Henderson history: School closure, industrial park prompted rebirth of Robards government
The town government of Robards rose from its ashes 25 years ago just like the fabled phoenix.
And you might characterize those ashes as the residue of citizens’ anger about closure of their school -- and fear about what a huge new industrial park might bring to their doorstep.
But let’s start at the beginning. Around the turn of the 20th Century at least eight of Henderson County’s smaller communities organized city governments. Corydon was incorporated in 1868, Bluff City and Hebbardsville in 1869, Spottsville in 1871, Cairo in 1872, Robards in 1882, Zion in 1890, and Baskett in 1903.
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Corydon’s city government is the only one that survived in its original incarnation. But Robards got a new lease on life long after it died in 1912. It was a victim of sidewalks. The Robards trustees passed first reading of a tax increase to pay for sidewalks, which prompted W.G. Duncan and 52 other people to file suit May 3, 1911, to dissolve the city’s government.
The suit dragged on for months but eventually those wanting to keep Robards city government realized they didn’t have the votes if an election were held. They threw in their hand and the city government dissolved Oct. 21, 1912.
Flash forward 85 years.
The Henderson County School Board voted in January 1997 to close the elementary schools in Robards, Hebbardsville and Smith Mills – after years of controversy about whether to keep them open. Robards residents felt like the heart had been ripped from their community.
To make matters worse – from the viewpoint of many Robards people – on May 7, 1997, The Gleaner carried a story about what would eventually become 4 Star Industrial Park. It was a mammoth multi-county project as initially envisioned: 3,400 acres stretching from Robards to Sebree between what is now Interstate 69 and the CSX railroad tracks.
The northern boundary would have been Rockhouse Road – virtually in Robards’ backyard. Keep in mind this was at a time when there were numerous odor problems with the operation that is now Tyson Foods. And to make matters worse there were rumors – later confirmed by Judge-executive Sandy Watkins – that a hog-slaughtering operation had been considering locating a plant in Henderson County.
Robards residents were restive and let Henderson Fiscal Court know about their concerns. The Gleaner of May 14 reported fiscal court was planning to move the northern boundary of the park about a half-mile south of Rockhouse Road. (The industrial park was later much reduced in size; only 762 acres are currently available for development.)
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“Robards is an established community,” said Watkins. “We don’t want to run the industrial area right up the back door of it. We don’t want to buffer it with Rockhouse Road.”
The same May 14 edition of The Gleaner also carried an article about a meeting in Robards to discuss the idea of forming a city government. That effort was headed by Jim Eblen and Lee Eakins; Eakins later became the first mayor of the reborn city.
After losing battles on industrial development and keeping their school open, local residents wanted to take matters into their own hands, said grocery owner Willard Hyde. “Fed up,” is how he described the town’s mood. “We wish we had done this two years ago. Maybe we’d have saved the school.”
The lead story in the May 25 Gleaner examined the issues Robards residents were wrestling with, but noted that a petition for incorporating had not yet been drafted. Presenting that petition to Henderson Circuit Court was the first step toward incorporation.
The May 30 Gleaner reported the industrial park idea could be stillborn. But the judge-executive spoke in favor of incorporation for Robards. That would give the fledgling city a better grip on its fate, Watkins said.
Robards resident Mary Clary agreed. “With an industrial park there’s going to be a little more control,” she said. “If an individual (landowner) decides to sell (to industry) there’s not going to be any control whatsoever.”
Over the summer of 1997 the question of incorporation zigged back and forth. The June 3 Gleaner noted the petition to form the city was about where it needed to be to gain circuit court approval. About 290 registered voters had signed it out of approximately 400 living in the expected city limits. The number needed was two-thirds of the voters, and the petition had nearly three-quarters.
Two days later, however, The Gleaner carried an article about a counter petition that had gained about 100 signatures. E.B. Griffin, who was leading that effort, said the opposition stemmed from a fear of more taxes.
“If you show me a city that operates without a tax,” he said, “I’ll show you a herd of buffalo that flies south every winter.”
An incorporation public meeting, reported in the June 13 edition, noted some Robards residents were concerned about how being inside a city would impact their 2nd Amendment rights. “That’s an issue that’s never come up,” said Eakins, who added that he often enjoyed shooting from his back porch.
Another problem cropped up in the June 18 Gleaner. Several landowners were planning to form an agricultural district west of Robards so their 385 acres of farmland would not be included. Cities are prohibited from annexing agricultural district land.
The property included 187 acres owned by Milton “Eddie” Crowder; 113 acres owned by James M. Steinwachs Sr.; and 85 acres owned by Karl W. Dawson.
The June 21 Gleaner reported that proposition had been accepted by the Henderson County Conservation District.
“I’m trying to protect the integrity of this farm and maintain it for agricultural use,” Crowder said.
The Gleaner of July 23 reported the petition to incorporate Robards had been presented to Henderson Circuit Court. “Now we just have to wait and see,” Eakins said. “We’re hoping it goes.”
The petition included the signatures of 305 residents and described the boundaries as reaching from Spencer-Thornberry Road on the west to I-69 on the east, a distance of more than three miles. It stretched from the approximate location of the Robards interstate exit south to the northern boundary of KB Alloys Inc., a distance of nearly three miles.
The geographic area it covers is just over 3 square miles.
The judge’s decision to form the city didn’t come until November 1997. It was appealed.
On April 23, 1999, the Kentucky Supreme Court upheld the incorporation of Robards as a sixth-class city, ending 17 months of legal battles. That was roughly the same amount of time it took to dissolve the first incarnation of Robards.
100 YEARS AGO
A legal advertisement in The Gleaner of May 28, 1922, notified property owners along Second Street of the city’s intention to pave it.
Property owners were told to make proper sewer, gas and water connections immediately because no connections would be allowed once the street was paved.
Kentucky’s highest court just a few days before had upheld the city’s 1920 ordinance to pave the street.
The street commissioner said in a front-page story that no decision had yet been made on what type of paving would be used, but it would probably be a concrete base topped with asphalt.
75 YEARS AGO
The Gleaner of May 22, 1947, noted Mayor Robert B. Posey had announced the creation of a predecessor to what is now Henderson Municipal Power & Light.
Frank H. Delker Sr. was the first member appointed to the three-member board, which was necessary if the city were to build a new power plant. Delker had taken an active interest in the city’s need for a new power plant.
Because of its unreliable power plant, the city had earlier been forced to drop the Rural Electric Cooperative as a customer, but pledged to resume providing REA with power if the plant were built. Five Henderson industries also reported they would build expansions if they had a better power source.
The Gleaner of Nov. 5, 1947, reported, however, that the public vote to authorize issuance of $2.1 million worth of bonds to finance the new power plant had failed 2,226 to 1,529 -- a margin of 697.
The voters relented in the 1948 election, approving a $3 million bond issue to build Station 1 by a margin of 1,874 to 1,424. In early March 1949 the Henderson City Commission approved a 25-percent increase on industrial users and promised to set up HMP&L to oversee building the new power plant, which took place in 1950-51.
50 YEARS AGO
Henderson Fiscal Court passed a resolution establishing the Henderson County Health Care Corporation, the entity that owns what is now Redbanks nursing home, according to The Gleaner of May 23, 1972.
The plans for the building called for a “one-story, colonial style building” consisting of one long central structure with Y-shaped wings on both ends. The approximate cost was $1.6 million. It opened May 1, 1973.
Readers of The Gleaner can reach Frank Boyett at YesNews42@yahoo.com or on Twitter at @BoyettFrank.
This article originally appeared on Henderson Gleaner: Henderson history: School closure, industrial park prompted rebirth of Robards government
