Balls Fork is a stream that is mainly in Knott County, Kentucky in the United States.It a fork of the Troublesome Creek tributary of the North Fork Kentucky River that it joins over the county line in Perry County.It is 19.5mile long.
It is not known where its name comes from.Unlike many other locations in Kentucky, there are no local families recorded with the surname Balls for whom it could have been named.
The mouth of Balls Fork is 23.875mile upstream on Troublesome at an altitude of 835feet.
The current Ary post office at the mouth of Balls Fork is actually on Troublesome Creek itself, as was the original site of the earlier Troublesome post office that served Balls Fork from 1882.
Balls Fork had six post offices in its history actually on the fork itself or its tributaries.Three of them were refused the name Ball by the USPS because it had already been taken.
The Talcum post office, an attempted Ball, was established on 1903-02-25 by postmaster Levi Collins.It was located at the mouth of Cutoff Branch.After closing in February 1913 it was reëstablished by postmaster Mrs Ida Francis on 1917-04-21.It moved along Balls Fork several times in its lifetime, ending up 3.5mile downstream from where it started.It closed in 1994.
The Yellow Mountain post office was established on 1909-03-30 by husband and wife postmasters Reece F. and Louelzia Bolen.It was on Mill Branch, 0.5mile upstream and named after the Yellow Mountain there.It closed in 1951.
In 1918, Bud Dobson's mine was on a minor branch 11mile upstream on Balls itself.; and William Messer's 1.5mile upstream on Old Trace Branch.
Joseph Sutton's mine was on a minor fork of Trace Branch, 1mile upstream; John Ooten's on a minor branch of Pond Branch, 0.5mile upstream; Lewis Evans's 0.275mile upstream on Pond itself;and Joseph Patten's Balls itself, 17.5mile upstream;
Richard Smith had a mine one on Wiley Branch, 0.5mile upstream; and John Smith one on Wiley Branch, 2.75mile upstream.
Grant Moore had a mine on Wiley Branch, 0.625mile upstream; and Solomon Sloane one 0.25mile upstream on Hurricane Branch.
William Stewart had a mine on Stewart Fork, 0.875mile upstream; and John Conley one on Conley Branch, 1mile upstream.
Georges Branch is across a ridge from the Coles Branch of Troublesome Creek.
A Balls Fork post office was on the Fork itself, 7mile upstream.It was established on 1879-09-11 by postmaster William G. Grigsby, and closed in December 1881.Although it would have been in Knott County today, it predated the creation of that county.
James M. Grigsby's mine was on Old House Branch, 0.5mile upstream.
The Vest post office, an attempted Ball, was established on 1886-01-31 by postmaster William Grigsby.Anecdotally, although there is no record of such a person, it was named after a USPS official who validated the requirement for a post office.It still exists today, and around it are a consolidated school, a store, and a crafts centre.
The Bearville post office was established in 1952 by postmaster Lucinda Combs.The name was a nickname of one of the members of a sprawling local family on Troublesome Creek and North Fork Kentucky River, one "Bear" Combs.It was on Big Branch, 1.5mile upstream.It closed in 1984.
Henry Combs's mine was 1mile upstream on Roaring Branch; J. S. Combs's was 0.25mile upstream on Hard Branch.
The Soft Shell post office, an attempted Ball, was established on 1926-05-04 by postmaster Sarah Triplett.It was named for the local Soft Shell church, a subgroup of Regular Baptists that differentiated themselves from the Hard Shell Baptists, and located on the mouth of Wiley Branch.It closed in 1983.
John L. Triplett had a mine one on Balls itself, 18.75mile upstream; and Thomas Triplett's land was 100yd farther up.
Jason Richie had a mine on Beech Creek, 0.375mile upstream; Hiram Richie had one on a minor branch of a minor branch of Balls itself, 5.625mile upstream; and Peyton Richie one 13.25mile upstream on Balls.
In the Fugate family two brothers had mines on Georges Branch, 0.125mile and 0.25mile upstream; Daniel Fugate had a mine on a minor branch of Trace Branch, 1mile upstream; and Samuel Fugate had a mine 3.125mile upstream on Balls Fork itself.
W. F. Gearheart had a mine on a minor branch of Laurel Creek, 2mile upstream; Lewis Gearhart one on Sand Lick Branch just over 1.75mile upstream past a spring; Elhannon Gearhart one on Balls itself, 15.125mile upstream; Martha Gearhart one on a minor fork of Balls, 16.25mile upstream; and Allen Gearhart one on Buck Branch, 0.25mile upstream.
Rachel Patrick's mine was on a minor fork of Sand Lick Branch, 0.625mile upstream. and James Patrick's was on a minor fork of Road Branch, 0.25mile upstream.
Thomas Terry had a mine on Right Fork of Big Branch, 0.125mile upstream; Rebecca Terry one on a minor branch of Pond Branch, 0.75mile upstream; Bud Terry one on Pond itself, 1mile upstream; and Benjamin Terry one on a minor fork of Wiley Branch, 0.75mile upstream.
Green Bowling's two mines were on two minor forks of Balls, one 16.875mile upstream and the other 17mile upstream.William Bowling's mine was 0.75mile upstream on Buck Branch.