Mentor History
Campbell County, Kentucky
Talk given by Emma Jean Neises, 11 July 2002 on the Mentor area. A copy of this talk is in the Mentor files at the Campbell County Historical & Genealogical Society in Alexandria, Ky.
Conditions were such that a trip from the more distant areas of the jurisdiction to Beech Grove was a major project, particularly from the valley regions. This was particularly unfortunate since the bulk of the membership resided in these remote regions. The first structure of note in this area, was the old Kennedy fort or blockhouse built shortly after Campbell County was chartered by an act of the legislature in 1794, by Thomas Kennedy whose descendants still live in Mentor.
The Mentor area was chartered by the Legislature on January 19, 1837 as "Beallmont (Belmont) Precinct." During the period 1888-1890 the Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad Co laid their line through the district and a post office was established. Since the name Belmont was already in existence as a post office title in the state, the name Mentor was adopted as a permanent designation. The "Old Kennedy Fort" is still in existence, but is now a dwelling owned by Warren J Kennedy, Postmaster of Mentor.
ROADWAYS:
TWELVE MILE TURNPIKE ROAD COMPANY-Chartered March 1, 1854, for the purpose of building a road from the mouth of Twelve Mile over the nearest and most feasible route to a point at or near the Dodsworth School House or the Metcalf Hotel on the Campbell County Turnpike Road (Metcalf Hotel is now the Samuel Woodfill School). A section of this road is now part of the Mary Ingles Highway.
ALEXANDRIA AND FLAGG SPRINGS TURNPIKE ROAD COMPANY-Chartered February 25, 1860 for the purpose of building a turnpike from Alexandria to the Pendleton County line near Flagg Spring, via the mouth of Brush Creek where it empties into Twelve Mile Creek, thence up Twelve Mile.
BELLMONT AND FLAGG SPRING TURNPIKE ROAD COMPANY-Chartered May 12, 1890, for the purpose of building a road from Bellmont to follow the county road so as to intersect the Alexandria and Flagg Spring Turnpike at the bridge on Little Twelve Mile Creek. this roadway passes the old Beech Grove site of the Mayo meeting hall, but previous to its completion the lodge had been moved to California.
Data is unavailable on the Campbell County section of the Washington Trace Turnpike, however, a Pendleton and Washington Trace Turnpike Road Co was incorporated in 1869 to build the Pendleton County section. Adequate roadways had long been a crying need within the jurisdiction. Today the area is well laced with good hard surface roads, although most of them are narrow and winding.
At the 1926 Session of the Kentucky Legislature, State Senator C B Truesdell and State Representative A J Jolly sponsored a bill for the construction of the Mary Ingles Highway (Route 8). This highway is now in the process of construction. The Mary Ingles Highway will knit Kentucky's Ohio Valley Towns with a modern transportation system. This area, we hope, will flourish with the rest of the region and Mayo Lodge will grow with it.