Where
in the heck is Paint Lick?
Geographically speaking,
Paint Lick lies between
the Central Bluegrass
Region and the Foothills of the
beautiful Cumberland
Mountains of Kentucky.
Paint Lick is the lower-lefthand
red star
, not the Richmond
one).
Richmond may be only 12 miles away,
but it's half a century away from
the
simpler way of life enjoyed by Paint
Lick residents.
Neighbors still look out for one
another,
and can be counted on to help in
a time of need.
There are a dozen country churches
scattered
throughout the area, many more than
a century old.
You'll even find the ol-, ahem, wiser
men sitting
inside or in front of or inside the
general store and
restaurant called Sweet Pea's) telling
their tales
and sharing the latest news. (Men
don't call it gossip.)
At
one time, Paint Lick was a single group of buildings
and
the surrounding countryside along Paint Lick Creek,
on
the border of Madison and Garrard counties.
But
modern-day or "greater" Paint Lick, as we call it,
encompasses
the vast area that lies between Berea, Richmond,
and
Lancaster, and includes the hamlets of Lowell, Cartersville,
Manse,
Flatwoods, Point Leavell, Harmon's Lick, and other communities
in
southeastern Garrard and southwestern Madison counties.
Paint
Lick was first settled circa 1774-76, primarily by pioneers
from
North Carolina and Virginia. From Paint Lick and its
surrounding
communities, the descendants of its original residents
have
ventured primarily to the West, North, and South looking for
opportunity,
jobs, or perhaps an even less-populated area.
But
many others stayed in this rugged, sometimes unforgiving,
countryside,
and their descendants might still be found living
(and
even working) on the family farm.
Still
others, like the editor and (for some strange reason)
all
of her columnists, have been transplanted here (whether by choice
or
by divine intervention), and can't imagine living anywhere else.