19th Century

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As a demand for cotton bagging and rope grew in the South, Bourbon County emerged as leading hemp producers in the state. By 1810, Bourbon County had two hemp mills producing 50,000 yards of fiber per year, and the annual crop in Kentucky had risen to 5,755 tons (U.S. Census Bureau, 1865). The greater part of the total was grown in the fertile Bluegrass region, where Bourbon County led the way with 796 tons (followed by Scott with 599, Fayette with 595, Mercer with 433, and Woodford with 417, and outside of the region, Mason County, reporting at 581 tons of fiber (Hopkins, 1998). 

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Increased attention to the manufacture of hemp bagging as the demand for cotton increased. Hemp factories in Bourbon and Fayette counties accounted for over 94 percent of bagging produced along the Maysville Road, and 73 percent of the state’s total production by 1812. Merchant-manufacturers of Lexington and Paris found great profit in hemp and cotton productions, tapping into the cash crop that flourished in southern Kentucky (Friend, 2005).  

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As the hemp industry began to show profits, the local manufacturing industry continued to develop around what is now known as the Maysville & Lexington Pike. This route was originally known as the "Limestone Trace" and was a native path made by the Indians following herds of animals searching for vegetation along the "licks." When early settlers came to Kentucky on the Ohio River, they landed at Maysville (formally known as Limestone Landing) and followed the native trail toward Lexington. This became the main trade route to the river, and Bourbon County was situated perfectly along the path making it an early trade hub.

In 1812, Samuel Williams built a two-story rope, bagging and hemp fiber warehouse, along with a two-story ropewalk, a loom house, and a block of small brick buildings in which he housed his laborers on Georgetown Road, just a short distance from Paris. By 1816, he had become so affluent that he contributed to the sixty-five-foot steeple and bell for the town’s new courthouse. Sometime between 1816-1818, William Alexander installed a hemp factory a half-mile from Paris on the Maysville & Lexington Pike (Perrin, 1882). His 600-foot “rope walk” was said to be one of the world’s longest, and made ropes for rigging on sailing ships. The factory was operated by more than 100 slaves, whose cabins are long gone (Eblen, 2016). It remained in operation until 1856. Another hemp factory was built at the upper end of Pleasant street around 1818 by Samuel Pike, a wool manufacturer who came to Bourbon County from England in the early 19th century. Pike sent the bagging South and have cotton sent back for manufacturing. He continued in the business until his death in 1837. The factory continued in operation by Henry T. Duncan, a Bourbon county native who was married to Pike’s daughter Eliza. Still another was built on the east side of the Stoner by William Woodward around 1822 (Perrin, 1882). All these factories made bagging, rope and twine, made of hemp fiber which were shipped South, where they found a ready market (Everman, 1977).

An increasing demand for hemp fiber sparked a need for shipping improvements. In 1829, a canal was built around the Falls of the Ohio River opening a waterway from Kentucky to New Orleans. It allowed steamboats to start carrying Kentucky hemp, along with tobacco and bourbon, to markets along the Mississippi River. By 1840, Kentucky led the nation in hemp production (Brown, 2002), while the counties of Fayette and Bourbon led in the state.

During this time, the U.S. Navy began to advertise for high quality American grown hemp fiber for Naval use such as ropes and ship rigging. However, the requirement for water-rotted hemp differed many Kentucky farmers from meeting navy standards. On January 15, 1846, the President of the Bourbon County Agricultural Society, G. W. Williams, wrote to Lewis Sanders who was the designated hemp agent for the state of Kentucky, to express sentiments toward the naval requirements for hemp and asking price. Mr. Williams described the planning and labor demands for water-rotting hemp, claiming that the Navy had advertised too late for farmers to prepare for this purpose and that seven-eighths of the hemp in Kentucky had been spread out to dew-rot before the government advertisement was known to local farmers (Williams, 1846). 

