"Kirksville" Kirksville by Krumlovgirl

Although little more than a wide space in the road today, at one time Kirksville was a happening place. I’ve worked a lot with tourism and history in Madison County and at least scenically, Kirksville has always been a favorite of mine. It sets on a ridge that runs down into the Kentucky River and is about a 15-20 minute country drive from downtown Richmond. Much like Valley View, if you’re a history buff you might be more interested in what you don’t see than what you do. It still has some fine old homes, boarded up businesses, and a couple of old churches (although the old schoolhouse outshines them all) but there are also some other relics from the past that you have to kind of hunt for. If you drive slowly towards Poosey Ridge you’ll see traces of old homesteads dating back over one hundred years and many old farms and businesses.

old Kirksville shool

As for the history, Kirksville was originally known as Bagdad (yes, that’s the spelling) and later Centerville because it was in the geographic center of Paint Lick Creek and Silver Creek. In 1830 Samuel Kirkendall opened a general store and a factory (store still stands but the factory is gone) and in 1845 the town was renamed Kirksville. The old school is now a community center, you can sometimes see my friend’s band Freedom Riders playing there, and a new school has been opened at a considerable distance away.

tobacco farm in Kirksville

If you take a drive through the area you’ll have some nice views of the valleys in Madison County and you can either backtrack back into Madison County via Poosey Ridge (one of my favorite places) or on into Garrard County.