Campton, Kentucky

Campton, Kentucky is the county seat of Wolfe County, and is located in eastern Kentucky at the junction of Kentucky State Route 15 and the Bert T. Combs Mountain Parkway.

According to local lore, the town was originally named Camp Town after Nim Willis, the first settler, stumbled upon the remains of an old mining camp that he believed was made by legendary Jonathan Swift -- a famous silver miner. The community blossomed along Swift Camp Creek and became known later as Campton.(1)

In 1860, the community was selected as the county seat of Wolfe County. A courthouse constructed from logs was built around 1860 and served until 1884, when it was destroyed by fire. A second courthouse was completed in 1885 but was also consumed by fire in 1913. A third two-story Beaux Arts-styled courthouse, constructed of orange-glazed brick, was completed in 1917. It features a bas-relief of a wolf, paying homage to the county name.(1)

During the Civil War, General George Morgan's Union army passed through Campton on September 23, 1862 en route to the Ohio River from Cumberland Gap. General John Hunt Morgan's Confederate troops passed through in 1864. Because of Campton's central location along an important strategic route, a Home Guard unit occupied Campton during part of the war.

The town was incorporated in 1870. The Mountain Central Railway, a narrow-gauge railroad constructed for several timbering industries, was constructed from the Lexington & Eastern Railway's junction at Campton Junction to Campton, where it terminated.

The line was abandoned in 1928 when the area was stripped of its lumber.

Oil was drilled near Campton in 1903, and just two years later, 58 wells were operating in the region. While the production of oil waned by the 1920s, it was restarted in the 1950s before the field was exhausted by the 1960s.

Campton was also home to the Kentucky Wesleyan College of Winchester, who opened a branch in the community. Constructed by county judge Taylor Center, who also constructed a kiln on the school site to make bricks, Kentucky Wesleyan withdrew its support in 1912. The school continued on by charging tuition until 1934 before becoming the Wolfe County Grade School and High School.

In 1963, the Mountain Parkway was completed to Campton.

Sources

1. "Campton." Kentucky Encyclopedia. Ed. John E. Kleber. 2nd ed. Lexington: University Press of Kentucky, 1992. 159. Print.