Gasper River

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Coordinates: 37°05′04″N 86°34′30″W / 37.08444, -86.575

Gasper River
Mouth Barren River
Basin countries USA
Length 25 miles
Mouth elevation 420 feet

The Gasper River is a 25-mile river in southwestern Kentucky, USA. It flows into northeasternly into the Barren River. It begins in northeast Logan County. It is a rural river, the only town near it is Hadley, Kentucky in Warren County. Tributaries include the Belcher, Salt Lick, Brush, Clear Fork, Westbrook, and Rock House creeks. Portions of the river exist in Warren and Logan County.

It is about 40 to 60 feet wide, and has a few small rapids. It is considered a mid-difficulty stream for canoeing.[1]

At the confluence with the Barren River is Sally's Rock, used as a a river pilot's guide. It is named for Sally Beck, a local who delivered news to passing river boats in the 1880s.

The river was part of a land grant given to George Washington, Jr., nephew of George Washington, the president. He surveyed the land in 1785. Gasper River was the home church of Reverend James McGready, and religious revivals were held on its banks as early as 1797, constituting the first ever open-air tent revival or camp meeting.[2] In 1800 when McGready began a revival at the nearby Red River Meeting House, which sparked the Second Great Awakening, and many of the congregants present were from the Gasper River church.[3]

[edit] References

  1. ^ Kentucky whitewater - Gasper River, Logan / Warren County. riverfacts.com. Retrieved on 2007-08-17.
  2. ^ Mathews, Donald G. (1977). Religion in the Old South. University of Chicago Press, 51-52. 
  3. ^ Aron, Stephen (1999). How the West Was Lost: The Transformation of Kentucky from Daniel Boone to Henry Clay. Johns Hopkins University Press, 174-177. 

[edit] See also