Maceo, Kentucky
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| Maceo, Kentucky | |
|---|---|
| Type | Unincorporated community |
| County | Daviess County |
| State | Kentucky |
| Former names | Powers Station, Powers |
| Founded | 1890, by Edward Pendleton “Pen” Taylor |
| Named for | Gen. Antonio Maceo y Grajales |
| Railroad | Louisville, St. Louis and Texas Railroad |
| Location | East of Owensboro on U.S. 60 |
Maceo is an unincorporated community in Daviess County, Kentucky, east of Owensboro on U.S. 60. Founded as a railroad depot called Powers Station, it was laid out as a town in 1890 and renamed in 1898 for a Cuban independence leader.
Powers Station
When the Louisville, St. Louis, and Texas Railroad was built in the 1880s, a depot east of Owensboro was named Powers Station in honor of Owensboro attorney Joshua Powers, who had organized the financing of the line. This community was first settled by a small group of freed slaves after the Civil War.
Founding of the Town
When downtown Yelvington burned in 1890, Edward Pendleton Taylor, who had suffered severe losses in the fire, determined to move to a new location along the railroad. He began laying out a new town which by the end of 1890 had several buildings completed. “Pen” Taylor built a tobacco warehouse that would employ fifty people; then a post office was authorized and he became postmaster.
By 1895 the town included three general stores, a blacksmith shop, and a distillery on the road toward Yelvington. By the early 1900s the town had a branch of the State Bank of Kentucky, two blacksmith shops, and a physician.
Renaming
The name “Power’s Station” was the source of confusion for the post office. There was another post office, Power’s Store near Whitesville, and mail was often missent due to poor handwriting or sorting.
Taylor, who was elected county judge in 1898, the year of the Spanish-American War, decided to rename the town in honor of the Black Cuban guerrilla leader General José Antonio de la Caridad Maceo y Grajales.
Church and School
Taylor’s father, Gibson Taylor, owned some 1,400 acres of land and 50 slaves. At his death in 1886, Taylor senior bequeathed land for the building of a church and school for Black residents near what would become the new town. The First Baptist Church of Maceo, begun in the homes of freed slaves, moved to the new church upon its completion.
Twentieth Century
Maceo continued as a Black settlement, but increasingly whites moved into the area, especially as land prices increased in the early 20th century. A white elementary school was established, and white and Black students were able to ride the “local” train to Owensboro — the Black students to Western High School and the white students to Owensboro High School.
With the paving of U.S. 60 through Maceo in 1930–31, the economics of the town began to shift, as employment and shopping opportunities in Owensboro became more accessible.
By 2010, Maceo was basically a suburban residential area.
Reference to an article by Glenn Hodges