By Harry Enoch

Sun columnist

Hemp has a long history as an agricultural crop in Clark County.

Pioneers first mentioned hemp the year after the county was settled in 1779.

William Clinkenbeard of Strode’s Station stated, “The first hemp seed I got was while I was in the station after I was married. Saved the stocks (hemp stalks) and broke it up, and my wife made me a shirt out of it.”

Early settlers grew hemp in small quantities they used to make clothing. Employing spinning wheels and looms, hemp fiber could be spun into yarn and woven into cloth in the same manner as wool or flax.

That changed dramatically after the turn of the century with the advent of massive cotton plantations in the American South.

Hemp found a large market in rope and bagging for cotton bales. Each 500-pound bale used 25 pounds of hempen rope and bagging.

The U.S. Navy also needed sail cloth and rope for ship rigging.

Bluegrass soils are especially suited for growing hemp. Thus, Lexington became the center of the hemp cultivation and manufacturing in Kentucky. Clark County was one of the major hemp producing counties.

In the early 19th Century, many local merchants accepted hemp in payment for goods, and speculators paid cash for quality hemp fiber.

The Winchester Advertiser ran notices like the following: “Highest price given in merchandize for hemp” and “Paying Lexington prices for well cleaned and strong hemp.”

Production of hemp on Clark County farms increased from a mere 42,000 pounds in 1802 to more than 1 million pounds by 1859.

During the Civil War, with Southern markets cut off, production saw a steep decline. Only 69,000 pounds were reported in 1865.

The post-war years saw production soar again, peaking at nearly 2.2 million pounds in 1890. These were the years when hemp was the largest cash crop of the Bluegrass (tobacco was a distant second).

Most of the income was realized by a fairly small number of large farms.

In 1890, E. C. Browning Jr. raised 180,000 pounds, the largest of 45 growers in the county.

Most of the county’s hemp was grown in the Inner Bluegrass region, which had the richest soil.

In 1878, two precincts dominated production — Germantown and Winchester. No hemp at all was reported in the three precincts of eastern and southern Clark County — Kiddville, Goode and Pinchem.

Clark County’s last major hemp producer was David S. Gay. Gay had a hemp warehouse on North Main Street and a large growing operation near Pine Grove.

In 1916, he was called “one of the largest hemp dealers in the nation.”

Because of his influence as a buyer and seller, Winchester was called “the largest domestic hemp market in the United States.”

The turn of the century saw Kentucky’s hemp production fall dramatically because of a number of factors. Steamships began to replace sailing ships. Southern growers switched to metal bands for cotton bales. And, most significantly, the protective tariffs were removed from hemp allowing cheaper fiber — mainly jute and manila — to be imported.

By 1929, no hemp production was reported in Clark County.

There followed a long dry spell for Kentucky hemp.

Along the way, a new obstacle arose. In 1933, the country’s 13-year failed experiment with Prohibition ended.

Suddenly, the head of the Federal Narcotics Bureau, Harry J. Anslinger, found himself with a huge department of law enforcement agents with nothing to do.

Then came the famous film, now a cult classic, “Reefer Madness” (1936), and Anslinger had his solution. He embarked on an anti-marijuana crusade that poured out a constant barrage of propaganda.

His typical quotes included the overtly racist, “Marijuana makes darkies think they’re as good as white men,” and the totally senseless, “Marijuana is the most violent drug in the history of mankind.”

In 1937, Anslinger drafted and Congress passed the Marijuana Tax Act, which regulated the import, production, possession and sale of marijuana.

Since hemp plants (Cannabis sativa) look and smell like marijuana plants, growing unregulated hemp was also criminalized. This was not an issue at the time because hemp cultivation had essentially dried up.

There was a brief reprieve during World War II.

Loss of the Philippines cut off our supplies of manila, so the U.S. undertook a program to replace it with domestically-grown hemp.

Farmers were licensed and paid to grow the crop, and the government built 42 mills to process it.

One of the hemp mills was erected here (where Stuff Recycling now stands on US 60) and Clark County growers rose to the occasion. However, the program that some called “a $30 million boondoggle” was short lived and produced little product.

Any possibility of a hemp comeback took a drastic downturn in 1970 with passage of the Controlled Substance Act, which classified hemp as a Schedule 1 drug, grouping the crop with heroin and LSD.

Yet Phoenix-like, hemp has risen from the ashes.

The rising popularity of CBD oil and other hemp products created a huge uptick in demand for the commodity.

Finally, its promoters were able to convince Congress hemp, with no intoxicating substances, should be legal to grow.

The 2018 Farm Bill removed hemp from FDA control and Clark County is already reaping the benefits.

Farmers are growing hemp again and four local companies are marketing hemp products — Laura’s Mercantile, GenCanna, Bellator and Atalo Holdings.

Though still highly regulated, hemp’s future looks bright.

Harry Enoch, retired biochemist and history enthusiast, has been writing for the Sun since 2005.  He can be reached at henoch1945@gmail.com.