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Bear Creek is a stream Clay County, in the U.S. state of Kentucky.[1] It is a tributary of Red Bird River.

Bear Creek
Location
Country	United States
State	Kentucky
County	Clay
Physical characteristics
Mouth	Red Bird River

Bear Creek received its name after a bear was shot there, according to local history.[2]

Tributaries and post offices

Barcreek was established on 1900-03-07 by Elijah Herd, and remained in operation until March 1969.[3] It was half a mile upriver on Bear Creek from its confluence with the Red Bird River.[4] Its name was most likely a corruption of Bear Creek, but could also have been a reference to a large local sandbar.[3] Herd's first choice of his own name had been rejected by the USPS because it clashed with an already existing postoffice in Boyd County.[5]

Green L. Langdon moved it upriver in 1914, close to, or possibly at, the site of what was later to be Spurlock post office.[3] It was relocated back to Bear Creek in the 1920s, and was 1⁄2 mile (0.80 km) up the creek when it closed.[3]

Spurlock post office was established on 1928-10-02, Silvania Herd's first choice of "Herd" similarly being rejected by the USPS because it then clashed with an already existing postoffice by that name in Jackson County.[6] Named after the Spurlock family, descendants of settler William Spurlock (1815–1855) from North Carolina who had arrived at Bear Creek in 1835, it lasted until July 1988.[6] It was located 1 mile upstream of the mouth of Banks Branch, a tributary of Red Bird River to the south of Bear Creek, to replace Barcreek post office after it moved back to Bear Creek.[6]

See also

• List of rivers of Kentucky

Cross-reference

Sources

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