A closer look: Garnett

Garnett, in Anderson County, was named in honor of W.A. Garnett, who was a prominent citizen of Louisville, Ky.

He financed the colony and bought a flour mill and saw mill for the new town. George W. Cooper organized a group of men to create a town company consisting of himself, Garnett, R.B. Hall, George Dunn and Theodore Harris.

A plat for the town was filed Aug. 1, 1857, and, the town company soon staked out lots.

Cooper originally attempted settlement of Garnett in a different location, Ianthe Creek, because he wanted to create a town in the geographical center of Anderson County. But Dunn, the surveyor, suggested a spot six miles north that contained a spring.

The Garnett House Hotel, the first hotel in town, sheltered such people as John Brown, Wild Bill Hickock, Buffalo Bill Cody and Belle Starr. It was located on West Fourth Avenue.

Garnett had a college in the 1870s. Garnett College had no campus or building, so classes were in the Presbyterian Church — now home to the Thelma Moore Playhouse at Fifth Avenue and Walnut Street.

Many young people in the Garnett area now attend Anderson County Junior-Senior High School.

Information taken from www.experiencegarnettks.com and  www.historyandersoncoks.org

Just the facts: Garnett

• Male — 46.9 percent

• Female — 53.1 percent

• Median age — 41.2

• Median household income — $31,518

• Families below poverty level — 9.2 percent

• Individuals below poverty level — 12.4 percent

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