For those of us who have a keen interest in our state’s culture and heritage, certain questions of curiosity sometimes come up and perhaps we’ve not taken the time to find answers for our intrigue.
Recently, I searched for some background information on what is presented on Kentucky’s state flag, which features the state seal. You likely know it well, having a navy-blue background with a picture of two individuals facing each other inside a white circle, seemingly in a modified “man hug.” The words “Commonwealth of Kentucky” form an arc outside the circle above them, and inside, “United We Stand” stands above and “Divided We Fall” below the two men. There are sprigs of the state flower, the goldenrod, arcing below the circle. Kentuckians know it as an iconic image.
I found an article on the Kentucky Secretary of State’s website by noted Kentucky historian Ron Bryant that sheds light, and in an interesting way. “To understand what the symbols on the state seal and the state flag represent, one should look at the evolution of these symbols from 1792 to the present,” he wrote. “The Commonwealth of Kentucky was less than a year old when, on December 20, 1792, the General Assembly approved an act to create the state seal. With that governmental act, noted that “David Humphreys, a Lexington silversmith, was awarded twelve pounds sterling to make the first seal and press for the state. This seal was lost in a fire which destroyed the capitol building in 1814.”
But the process got restarted, and over the years, changes evolved. Ron shared these examples:
• The seal of the Commonwealth of Kentucky changed from two men embracing in formal attire to two men in frontier buckskins shaking hands.
• Another version of the seal shows two men clasping both each other’s hands.
• Another image is almost humorous, with two men dressed in cloaks embracing each other with little enthusiasm. There are even more intriguing ones that came along, including men with stovepipe hats, slouch hats, in various forms of convivial embraces and hand clasps.
Furthermore, our state motto, “United we stand, divided we fall,” came from a popular 1768 tune, “Liberty Song,” written by John Dickinson.
“Kentucky’s first governor, Isaac Shelby, was particularly fond of a stanza of the song which proclaimed, ‘Then join in hand, brave Americans all; By uniting we stand, dividing we fall,’” Ron explained.
But by 1962, the madness of Kentucky state flag changes pretty much ended when the modern Kentucky General Assembly passed an act showing a “frontiersman clasping the shoulder and shaking the hand of a statesman. The frontiersman represents the spirit of Kentucky frontier settlers. The stateman represents the Kentuckians who served their state and nation in the halls of government,” Ron added.
But just in case you were wondering… Ron made one thing very clear. “The man in buckskin is not Daniel Boone and the man in the frock coat is not Henry Clay.” It would seem poetic justice if that were true, but that’s only my opinion.
And then I saw something in Vince Staten’s 2013 book, Kentucky Curiosities: Quirky Characters, Roadside Oddities, & Other Offbeat Stuff and immediately wanted to find more about that “something,” particularly with possessing my baby boomer sensibilities. The piece dealt with the tiny Ohio River community of Concord, in Lewis County, and Vince titled it “Population 35—and Shrinking.” He noted that at the time, it was officially Kentucky’s smallest town — if you compare it to other Kentucky League of Cities members. According to a 2020 census report, it’s down to a population of 19. Another source said 13 in 2023.
What got me really interested, though, was his report that the first episode of Route 66, presented for the 1960-61 TV season, was largely filmed in the town, though viewers saw it described as happening in rural Mississippi. Teased by having viewed TV shows I watched as a child on today’s online extravagance of YouTube, I pulled up that first Route 66 episode and watched it—without the distraction of long commercials. As boomers might recall, the series followed the adventurous travels around the U.S. of two young New York men, Tod and Buz, while riding in Tod’s Corvette, a gift from his father. The program lasted until 1964 and generally was quite popular.
In the referenced episode — all of them were shot in black and white — a hateful man held siege over the town where Tod and Buz were stranded having their car repaired in order to get back on the road. I’ll not spoil it, but “Black November,” its title, was unsurprisingly quite dark in tone. All through the show, my eyes focused intently on the town and its drab and modest setting, trying to get a mental picture in the case I someday visited the community.
In my quick research, I also came across another Route 66-related YouTube video, a short two-minute one shot in 2011 that compares still shots in the original show with the same locations in town 51 years later. It’s a fascinating comparison called “Route 66-Concord, Kentucky-51 years Later.”
Below are both the first Route 66 episode and the short “then and now” film that revisits Concord:
Route 66: Black November | Season 1 Episode 1 (Full Episode)
Route 66 – Concord, Kentucky – 51 Years Later
