The History of Canton KY

CANTON, KENTUCKY

The first settlement in what would eventually be known as Trigg County was originally constructed by Abraham Boyd in 1799. This well known shipping point was known as Boyd’s Landing. Due to its very favorable location, the town was laid out by Boyd and officially named Canton. As the town thrived the Canton Hotel served as a hub of activity. The inn was built before 1820, which was the year Trigg County was formed from Christian and Caldwell Counties. Known as the Brick Inn, the hotel lodged both obscure and famous personalities. Some of the more important guests were President James K. Polk in 1851. He was a close friend of Lynn Boyd, son of Abraham Boyd. They had served in the lower house of Congress together. General Marquis De Lafayette was given a reception at the hotel in 1825 when he got off of the boat to rest while going from St .Louis to Nashville. Jenny Lind, the famous “Swedish Nightingale”, sang on the balcony of the hotel in 1851.

The Canton Inn  (Then)

The Canton Inn  (Now)

                          

Abraham Boyd laid out lots for settlers to buy before constructing the Brick Inn located 200 yards from the Cumberland River. Boyd built the brick structure with 18 inch masonry walls. There is a fireplace in every one of the thirteen rooms. It also has two separate cellars and spacious attic. During the construction Boyd ran short of money and had to change the building to frame construction to complete a back wing which housed the dining room, wash room and additional bedrooms.

Canton moved a significant amount of freight and tobacco from its river shipping point. Bud Colley, a native of Canton, and a former stagecoach driver, told of the events that surrounded the arrival of a steamboat at Canton. He said the mule teams would be lined up for hundreds of yards to wait their turn to load their wagons and head back eastward. Other wagons would unload their cargo of freight or tobacco that was destined for New Orleans.

Canton was one of the main stops for coach lines that traveled to Nashville, Tennessee or up North to Evansville, Indiana. It was a regular place to change teams. The stable where they kept stage horses was next to the Canton Inn (hotel). Colley boasted that on hurried runs the time it took to change teams was less then five minutes.

Following the Civil War, Canton supported five hotels (four of which burned or blew down). Canton supported many large warehouses, three schools, a large mill and “The Weekly Newspaper the Yoeman.”

Until the building of the Louisville and Nashville and Cadiz and Illinois Central railroads were joined, Canton was one of the oldest and most important trading posts on the Cumberland River.