Bangor

Bangor, Kentucky was originally located in Morgan County until the formation of Rowan County in 1856. The community was originally called Knowlesburg/ Cassity Mills.

The town, 15 miles from Morehead, in Morgan County was set up by Maine-born Harrison Knowles (1823-1894), who operated a sawmill and got the legislators to incorporate the town on March 18, 1871.

Post Office was established Cassity Mills on July 17, 1849 with Samuel Myers as Postmaster. In December 1850, Patterson Utterback took it over until 1855 when William Phillips became Postmaster. The Post office was discontinued and re-established several times until 1872.

John Cassity was a grist mill operator on the Licking River's North Fork about a mile above the future Paragon community. He established the Bangor Post Office on June 22, 1868, which he probably named for Knowles home town. In May 1889, Sanford A. Day moved the Post Office a mile north into Rowan County. The office moved again in 1897 to a site just north of the North Fork, which is now in Cave Run Lake. The office closed in 1960. Lucy Ellen Lewis Perry (1877-1977) was Postmistress at Bangor for 10 years and later she and her husband owned the J.W. Perry and Son General Merchandise Store in Bangor.

The Bangor area was the location of an extensive lumber mill and store operated by the Licking River Lumber and Mining Company with C.H. Whitcomb as supervisor. Bangor also had a sawmill owned by Matthew McClure and a stave mill run by Bleare and Kimball.

There were several oil wells in Bangor. Ray Perry (1898-1980) owned and operated the Perry Drilling Company which drilled oil, gas, and water wells. He owned several oil wells which were in operation until they were sealed for the construction of Cave Run Reservoir. He was also one of the original stockholders of Southern States Cooperative and owned uranium mines in Canada.  Ray owned land in Rowan and Bath counties that he subdivided and developed some of the land near Cave Run. Bangor is currently under the waters of Cave Run Lake.

Article by Cindy Leach

Sources

Kentucky Place Names –Robert Rennick

Notes from Juanita Blair and Fred Brown, Jr.