Sharkey

This scattered community is centered at the junctions of KY 158 and 801 seven miles north of Morehead. The Sharkey Post Office was established in Fleming County in 1913 by Lewis Ratliff and was discontinued in 1927 and relocated in Rowan County the following year by Samuel Sorrell. It returned to Fleming County in 1939 where it closed in 1958.

There were very few homes in this community and the mail man would walk from Farmers, Sharkey, Ringos and Hillsboro three days a week. Later the carriers rode horses. Some of the early settlers in this area were the Haydens, Pete Johnson, John Henry Johnson, Sam Caudill, who bought 500 acres of uncleared land in 1909 and raised cattle.

In 1900, Ratliff’s home was built on the Fleming/Rowan County line. Half of the building was in Fleming and half in Rowan. Liquor was sold from a bar in this house. Rowan customers were served by Fleming and Fleming customers were served by Rowan. Therefore, if the law got after the customers, they could say they got the liquor from the opposite county. Because law enforcement could not cross county lines to make an arrest, it was difficult to catch the offenders.

The Baptist Church was organized in 1910 and the Sharkey One Room School was built in 1928. Later it became a two room school and by 1960, the school was consolidated with Tildon Hogge Grade School.

In 1910, the town did not have a name. There are three different stories about how Sharkey got its name:

When the Post Office was established in 1913, Ratliff’s boys had two champion roosters (rooster fights were common then) named Shang-Hi and Sharkey. They sent those names to Washington and Sharkey was chosen.

Another is that Shang-Hi and Sharkey had a cock fight and Sharkey won so the town was named after him.

The last one is Sharkey was named for a resident, a professional boxer who fought under the name St. Ratliff Sharkey.

Article by Cindy Leach

Sources:

Kentucky Place Names Robert Rennick

Rennick, Robert M. (2013). Kentucky Place Names. University Press of Kentucky. ISBN 9780813144016.

History of Rowan County – Grace Crosthwaite and Mrs. Hazel (J.W.) Black