About

Membership History of Laurel County Historical Society

The first Laurel County Historical Society was formed at the instigation of Rev. J. J. Dickey in 1896. Dr. Dickey was not a local resident but came to Laurel County to help establish Sue Bennett College. He was interested in the history of every area he visited, and soon he gathered a group of teachers and began to collect genealogical information on local families. This group became the basis of the first historical society. It is not known how long this society was active, but by the 1900s it ceased to be mentioned in the old records.

Not until 1963 did another group of local historians establish the present Laurel County Historical Society. In January 1963, Fredora Pennington Lay and Nellie Jones Johnson paid the first dues as charter members, followed by Logan and Barbara Brown Ewell in early February. These four began to solicit memberships from across the country. By March 21, 1963, the Laurel County Historical Society had published a list of 158 charter members.

Between 1963 and 1991, meetings were held at various venues, including the Laurel County Public Library. Because the Society had no permanent location, materials were not readily available for research. In 1991 the Laurel County Fiscal Court allowed the Society to move into quarters vacated by the Older Persons Activity Center in the basement of the old City Hall. For the first time, the Society had its own space in which to display its collection of books and files. In the spring of 2007 it moved to a dedicated building in London when a former public building became available. The page also listed a street address, but that historical location is not presented as current contact information.

Purpose

The Laurel County Kentucky Historical Society’s purpose was to collect and maintain as many records and as much information about Laurel County’s history and people as possible and to make this available to Laurel Countians and visitors who sought it. The Society specialized in genealogical research. Its library contained volumes of reference materials, old photographs, and newspapers, as well as records on microfilm, microfiche, and CD-ROM.

In 2022, the Society also described donated artifacts, some displayed and some stored while a museum was prepared for the public. It continued to transcribe and publish census, marriage, cemetery, and old newspaper records of Laurel County, along with its semiannual newsletter, Branches of Laurel. These descriptions form part of its institutional history and do not represent current operations.