By Wally Thomas

Poorhouse Spring: How Do You Spell 'Revival'?

editor — Thu, 8 May 2008 14:37:51 -0700

Could Ewing, Kentucky, (pop. 300) and the West End be primed for rejuvenation?

Several changes now on the horizon could truly reinvigorate the West End of Fleming County over the next few years. First and foremost, from my perspective, Ewing should have a municipal sewer system in place. It’s needed for more reasons than most people probably realize, and not just for the small amount of development that it may bring. That part is okay but needs to be tempered so that we do not have structures popping up everywhere. Planning and zoning would curtail this, but those are the worst words you can say to a lot of people: “It's my property, da*% it, and I'll do what I da*% well please with it.”

Poorhouse Stream: Let There Be City Revenue!

editor — Tue, 1 Apr 2008 09:54:56 -0700

Downtown Ewing, Kentucky, (pop. 300) has mightly fine asphalt, and with a new tax in place, other parts of the community should see improvements
Photo: Tammy Thomas

Being an incorporated Kentucky city with no income puts city commissioners in a tough spot, but it does make the budget easy. No revenue. No spending. Budget complete. The story of how Ewing (pop. about 300) came to be a city without revenue is for another day. Life with some funding is today’s story.

In Fleming County, Ewing is the only incorporated city other than Flemingsburg, the county seat. Ewing does receive some state money, but use of those funds is restricted to certain purposes. For thirty years, Ewing has survived by relying on a few grants, by receiving a fee for being the issuing entity for some bonds the city commission did not understand that financed projects we were not involved with but keep getting notices showing defaults we have no control over -- and by holding a few fund raisers. Our restricted funds have allowed our streets to be possibly the best kept of any small town. We get enough asphalt each year to keep all city streets in great condition.

Poorhouse Creek Diary: Keeping Ewing on the Map

editor — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 13:48:22 -0800

Major league pitcher Woodie Fryman, the "Fleming Flame," hailed from Ewing, KY
Image: Checkoutmycards

Let me introduce you to Ewing, Kentucky, a small town in north central Kentucky. I used to say we were known for two things: big league pitcher Woodie Fryman and State Representative Pete Worthington. Then Woodie retired from big league baseball to come home to farm and Pete left us way too early. Our main claims to fame were gone, and Ewing needed to find a way to remain relevant.

That is what gets us to today. Ewing’s is an interesting story with many, beyond-real characters and events dotted through the years (Details to come). But I will stay with a short, pc account that gets most everyone up to speed.

The community of Ewing was founded in the 1870s when the Ewing family donated land for a depot to be built for the Maysville and Lexington Railroad. As we know, the trains made a number of stops on their runs and we were lucky. Ewing was one of them. The small community grew to become a fairly bustling town with the rail yard and related businesses -- a coal yard, lumber yard, hardware store, bank, post office, hotel, blacksmith, newspaper, grocery, restaurant and assorted other establishments.