Bear Creek (Red Bird River tributary)

{{Infobox river

| name = Bear Creek

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| image_caption = Bear Creek

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| source1 = Highest headwater of the three forks

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| source1_coordinates= {{coord|37.15141|-83.68714|type:river|format=dms|display=inline|name=Highest headwater of the three forks}}

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| source2 = Confluence of the three forks

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| source2_coordinates= {{coord|37.17750|-83.66449|type:river|format=dms|display=inline|name=Confluence of the three forks}}

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| mouth = Red Bird River{{sfn|Hodge|1918|p=103}}

| mouth_location = {{convert|6.25|mile|km}} upstream{{sfn|Hodge|1918|p=103}}

| mouth_coordinates = {{coord|37.22835|-83.63583|type:river|format=dms|display=inline,title|name=Bear Creek mouth}}

| mouth_elevation = {{convert|752|ft|m}}{{sfn|Hodge|1918|p=103}}

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| custom_label = post offices

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Barcreek: {{coord|37.2287016|-83.6354704|type:post-office|display=inline|name=Barcreek post office}}
Spurlock: {{coord|37.21259|-83.63389|type:post-office|display=inline|name=Spurlock post office}}

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Bear Creek is a creek that is a tributary of the Red Bird River in Clay County, Kentucky.{{sfn|Hodge|1918|p=103}}

Bear Creek received its name after a bear was shot there, according to local history.{{sfn|Rennick|2013|p=56}}

Tributaries and post offices

The mouth of Bear Creek is {{convert|6.25|mile|km}} upstream on Red Bird River at an altitude of {{convert|752|ft|m}} above sea level.{{sfn|Hodge|1918|p=103}}

Its major tributaries are:
a left branch {{convert|1|mile|km}} upstream at altitude {{convert|765|ft|m}}{{sfn|Hodge|1918|p=104}}
a left branch {{convert|1.5|mile|km}} upstream at altitude {{convert|780|ft|m}}{{sfn|Hodge|1918|p=104}}
a left branch {{convert|2.25|mile|km}} upstream at altitude {{convert|825|ft|m}}{{sfn|Hodge|1918|p=104}}
a left branch {{convert|2.75|mile|km}} upstream at altitude {{convert|860|ft|m}}{{sfn|Hodge|1918|p=105}}
a left branch {{convert|3|mile|km}} upstream at altitude {{convert|875|ft|m}}{{sfn|Hodge|1918|p=105}}
Bowling Branch {{convert|3.75|mile|km}} upstream at altitude {{convert|925|ft|m}}{{sfn|Hodge|1918|p=105}}
three forks {{convert|4.5|mile|km}} upstream at (where 2 of the forks meet) altitude {{convert|950|ft|m}}{{sfn|Hodge|1918|p=106}}

= Barcreek post office =

Barcreek was established on 1900-03-07 by Elijah Herd, and remained in operation until March 1969.{{sfn|Rennick|2000c|p=29}}

It was half a mile upriver on Bear Creek from its confluence with the Red Bird River.{{sfn|Rennick|2016b|loc=BARCREEK}}

Its name was most likely a corruption of Bear Creek, but could also have been a reference to a large local sandbar.{{sfn|Rennick|2000c|p=29}}

Herd's first choice of his own name had been rejected by the USPS because it clashed with an already existing postoffice in Boyd County.{{sfn|Rennick|2000c|p=43}}

Green L. Langdon moved it upriver in 1914, close to, or possibly at, the site of what was later to be Spurlock post office.{{sfn|Rennick|2000c|p=29}} It was relocated back to Bear Creek in the 1920s, and was {{convert|1/2|mi}} up the creek when it closed in March 1969.{{sfn|Rennick|2000c|p=29}}

= Spurlock post office =

Spurlock post office was established on 1928-10-02, Silvania Herd's first choice of "Herd" similarly being rejected by the USPS because it then clashed with an already existing postoffice by that name in Jackson County.{{sfn|Rennick|2000c|p=32}}

Named after the Spurlock family, descendants of settler William Spurlock (1815–1855) from North Carolina who had arrived at Bear Creek in 1835, it lasted until July 1988.{{sfn|Rennick|2000c|p=32}}

It was located 1 mile upstream of the mouth of Banks Branch, a tributary of Red Bird River to the south of Bear Creek, to replace Barcreek post office after it moved back to Bear Creek.{{sfn|Rennick|2000c|p=32}}

= General =

Across a ridge lies Laurel Creek.{{sfn|Hodge|1918|p=103}}

In 1918, Daniel Bowling had a mine {{convert|0.5|mile|km}} upstream on Bowling Branch.{{sfn|Hodge|1918|p=106}}

Cross-reference

Sources

{{cite book|title=The coals of Goose Creek and its tributaries|volume=4|issue=3|series=Reports of the Kentucky Geological Survey 4th series 1912–1918|publisher=The State Journal Company|location=Frankfort, Kentucky|author1-first=James Michael|author1-last=Hodge|year=1918}} ({{Internet Archive|id=thecoalsofgoosec00hodgrich|name=The coals of Goose Creek and its tributaries}})
{{cite journal|author1-last=Rennick|author1-first=Robert M.|title=Clay County — Post Offices|year=2000c|journal=County Histories of Kentucky|number=176|url=https://scholarworks.moreheadstate.edu/kentucky_county_histories/176|publisher=Morehead State University}}
{{cite journal|author1-last=Rennick|author1-first=Robert M.|title=Place Names Beginning with the Letter B|year=2016b|journal=Robert M. Rennick Manuscript Collection|number=17|url=https://scholarworks.moreheadstate.edu/rennick_ms_collection/17|publisher=Morehead State University}}
{{cite book|last=Rennick|first=Robert M.|title=Kentucky Place Names|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=azPttlmsv24C&pg=PT56|date=28 August 2013|publisher=University Press of Kentucky|isbn=978-0-8131-4401-6|page=56}}

Category:Rivers of Clay County, Kentucky

Category:Rivers of Kentucky