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While many had anticipated an increase in price and demand once the U.S. Navy began seeking domestically grown hemp fiber, farmers were unable (or unwilling) to spend the time, labor, and additional expense required for water-rotting hemp crops. Instead, many farmers insisted on using the method of dew-rotting the crops and selling to Southern markets.Prices had become more competitive and the growing demand from the Southern cotton market incised farmers to experiment with different growing and harvesting methods in an effort to produce higher quality crops. In 1847, the Bourbon Agricultural Society granted three premiums for the largest amounts of clean hemp produced on one acre, and the average was 900 pounds. Cotton planters responded by demanding more of the less expensive, but durable bagging, while shippers sought after large amounts of bale rope (Everman, 1977). 

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Hemp production became even more profitable for Bourbon County farmers when the “southern terminus” of the Maysville and Lexington Railroad was constructed in 1854. Paris was designated the most important shipping point in Kentucky (Collins, 1878), and hemp became cheaper and easier to transport. Bourbon County remained a leading hemp producer through the mid-19th century, and the making of rope and sailcloth contained as one of its most profitable agricultural endeavors and became the basis for a number of local fortunes. However, by 1859, it had fallen behind Fayette, Woodford, Boyle, Scott, Mason, and Jessamine counties in production. 

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Prior to the Civil War, the hemp industry had relied heavily on slave labor for growing, harvesting, and processing of hemp crops. The hemp break was the most common piece of equipment and method used for processing hemp. It was called a hemp break because it broke the long hemp fibers from the inner woody core of the stalk. Many efforts to invent machinery to break the hemp more efficiently were made throughout the 19th century, but none could proved successful. The ropewalks and hemp factories were also operated by enslaved people. The crop was extremely labor intensive and unpleasant to handle. 

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After the abolishment of slavery, wealthy plantation and factory owners struggled to find workers to keep up with operations. In addition, the lack of mechanized equipment for hemp breaking and inefficiencies of processing slowed down the industry. Through the late 19th century, the hemp industry fluctuated drastically. Hemp dealers began struggling to find markets for the crop as foreign sources of fiber became cheaper to import and readily available. Many farmers turned to tobacco, and soon it had taken stolen the role as Kentucky’s leading cash crop. 

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While the Kentucky hemp industry fluctuated drastically between 1870-1900. In 1870, farmers reportedly produced a crop of 567 tons in 1870 (Scott & Scott, 2002). A decade later, the local paper stated that the hemp market was so unsettled and unreliable that many of the producers were contemplating abandoning its production and turning their attention to more reliable, profitable crops (The Bourbon News, 1882). Just the next year, reports described a small number of medium to good quality hemp crops being harvested within the county. That November, a local farmer Edwin G. Bedford sold 280,000 pounds of hemp at $5.00 per cwt. The order required thirty cars to transport the crop, and it was considered one of the largest (if not the largest) sale of hemp ever made by a Bourbon County farmer (The Bourbon News, 1883). 

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Several hemp dealers and manufacturers managed to corner the industry

and find success toward the turn of the century. E.F. Spears & Sons began

dealing rough and dressed American hemp in 1886. In the next several years,

Chas S. Brent & Bro began to advertise hemp wanted, hemp brakes, and

hemp seed for sale in local papers. Chas S. Brent & Bro became leading

dealers in hemp, often making large purchases of hemp crops from farmers

in Bourbon County and the surrounding bluegrass region. In 1897, C.S. Brent

& Bro. bought a number of hemp crops at $3.35 per cwt. That years crop was

considered large, but inferior grade (The Bourbon News, 1897).

The following May, the company purchased 60,000 pounds of the 1897 crop

at $3.50, and 25,000 pounds of the 1899 crop at $3.00 from Hol C. M. Clay Jr.

Just several months later, C.S. Brent & Bro. purchased another 60,000

pounds of hemp from C. M. Clay Jr., 50,000 pounds from Junius Clay, and

30,000 pounds from L.M. Bedford at $4.00 a cwt (The Bourbon News, 1898).

In February 1899, the Brent Bro’s purchased more than 200,000 pounds of

hemp at $4.50 per cwt (The Bourbon News, 1899).