F. M. Jones & Bro. General Store
Barren County, Barren County, Kentucky
Marker Inscription
F. M. Jones and Bro. General Store. In 1855, John and Francis Marion Jones formed a partnership for selling goods at Myers Steam Mill on Beaver Creek in Barren County. A petition for a post office was granted in 1856 & name changed from Myers Mill to Coral Hill. Store was catalyst leading to a village that included homes, churches, a school, blacksmith, cobbler, & mill. (Reverse) The Cumberland Trace Stage Line passed through Coral Hill twice daily, traveling northbound to Lexington and southbound to Nashville. The trip from Nashville to Lexington was approximately 214 miles, requiring seven days travel. Stage line was discontinued after the Civil War.
Erected by Kentucky Historical Society
The Story
In 1855, brothers John and Francis Marion Jones opened a general store at Myers Steam Mill on Beaver Creek, and their business became the seed of a whole village. A post office followed in 1856, and the settlement—renamed Coral Hill—soon gathered homes, churches, a school, a blacksmith, a cobbler, and a mill around the store. The Cumberland Trace Stage Line rolled through twice daily on the seven-day, 214-mile run between Nashville and Lexington, until the Civil War ended the route.
Why it matters
Coral Hill shows how a single frontier store and a stagecoach road could conjure a Kentucky community out of the crossroads countryside.
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Related people
- · Francis Marion Jones
- · John Jones
Themes & tags
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