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The Nearly Forgotten History of Portland, Kentucky
The Nearly Forgotten History of Portland, Kentucky is the true story of the creation of the independent town below the falls of the Ohio that is now a resurgent neighborhood on the northwest end of Louisville. This story begins with the geologic formation of the 350-million-year-old Devonian-Era fossil beds now known as the Falls, glimpses of its mysterious prehistory, and then we meet the Shawnee, who are there when Daniel Boone arrives. From there, Portland becomes the stepping-off point for Lewis & Clark and many adventurers after them. Because of its early prominence, the story of early Portland is a parade of famous names, from Henry Clay, John James Audubon, a young Abraham Lincoln, Charles Dickens, and Mark Twain. But it is Portland’s residents — Jim Porter, the Batman brothers, Pink Varble, Gen. William “Bull” Nelson, and Mary Millicent Miller, America’s first female steamboat pilot — who make this story what it a page-turning narrative that reveals the history of Kentucky and Louisville from a new from the Lower Wharf of the Falls of the Ohio at Portland.
- GenresHistory
Paperback
Published January 1, 2018
17 people want to read
About the author
James Higdon
5 books14 followersJames Higdon is a graduate of St. Augustine School, Marion County High School, Centre College, Brown University's MFA writing program, and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
His first book, The Cornbread Mafia, was published in hardcover in 2012, in paperback in 2013, and in revised paperback in 2019. His second book, The Nearly Forgotten History of Portland, Kentucky, was published in 2018.
He is currently co-founder and chief communications officer for Cornbread Hemp, a CBD brand that offers USDA organic CBD products from Kentucky.
His first book, The Cornbread Mafia, was published in hardcover in 2012, in paperback in 2013, and in revised paperback in 2019. His second book, The Nearly Forgotten History of Portland, Kentucky, was published in 2018.
He is currently co-founder and chief communications officer for Cornbread Hemp, a CBD brand that offers USDA organic CBD products from Kentucky.
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September 5, 2023
I used this book while researching the Ohio River for The 981 Project, www.the981project.com.
Sometimes the best way to absorb history is through the lens of a small community, instead of a metropolis, state, region, or country. This book is one of those portals to understanding pre-history, colonial history, industrial history, the civil war, and the Ohio River’s role in it all. The author introduces us to Daniel Boone, Abraham Lincoln, Henry Clay, William Lytle, John James Audubon, and Lewis & Clark and Mary Millicent Miller (America’s first female riverboat captain) and how the Ohio River town of Portland shaped their destinies.
Sometimes the best way to absorb history is through the lens of a small community, instead of a metropolis, state, region, or country. This book is one of those portals to understanding pre-history, colonial history, industrial history, the civil war, and the Ohio River’s role in it all. The author introduces us to Daniel Boone, Abraham Lincoln, Henry Clay, William Lytle, John James Audubon, and Lewis & Clark and Mary Millicent Miller (America’s first female riverboat captain) and how the Ohio River town of Portland shaped their destinies.
Displaying 1 of 1 review