Jackson Purchase Historical Society

The November meeting of the Jackson Purchase Historical Society will celebrate the Bicentennial of Calloway County with a panel discussion focused on the Bicentennial history book, Calloway County, Kentucky: Celebrating the First 200 Years, 1822-2022. that has just been published. The meeting will be held on Saturday, November 19, beginning at 10:30 AM in the County Courthouse Annex at 201 South Fourth Street in Murray. The venue for the meeting, the courthouse annex, served for many years as the City of Murray’s post office and is itself part of the downtown historic district. The JPHS is honored to join with the Bicentennial book steering committee for this important Calloway County project. The County Fiscal Court began the project and appointed a steering committee to oversee it. Bobbie Smith Bryant, Randy Patterson, and Pat Seiber led the committee. The panel will share the process by which the book was produced. The panel will be made up of those who played a leadership role in the project. They helped to define the scope of the project, recruit authors, and oversaw production and distribution of the book. The book is published by Acclaim Press of Morley, Missouri, specialists in local history publications. The panelists will also discuss incidents in Calloway County history that they found particularly informative, intriguing, or novel. There will be time for questions, comments, and discussion by members of the audience who will also have their own particular interest and knowledge of Calloway County history. Their public participation will be an important part of the program.

To join this meeting via Zoom you will need to register in advance by going to the following URL:
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZwkf-6hrz8vHNEOYtiH-XeRSXvOERJcLZ-v

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.

Copies of the Bicentennial book will be available at the meeting from the Calloway County Genealogical and Historical Society, which was a cooperating agency on the project and played an important role in its successful completion. The books are $60, cash or check, but credit cards cannot be accepted. Order forms will also be available for books to be shipped to any address and credit cards will be taken with those orders. It can also be ordered online at www.acclaimpress.com.

Calloway was the second county formed in the Jackson Purchase region of Kentucky by the state legislature only a few years after the area was opened for settlement. The first County Courthouse was in Wadesboro, but the county seat was moved to Murray in 1842 and has remained there. Marshall County was later set off from Calloway. The panel will be an occasion to discuss the rich history of Callaway County and the many contributions its residents have made locally, at the state level, nationally, and even internationally. The Bicentennial is a time to celebrate the lives of all the people who have built Calloway County.