Charles A. Barker / Ashland, KY /
"BECKHAM COUNTY, an 80-day wonder. Cut off from Carter with vague corners of Lewis and Elliott to become Kentucky's 120th, it is the only county abolished by state courts. Beckham County was created during a period of rapid division as a response to growth, local pride and political ambition. First envisioned as Hardscrabble, then Goebel County, it was named for the sitting governor, J. C. W. Beckham, and created by the legislature on Feb. 9, 1904, with Olive Hill as county seat. C. V. Zimmerman filed suit against the new county judge, Capt. C. C. Brooks, disputing a $70 debt judgment. He claimed the county was unlawful because it left parent counties with less than 400 square miles of area and had less area itself. Carter County joined the suit, adding that Beckham's boundary ran too close to Vanceburg and Grayson, violating a 10-mile minimum, and that Beckham robbed Carter of rightful taxes. The court dissolved Beckham on April 29, 1904. Postal orders and marriage licenses remain the only offical records."
George Wolford 1990
Beckham County Boundries
Charles A. Barker / Ashland, KY /
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