Mason

by Doris Henry

 Mason now has a population of about 75 people, but once had about 300 families.  The railroad went through Mason around 1883 or 1884.  It received its name from one of the contractors on the railroad whose name was Mason.  Gallason Gaugh kept the post office at Mason.  Instead of a salary, she received money from canceled stamps, packages and special delivery.  John Tanner had an inn and a house between what is now Bruce's Grocery and the Methodist Church.  There was a sulfur well there; men taking their cattle, hogs, and calves from Lexington to the market in Cincinnati would stop here to make a break in their journey.  Dr. J. B. Abernathy lived in a large two-story house made of log.  It burned down and Rock Garden now stands at that site.  A blacksmith's shop stood between what is now Rock Garden and Arvel Roland's house.  The men around Mason raised tobacco and cut large oak trees and sent them by freight to Cincinnati.  The tobacco was placed in large hogsheads for shipping.  Trains stopped at the cattle chute where the Texaco station now stands to load cattle brought from all around for shipment.

There have been schools and churches in Mason since about 1885.  The four schools were located on the following places: one at Hard Scrabble, one at Crossroads, one across from Mt. Lystra, and one on the Sipple Road.  Around 1914, Mae Beverly suggested consolidating the schools.  The Mason Consolidated School was built in 1918.  The reason they were able to build a school so quickly was that these four schools served several communities.  The three churches in the area were the Baptist Church at Mason, Mt. Lystra, now Lystra Church of Christ, and the Methodist Church.  The preacher's salary was about sixty dollars.

From a collection of essays written in American Literature Eleven.  The class was taught by Ms. Hazel Ogden of Grant County High School in the 1963-1964 school year, and was typed by the typing classes of Mrs. Mattie Cox.  It is copyrighted by the Grant County Schools, and is used here with their kind permission. We found a copy in UK's King Library.