Pike County, Kentucky Special Edition
Side by Side Coach Shotgun
Zebulon Pike, 1779 - 1813, was an American soldier and explorer for whom Pikes Peak in Colorado and Pike County, Kentucky (among many others) are named. His Pike expedition, often compared to the Lewis and Clark Expedition, mapped much of the southern portion of the Louisiana Purchase.
Pike County Courthouse, 1910. The first session of the county court met on March 4, 1822, at the home of Spenser Adkins on the Levisa Fork of the Big Sandy River. On March 25, a permanent county seat was selected at a site to be called Liberty, about a mile and a half below the mouth of Russell Fork. Opposition by settlers north of the Levisa Fork led to a decision the following year to relocate the seat to Elijah Adkins' property at Peach Orchard Bottom, across the Levisa Fork from the mouth of Lower Chloe Creek. After the site was surveyed by James Honaker, a town was laid out in the early spring of 1824 and named Pikeville after the county. Construction on the second and present Pike County courthouse was completed in 1889. H.P. McDonald & Brothers of Louisville provided their standard design for the courthouse. In 1932-33 the courthouse went through major renovations greatly enlarging the building. This work was done under a grant provided by the Public Works Administration. The engraving on the edition shows the courthouse circa 1910.
Miner at End of Shift. Pike County, located in the heart of the Appalachian coal fields, has been one of the principal coal producing counties in the nation since 1910. Though exploitable coal deposits in nearly every section of the county were known to geologists and others before the Civil War, their large-scale commercial development awaited the coming of the railroads in the first two decades of the twentieth century. Until rail shipping made coal production practical, Pike County's timber was its major economic resource. Excessive exploitation depleted this valuable resource, and today the resurgence of the timber industry is years away. Mining continues to employ the highest portions of the county's work force. Economic planners see tourism and light industry as Pike County's hope for the future.
Brigadier General James A. Garfield, 20th President of the United States. James Abram Garfield (November 19, 1831 - September 19, 1881) was the 20th President of the United States. His death, two months after being shot and six months after his inauguration, made his tenure, at 199 days, the second shortest (after William Henry Harrison) in United States history. Before his election as president, Garfield served as a major general in the United States Army and as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives, and as a member of the Electoral Commission of 1876. Garfield was the second U.S. President to be assassinated; Abraham Lincoln was the first. President Garfield, a Republican, had been in office a scant four months when he was shot and fatally wounded on July 2, 1881. He lived until September 19, having served for six months and fifteen days. To date, Garfield is the only sitting member of the House of Representatives to have been elected President. During the Civil War Garfield led military operations within Pike County and had his headquarters in Pikeville.
Pike County, Kentucky, Established 1821. Pike County was formed on December 19, 1821. Before its formation, it had been in succession, a part of Fayette, Bourbon, Mason and Floyd counties. The county was named for General Zebulon M. Pike, a U. S. Army officer and explorer who discovered Pike’s Peak. The first known permanent settlement in Pike County was made in 1790 at the mouth of Sycamore Creek, on Lower Johns Creek by the family of William Robert Lesley. By 1800 other settlements were being made on the Levisa Fork in the vicinity of what is now Pikeville.
NOW YOU CAN OWN A PIECE OF COUNTY HISTORY! The Pike County Special Edition is a Collector's Grade .12 gauge side by side double barrell shotgun, fully plated in 24-karat gold with the engraved artwork defined with jewelry-grade nickel and containing images inspired by Pike County's distinguished history. A unique work of art for those collectors who value our history and great beauty!
Only 12 will ever be produced! Each is individually numbered and comes with a Certificate of Authenticity. Reservations are accepted in the order in which they are received. To place your order or to find more information, please e-mail us or call (866) 895-9355 or (970) 215-0677. Ask about our hard-sided canvas presentation cases!
$ 2,895.00
