By JENNIFER MOONSONG
Glasgow News 1
Barren County is comprised of many tiny hamlets, but perhaps none has drawn more attention and interest than Nobob, in the far southeastern corner. The tiny place where cows outnumber the people three to one has been well documented by writers and historians, including Kentucky author Lynwood Montell. The hand-me-down stories of Nobob, told by residents and recorded, remain as part of Western Kentucky University’s Department of Folk Studies and Anthropology records. In Montell’s collections including Nobob he recorded the tales of the haunted Greenbriar woods, and the story of how Nobob got its unique name.
The Nobob store still stands, and was operational for several generations.
Jennifer Moonsong
As the story goes, an expedition leader by the name of Robert, called Bob, was scouting the area in the 1800s or so and left his companions. Flat Head Indians dwelled in the region along creek banks, calling it home and likely feared intruders and would have considered any person to be a threat. Bob did not return to camp. When his companions looked for him in groups they would return to camp and tell the others, “No Bob”. One can only speculate as to what Bob’s fate was, but his name has lived on forever in connection with the community, and the creek that meanders through it.
The very primitive Nobob School was one of the first in the county, when the tiny hamlet thrived more than the neighboring communities.
The Barren County Historical Society
In the early days of the region, Nobob was once larger and more affluent than neighboring Temple Hill and Summer Shade. It was documented in the writings of historian Franklin Gorin that Nobob was “larger, having more businesses and shops.” A post office was established in 1854. It remained until the late 1930s. Nobob was home to one of the first school houses in the county. There were “earth floors, and split log benches, and open windows with no glass,” according to Gorin. It was erected along Nobob Creek and was in session for two months late in the summer.
Sam Walker of Nobob was one of the county’s last blacksmiths, who operated a shop at Logan’s Crossroads between Nobob and Temple Hill.
Barren County Historical Society
Nobob was home to hotels, multiple stores and many blacksmith shops. The commerce of Nobob revolved around a logging mill. The store, which still stands, was operational until the ’60s or ’70s. Since that time little remained aside from several farming operations, a cabinet shop and a few luthiers, who carried on the hamlet’s musical history.
Children’s book writer Joanne Smith Crawford, the daughter of Bob Lawson who was known as the “Bob of Nobob,” memorialized her childhood in children’s books about Buford the mouse, who featured topics including proper grammar and good manners. Ruby Smith, the Temple Hill School librarian of many years, also resided in Nobob most of her life. Smith, known as “Miss Ruby,” was a well-educated woman who kept lay records of the history of Nobob and passed it down colloquially. Local historian Cecil Goode, who is responsible for recording much of the county’s history, was also a native of Nobob.
“Miss Ruby” Smith was the Temple Hill librarian, and a nearly lifelong resident of Nobob, who recorded the community’s history.
Courtesy of A.F. Crow and Son Funeral Home
Today, little remains of the remnants of Nobob’s early days except the cliffs and creek banks. The stories will live on for generations, carrying forward the mystery and mystique of the little map dot at the edge of the county.
Information derived from Cecil Goode’s “Barren County Heritage”
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