Thruston, Kentucky

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Thruston, located four miles northeast of Owensboro,was in a section of the County called Beechwoods, known for its beech trees and plantations that lined the old river road from Owensboro to Hawesville. The town is named for Algernon Sidney Thruston, a Kentucky native who owned land in Daviess County although he did not live here until 1854. A veteran of the Texas War for Independence in the 1830’s,who served on Governor Sam Houston’s cabinet, he moved to a 700 acre tract bordering Ky 405 in the 1850’s and lived there until his death in 1864. Another landowner in the area was Thomas Clay who settled there in 1806 or 1807, the uncle of the abolitionist Cassius Marcellus Clay. Thomas Clay was a member of the convention that drafted Kentucky’s second constitution in 1799. Two farms were homes to men who later became U.S. Senators—Thomas Clay McCreery and Wendell Hampton Ford. Ford lived in the Throckmorton house built in 1840 by Major Aris Throckmorton, War of 1812 veteran and owner of the Galt House in Louisville. Another farm in the neighborhood was the home of Justus Vairin, a former member of the bodyguard of the Emperor Napoleon, a veteran of the Battle of Waterloo, and a tobacco exporter. The site of the Vairin house is now Spend-a-Buck Farm, named for the 1985 Kentucky Derby winner who was raised there.

By 2015 Thruston contained two churches, a convenience store, and Yellow Creek Park—famous as the site of ROMP (the River of Music Party), an annual bluegrass festival drawing thousands of fans, and home to Pioneer Village. Other nearby sites include Reid’s Orchard, more than 130 years old, now run by the 4th generation of Reids. Known for apples, peaches, strawberries and more, Reid’s has been a part of county life since Allan Reid settled here. Each year, thousands enjoy the Apple Festival and the Big O Music Festival.

Reference to an article by Glenn Hodges