| Big Creek | |
| Source1: | Collins/Couch fork headwaters |
| Source1 Coordinates: | 37.1657°N -83.472°W |
| Source2: | Upper forks of Old McHenry Fork |
| Source2 Coordinates: | 37.1368°N -83.4919°W |
| Source3: | Halls Fork headwaters |
| Source3 Coordinates: | 37.1394°N -83.4681°W |
| Source4: | Left Fork Ulysses Fork headwaters |
| Source4 Coordinates: | 37.2007°N -83.5025°W |
| Mouth: | Red Bird River |
| Mouth Location: | 15mile upstream |
| Mouth Coordinates: | 37.1663°N -83.5821°W |
| Mouth Elevation: | 789feet |
Big Creek is a 4.5miles long creek in Kentucky, United States whose headwaters are in Leslie County and that flows into the Red Bird River in Clay County.A postoffice and village are named for it.Its own name is likely purely descriptive of its frequent flooding and high water levels, as it is not otherwise one of the biggest tributaries of Red Bird River.
The mouth of Big Creek is 15mile upstream on Red Bird River at an altitude of 789feet above sea level.Both the Daniel Boone Parkway and Kentucky Route 80 parallel its course from its mouth to where it splits into Halls and Collins/Couch Forks.
| Official Name: | Big Creek, Kentucky |
| Settlement Type: | village and post office |
| Pushpin Map: | Kentucky |
| Subdivision Type: | Country |
| Subdivision Name: | United States |
| Subdivision Type1: | State |
| Subdivision Name1: | Kentucky |
| Subdivision Type2: | County |
| Subdivision Name2: | Clay, Leslie |
| Timezone: | Eastern (EST) |
| Utc Offset: | -5 |
| Timezone Dst: | EDT |
| Utc Offset Dst: | -4 |
| Elevation Ft: | 866 |
| Coordinates: | 37.1622°N -83.5689°W |
| Postal Code Type: | ZIP code |
| Postal Code: | 40914 |
| Area Code: | 606 |
The post office named after it was established by James Marcum on January 10, 1871.Originally located one mile up from the Red Bird River, it has moved several times up and down the creek, and as of 2000 was located three quarters of a mile up from the Red Bird, serving the Big Creek village.The village is located on U.S. Route 421, 10.7miles east of Manchester.[1] Big Creek postoffice has ZIP code 40914.[2] [3]
A Bear Branch post office was established by William Britton on November 10, 1923, named after the branch.Originally located a mere 50feet across the county line into Clay, it was moved on February 12, 1924, to Ulysses Creek by postmaster Thomas T. Hensley.It moved again when U.S. 421 was built, to a point next to the highway, and a further time in 1936 to its present location just below the branch 100yd from the Clay county line.
A Jason post office was established by postmaster Billie Jones to serve Hollins Fork on September 1, 1937.During its lifetime from then until July 1965, it was located in three different places along the fork, above the Bear Branch post office, ending up less than 0.5miles from the original site of Obed post office.The postmaster's original choice of name, Elim, was disregarded because of potential confusion with an Elem post office in Rockcastle County.
Couch Fork used to be named Collins Fork, and the Obed post office, founded on January 26, 1903, by postmaster Levi Couch, used to lie between Collins and Hollins Forks.Obed was in 1936 moved downhill to the Twin Branch tributary of Collins/Couch Fork and closed in 1938.
In 1918, P.D. Marcum had a mine 1.25mile upstream on Granny Branch, and Thomas A. Bird had one on a minor fork of Bear 0.75mile upstream.
Lee Crawford had two mines, one 0.175mile upstream and one 2mile upstream on Bear Branch.
Thomas Hensley had one on a minor fork of Ulysses Fork 0.75mile upstream, Felix Roberts had one on a minor fork of Right Fork Ulysses Fork 1.75mile upstream, and J. M. Finley had one at the mouth of Meadow Fork and one 0.75mile upstream on Left Fork Ulysses Fork.
H.B. Collins's mine was on a minor fork of Half-Way Branch 0.75mile upstream.Wesley McFadden's was on McFadden Branch 0.5mile upstream.Hiram Collins lived 2.5mile upstream on Halls Fork where there had been an older Collins mine.
On Big Creek itself, Wiley Spurlock had a mine 1.25mile upstream, and Hiram Sizemore had one on a minor fork opposite the mouth of Collins.