Source: Hancock Clarion page 1, Retyped by Mary Louise Gibbs. For non-profit use.

Before the town was surveyed and laid out into streets and lots, the early name was Little Yellow Banks, so called because of the river bank being so yellow and high which caused the settlers to select the site above high water, Owensboro was then called Big Yellow Banks.

Lewisport was beautifully laid out with a front street located about 100 yards from the bluff bank. A large number of trees were directly in front of town with a racecourse for horseracing up and down in front of the town.

In those early days, there was no such thing as a steam-boat, but hundreds of flat-boats were on their way down the river to the great southern metropolis, New Orleans. The flatboats were loaded with all kinds of products such as livestock, bacon or other meat products, hay lime, hoop poles, and hundreds of families-all going south and into the great unknown.

The Front of Main Street in Lewisport was built up mostly with two-story houses. About 1849 the town was destroyed by fire. Every house on the Front Street was burned except one store building belonging to Joe C. Pell.

A vast primeval forest of immense trees surrounded the town. Naturally, this led to the people engaging in the lumber business. The principal industry was the felling of trees and logging, shipping the logs in immense rafts by floating them to the Southern markets.

Then came the whipsaw mills, and lumber was hand sawn from the logs. A great era of building flatboats was carried on here and shipments of local produce from Lewisport was started and continued until the coming of the steamboat. The only well defined road was the old Indian Trail starting from the Troy landing and running down to Blackford Creek where it joined the Shawnee Town of Vincennes Trail over which Tom Lincoln made his first trip with his son, Abe, to Indiana in 1816. In later years the river was supplied with all kinds of steamboats and steam toe-boats. The business was so great the boats could hardly handle the great traffic. The passenger-boats developed into beautiful and palatial steamers, which plied the Ohio, Mississippi, and other great Western waters. Steamers made regular trip running from Pittsburgh to New Orleans, and as far up the Mississippi as St. Paul.

The only travel was by water; and the only wagons were the immense ox-drawn wagons. Everyone practiced horseback riding. While this transition was coming about, many strangers mostly from Virginia were settling the small hamlet of Lewisport. The hamlet began to assume the appearance of a town, with the many inhabitants following their trades, such as shoe-shop owners, cabinet workers, coffin-builders, and spinning and weaving their own clothes. All clothing was home made.

We can hardly give a graphic description of the town without having something to relate of the early personnel of the town, giving an account of many characters, and their quaint ways and savings which have become classic to the people of the present generation. We can remember Wiley Colbert, Judge Kincheloe Patterson, Mose Bullington, Dean Robinson, James W. Haywood, George Jones, and the Lott family. The witty Frank Bollington (old Bollie) and George Winters (old geese) are good matches for Mark Twain’s Tom Sawyer and Huchelberry Finn. These are boyhood memories and shall never be forgotten. Few people can remember that at one time in early history we had a Queens Ware factory here, run by an Englishman named Boston. (The old factory was here as long as the 80’s). A chair shop where homemade furniture was made was run by the Innman family and located in the western part of town on Front Street.

Candle molds were in every home. The first kerosene lamp brought to Lewisport was in 1858 and is owned by Joe C. Pell. At one time we had a coal railroad run in from the mines south of the town to the river to load boats with coal, for all the steamboats used wood, and there were numerous woodyards along the river.

The first permanent store was a log cabin store run by Joe C. Pell, one of the pioneer merchants, having had started in 1841, and run continuously until 1896. W. Curt Pell was at one time associated with Joe C. Pell, but he died at an early age. He was married and had a family. His sons were William Pell, Jefferson and Sam B. Pell. Edward Gregory was one of our largest tobacco merchants. He had a large family and was the father of J. Sam, Henry, Eli, Claiborne, and Mrs. Una Higdon; all residents of our town except Eli and Claborne.

The first merchants were Ray and Hambleton, Joe C. Pell, I.B. Hayden and son, Thaddeus Dulin, and Ab Howe. James W. Haywood, Charles Martin, William Pate, H.L. Meyers, and J.W. Patterson were among our early druggist. Two of the pioneer schoolteachers were Mr. John Clark and Mrs. Annie Morton. The Lewisport Band and Orchestra were organized in 1892 and were well known musical organizations until 1913. Our music teachers were Mrs. K. Smith, Mrs. Annie Morton, Mrs. Ida White, and Mrs. Annie Hayden.

The first place of worship was down at Jimmy Moore’s, near where Waitman Station once stood, where the traveling preachers came two or three times a year. The people of Lewisport went over the old Indian Trail to the home to worship. One of the preachers, Rev. John Davies, was the great-grandfather of the writer. Later a church was erected where the Abe Callender’s blacksmith shop once stood on the McClain-Reynold'’ house lot. This church was used by all denominations. In 1858 the old brick Methodist Church was built. The old brick church had a celebrated bell. It was very sweet with its silver tones. This bell was from the sunken steamer “Church” and was presented to the church by Old Mrs. Lowry, sister to Gov. Helm. The Baptist Church was organized 1 October 1859, with the following members: Mr. And Mrs. Abraham Callender, Mr. And Mrs. W.T. Prentis, Mr. And Mrs. Elias McDonald, Rachel teasley, Mr. And Mrs. Kincheloe Patterson. They elected as their first pastor Rev. Hardin Haynes Ellis. The Baptist Church was erected in 1872 and dedicated September 1882. One month Mrs. Bettie Lambert joined the church and was the only living member at the time of dedication. Later the colored people erected Methodist and Baptist churches. The Catholic Church has been here since the Civil War, a new one being erected in 1939. The Presbyterian Church was built and their first pastor was Rev. Morrison.

Among our early doctors were Dr. Stapp, who later became a celebrated physician in St. Louis, Missouri. Others were Dr. Slaughter, Dr. Lewis, the two Knoxes, Dr. Walker Brown, Dr. Prentis, Dr. Ireland, Dr. Bright, and Dr. Martin. Later there were Drs. J.W. Griffin, Plitt, F.M. Sherman, P.L. Berkshire and Dr. Ashby.

About 1882 the beautiful Front Street began to crumble and cave into the river until, we have but one of the original houses left on the front street. The Town gradually began to move other back streets, making fourth Street the principal Business Street of the town.