Heekin

by Shirley Spegal

Although Heekin today is only a small place, it was once a community business center with two blacksmith shops, a saw mill, two toll-gate houses, a schoolhouse, and a post office.

Heekin was named by a man who worked for Heekin Spice Company in Cincinnati. The community had its beginning when Willie Hall set up a one-room millinery shop where she made and sold women's hats. Then Mood Hall started a general store and Heekin began to grow.

The earliest settlers of Heekin were the Chipmans and the Scroggins. They bought the land for fifty cents an acre. On Mr. Scroggin's land there were wild hogs which he caught and sold to help pay the debt for his large farm.

Two creeks run close to Heekin; Rattlesnake Creek was so named because of the many rattlers killed close by, and the Wicked Willow, which got its name because it caused so much damage when it overflowed. Now the Wicked Willow is called Grassy Run.

The Grassy Run Baptist Church at Heekin was organized in 1849; the Mt. Olivet Christian Church was established at Cross Roads in 1871, but later moved to Heekin; and Salem Methodist Church, the oldest of the three, was begun in 1841.

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.