Scenes from the Grand opening of the Carrollton Highway
The Courier-Journal's story on the opening.

 

Governor Happy Chandler throws the switch to begin Owen County Rural Electrification. Details.
News-Herald, February 3, 1938

 

Here is a short history of New Liberty which talks about the above four images.

 

The Gayle House

“Says the Owen News: ‘ We were invited a few days ago to help gather ripe oranges at Mr. Hartsough's, in New Liberty. They were perfect, yellow, well-matured oranges of a good size. The tree has now the most fragrant blossoms, the young and ripe fruit. It has grown in a tub of prepared soil, is set on wheels, and lives near the door, so as to be rolled in the house out of the frost.’ ” uncredited newspaper clipping, dated 1871.	Smith Colvert opens a “house of public entertainment” in New Liberty in 1827. The ad is here.
	“New Liberty's Mr. J. B. Hartsaugh has started a opossum ranch.”  - Owen County Democrat, November 19, 1886
Henry Blanton is selling is home and business in New Liberty, in 1853.	The New Liberty Literary Institute is established by the legislature in 1866.
History of the New Liberty Schools (pdf).	Berta Gayle's History of New Liberty (pdf).
“The first lady to cross the new bridge between Cincinnati and Newport was Miss Williams, of New Liberty, Owen county, Kentucky, who was accompanied by her lover, Mr. J. Ellis, with whom she was escaping to the Ohio side from parents who ‘refused their consent to the match.’ They crossed over Wednesday on the officers train, accepting the invitation of Dr. Green, president of the Short-line road.” Courier-Journal, March 2, 1872	“To the Citizens of Henry, Owen, Carroll, Grant and Kenton Counties: A meeting of citizens friendly to a branch of the Louisville and Frankfort, from near Eminence, by way of the valleys, Drennon, Eagle, Ten Mile and Bank Lick Creek to Covington or Newport will be held at New Liberty, on Saturday, 13th of November, for the purpose of devising means for building said road.  Let everyone interested attend.”  from the Louisville Daily Courier, November 11, 1852.
“New Liberty was originally laid out as Adams Town in 1815, and was named after a local man named Reuben Adams.  Adams started a post office in 1816, but named it Twin Meeting House, after the Baptist Church at Twin Creek. By 1823 the name had changed to New Liberty – no one’s real clear on why – and the town was incorporated in 1827.” From Robert Rennick’s Kentucky Bluegrass: A Survey of the Post Offices, Vol. II.	“On Friday night October 14.  About 7 o'clock at New Liberty, Ky., we had the most sublime display of Aurora Borealis ever witnessed.  The lurid streaks of light flashed up from the horizon in the east and north, some red as fire, and shedding a glare of light nearly equal to moonlight, and extending halfway from the horizon to the zenith.”  from the Owen News, quoted in the Carrollton Democrat, October 29, 1870
“Messrs. Clarke and Lee have commenced the publication of a weekly paper called the Owen News, at New Liberty, the initial number of which has been received. The editorial management of the paper is under the control of Mr. J. M. Clarke, who in his salutatory announces his intention to make his paper a welcome visitor to the farmer, the mechanic, the merchant, and the manufacturer. In politics the News will advocate that sound national policy sustained by the Democratic party of the country. Owen is a populous county, intensely Democratic, and is abundantly able to support its home organ.” Courier-Journal, October 1, 1869	“The gross sales of the merchants of New Liberty for October aggregate $13,794. The Owen News attributes this immense array of figures to judicious advertising.” Courier-Journal, November 12, 1869
	“The Owen County Fair begins at New Liberty today.” Courier-Journal, October 5, 1869
	Hell hath no fury . . . here.
	Owen County banking, 1910. Here.
The Deposit Bank of New Liberty was authorized in 1861	Original founders of the Citizens Bank. Citizens Bank at New Liberty was incorporated on April 6, 1918.
“I have bought and taken possession of the Gayle House in New Liberty, and am prepared to entertain the traveling public in the best of style.  The house will be known as the Hukill House.  Bus line twice a day to and from Sanders Sta.  Livery stable connected.  J. H. Hukill, proprietor” The Owenton Democrat, April 1, 1887	“The new flouring mill at Wheatley threw open its doors last week and amidst the whir of wheels and burrs turned out its first pure white flour to many waiting patrons.  The people of this neighborhood have long wanted a convenience of this kind.  The mill has proven a success in the kind of flour produced, and has been attested by many good housewives in that section.  The plant is owned by Messrs. William and Henry J. McNeal and William Baker.” from the Owenton News-Herald, November 28, 1907
Sometimes we're not sure exactly what point the newspaperman is trying to make. He's certainly referring to the Livingtone-Stanley (Wikipedia) episode.
“A two-story, 10-room log house built by John Gayle and his slaves in 1806 is believed to have been among the first buildings erected in New Liberty. The structure was later converted into a barn. The northwest end of New Liberty, the so-called “Adamstown” section, was surveyed and laid out into lots in 1815. Several years after the “Adamstown” section was laid out, the southeast part of town, the so-called “Brownstown” section, was surveyed, overlapping the earlier section considerably.” - Mariam Sidebottom Houchens in her History of Owen County, Kentucky

