No Title 1185

Supplement to “The Voice of Russellville”

Don Naegle is the familiar voice you hear on locally owned and operated WRUS-AM, the only station in Logan County, which broadcasts from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. seven days a week. Here’s a snapshot of Russellville:

Population: 7,200

Location: Junction of U.S. 431, U.S. 79 and U.S. 68, 28 miles west of Bowling Green

Made in Russellville: welded mesh poultry cages, mulch, carpet cushioning, cabinets, electric motors, steel screws, and automotive seats and cylinders.

Grown in Logan County: top 10 producer among Kentucky counties in corn, soybeans, winter wheat, sorghum, milk, and dark-air, dark-fire, and burley tobacco. Crop production ranks second statewide in terms of cash receipts.

Things to See: 1817 Saddle Factory Museum, housed in perhaps the oldest industrial building in Kentucky; Bibb House Museum, former home of a noted abolitionis; Logan County Glade State Nature Preserve, 41 acres near downtown; Shaker Museum in South Union; Century House Winery & Vineyards in nearby Lewisburg

History: The Russellville area was first settled in 1790, with a town four blocks long and two blocks wide laid out in 1795. The town was renamed in 1798 in honor of Gen. William Russell, a Revolutionary War soldier who had received a 2,000-acre military grant at the site where the town was later built. The city was incorporated in 1810 and became the seat of Logan County. Jesse James, the son of a native Logan countian, is rumored to have robbed Nimrod Long Bank on South Main Street in 1868.

Sources: The Kentucky Encyclopedia, Kentucky Manufacturers Register, Kentucky Place Names, and Kentucky Department of Agriculture

To read the Kentucky Living October 2005 feature that goes along with this supplement, click here: The Voice of Russellville