Bear Creek (Red Bird River tributary)

Bear Creek is a stream Clay County, in the U.S. state of Kentucky.^[1] It is a tributary of Red Bird River.

Bear Creek received its name after a bear was shot there, according to local history.^[2]

Tributaries and post offices[]

Barcreek was established on 1900-03-07 by Elijah Herd, and remained in operation until March 1969.^[3] It was half a mile upriver on Bear Creek from its confluence with the Red Bird River.^[4] Its name was most likely a corruption of Bear Creek, but could also have been a reference to a large local sandbar.^[3] 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.^[5]

Green L. Langdon moved it upriver in 1914, close to, or possibly at, the site of what was later to be Spurlock post office.^[3] It was relocated back to Bear Creek in the 1920s, and was 1⁄2 mile (0.80 km) up the creek when it closed.^[3]

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.^[6] 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.^[6] 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.^[6]

See also[]

• List of rivers of Kentucky

Cross-reference[]

Sources[]

Coordinates: 37°13′43″N 83°38′08″W / 37.2287016°N 83.6354704°W / 37.2287016; -83.6354704

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