The First Exhibit of the Owen County Union Agricultural and Mechanical Association
October 2, 1860

 

The New Liberty Union [!] Agricultural and Mechanical Association invite Jefferson Davis to their 1875 fair. It's safe to conclude he declined.

The New Liberty Sunday School Convention is here.	Find out how the New Liberty Christian Church got it's bell, here
George Cull. Just read it. Here.	“A colored woman at New Liberty, Ky., last week gave birth to four children: two  girls and two boys.  At last accounts all were doing well.” - American Baptist, August 21, 1903
The Garvey-Lewis feud turns fatal.	New Liberty is on the National Register of Historic Places. Read their application here.
Thief makes good, years later, here.	The mysterious Mr. Vories, here.
Attempt to start the New Liberty Catholic Church.	BBQ in New Liberty draws 10,000.
1879 New Liberty Robbery nets $24,000.  Story and follow-up here.	Fire nearly destroys New Liberty in 1864 and again in 1869.  Stories here. More detailed stories on the 1864 fire are here and here.
Courier-Journal, October 11, 1904	Cincinnati Commercial Tribune, May 16, 1876
“The citizens of Owen County, favorable to Southern Rights, proposed to give a Grand Barbeque, at the Fair Grounds at New Liberty, on the 5th of September.  Prominent speakers have been invited to attend and address the people.”  from the Louisville Daily Courier, August 30, 1861
Major Fire Hits New Liberty in 1864.  Read it here.	Fire in New Liberty, 1904, here.
New Liberty Baptist history.	New Liberty Baptist incorporates in 1876.
The 1876 Owen County Fair was held in New Liberty.  Details here.	New Liberty Baptist Sunday School Convention, here.
New Liberty, from an 1876 Gazetteer is here.	“Twenty-seven Shots, Five Hits, and No One killed.”  Story here.
“On Saturday last, we printed a prospectus of the 'Owen County Sentinel,' a new paper to be established in New Liberty, Owen county, Ky., by Mr. J. A. Kissinger, of Ohio. We hope the paper will be liberally patronized, and be profitable to its publisher and the citizens of that county.  It will be a Democratic paper.”  from Vevay's Indiana Reveille, July 6, 1859
The town of New Liberty is “revived” in 1845.	The road from New Liberty to Marion is authorized in 1844. You probably know Marion by it's latter name, Moxley.
The New Liberty Library established in 1844.	“There if a rumor here that Humphrey Marshall (Wikipedia) is now at Liberty, Owen county , guarded by eight hundred rebels. They fear his arrest.” The Weekly Vincennes Sun, September 28, 1861.
An earlier library was authorized in 1820.	The Young Men's Savings Association authorized in 1873.
A short history of New Liberty Baptist Church is here, and here (pdf).	Rebels visit New Liberty in July, 1862, here, and here. (Note the Louisville Democrat says 75 cavalry, the Louisville Journal says 200, and the Covington Journal says 18.) They were also there the preceding January.
“On March 26, 1865, a portion of the 54th Kentucky, U.S.A., under Maj. John D. Russell, and Capt. George T. Buckley came upon a small party of guerillas near New Liberty. They killed three, wounded three, and dispersed the rest.” Miriam Sidebottom Houchens, in her History of Owen County, Kentucky

 

Pennsylvania Enquirer, April 18, 1842