the only town in Pulaski County or any adjoining county to allow the sale of alcoholic beverages ...

. The town hosted a bank, a school, three stores and an inn for steam boat passengers. Construction of modern highways in the 1930s took commercial traffic away from

steamboat A steamboat is a boat that is marine propulsion, propelled primarily by marine steam engine, steam power, typically driving propellers or Paddle steamer, paddlewheels. The term ''steamboat'' is used to refer to small steam-powered vessels worki ...

s and Creelsboro lost its primary revenue stream. Creelsboro's current population is involved in agriculture. Visitors access the Cumberland River for trout fishing and view Rockhouse natural arch five miles downstream from town and through which the ancient Cumberland River once flowed.

External links

Creelsboro History

References

Ghost towns in Kentucky Geography of Russell County, Kentucky {{US-ghost-town-stub