Paducah’s history is filled with tales of industrial innovation and creative collectors. But there are some weird things about our city, too.
Irvin S. Cobb
Cobb was a journalist, author, and actor born in Paducah just before the turn of the 20th century. He spent his early years as a journalist in Paducah and Chicago before moving to New York, where he wrote many books and short stories. Eventually he wrote, and even acted in, both silent and sound era movies. He also hosted the Academy Awards in 1935. Cobb is noted for his bushy eyebrows, cigar, and brash sense of humor.
Della Barnes
The true story of Della Barnes is that she was born in 1874 and died in 1897 by accidentally taking her mother's morphine for her headache. The legend, however, is that she was engaged to a prominent Paducah man but had fallen in love with a man less financially stable. When Della refused to return her ring, her wealthy fiancé cut off her finger and she bled to death and covered the story. After her death, her father commissioned an Italian sculptor to create her grave marker. After it was placed, the ring finger "fell off" and seemed to bleed. Vandals dismantled the statue over the years, and the cemetery eventually removed the remaining portion. However, a "shadow" remains burned into the mausoleum behind the grave where the statue once stood.
1937 Flood
After 2 weeks of rain beginning in January 1937, the Ohio River rose to dangerous levels from Pittsburgh to Cairo. 95% of current-day Paducah was under water with the river cresting at 60.8 feet on February 2. 27,000 residents were evacuated and the water reached past 28th street.
Speedy Atkins
Charles Atkins was a "speedy" tobacco worker in Paducah who drowned in the Ohio River in1928. His friend, A.Z. Hamock, owned the only African-American funeral home at the time. He used a secret concoction to essentially mummify Atkins and displayed him occasionally in the funeral home. Speedy even washed away during the 1937 flood and, at some point, was placed on wheels so he could be transported more easily (both of these things contributing to Speedy's nickname). Hamock's wife buried Speedy in 1994, 66 years after his death.