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261 28 Mayslick—“The Asparagus Bed of Mason County” One enters Mayslick (also spelled May’s Lick) from the south on Pike Street (as in Turnpike Street), at the point where the new road begins a sweeping curve to the right, bypassing the village on the east. The ruins of a brick house stand in the field to the left, or west, at the turn, marking what may have been the old turnpike track. Ahead, Pike Street passes the town cemetery on the right, followed by a Baptist church on the left and a Christian church a block or so farther along. Burns Alley begins about six-tenths of a mile from the bypass junction, and it closely parallels the present road on the left, extending to Franklin Alley. Now fronted by several small frame-and-clapboard houses, Burns Alley is said to be part of the original Limestone Trace. Just ahead, the old trace alignment crosses Pike Street to the right, where it becomes Wilson Avenue. The town’s new fire station is on the right. A short distance ahead at Nicholas Street, Wilson emerges into the historic town common, or “Public Avenue” as some termed it, a polygonal acre-sized space created by the acute-angle intersection of the original trace, the turnpike or Pike Street, and the crossing road to Sardis, now Sherman Street, to the west and Nicholas Street to the east. Victorian brick buildings—the Bank of Maysville (1902), the Presbyterian church (1877), and the Odd Fellows Lodge (1847–1904)—enclose the common on the south and east sides. The old trace continues north across Nicholas Street to become Salt Lick Lane, a narrow street that descends into the creek valley. The lane passes the historic salt spring now enclosed by a small brick municipal building before turning right at the creek to become a long driveway that provides access to a church and historic school on the town’s east side. Pike Street, also extending north from the common, crosses Lees Creek on a spectacular dry-laid stone culvert, visible only from Salt Lick Lane, before climbing out of the creek valley and heading north toward Washington and Maysville. The town’s earliest settlers established homes and taverns along this section of the pike. The unusual road configuration gave Mayslick a double crossroads for a time, both commanded by the medial common, which became the focus for local businesses, including dry goods stores and blacksmith shops. Mayslick’s site enjoyed several advantages that made it a compelling place to 262  The Maysville Road: A Landscape Biography NICHOLAS ST. SHERMAN ST. P I K E S T . C O N W A Y S T . t o W a s h i n g t o n t o B l u e L i c k s to Sardis Colored School Colored Baptist Church Catholic Church Colored Methodist Church S e m i n a r y Presbyterian Church Christian Church Baptist Church W . M a r s h a l l Lees Creek MAYS LICK (Mayslick) Circa 1876 100 10 0 100 200 300 400 500 feet 0 10 20 30 40 rods Note: one rod = 16.5 feet M . & L . T u r n p ik e C o . Blacksmith Shops Masonic Hall I O O F Hall Livery Stable C E M E T E R Y NICHOLAS ST. Colored School Colored Baptist Church Catholic Church Colored Methodist Church Presbyterian Church Lees Creek MAYS LICK (Mayslick) Circa 1876 100 10 0 100 200 300 400 500 feet 0 10 20 30 40 rods Note: one rod = 16.5 feet M . & L . T u r n p ik e C o . acksmith Shops I O O F Hall U S 6 8 b y p a s s ( 1 9 6 0 s ) establish a settlement in the 1780s. A buffalo trace to Blue Licks and the wagon track to Lexington passed a saline spring here. When evaluated by southward-moving migrants, this was the first place south of the Ohio River where frontier folk could obtain salt, albeit in the form of weak brine water initially, a resource that ranked second only to potable water, given its critical role in enabling settlement to move inland.1 The surrounding area offered fertile uplands in expansive acreages that had excellent farming potential, contrasting starkly with the troubling, steep-sloped shale lands that lay just to the south. And finally, a group of settlers from New Jersey found...

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